The Future of Customer Experience in the AI Era

Customer Experience (CX) is undergoing the biggest transformation in decades, powered by AI and accelerated by the shift to Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS). In this episode of The Macro AI Podcast, Gary and Scott break down where CCaaS is today, how AI is reshaping the landscape, and what business leaders need to do to prepare for the next ten years. 

We start with the basics: what CCaaS actually is, why it matters, and who the leading players are — from established platforms like Five9, NICE, Genesys, and Avaya to innovators such as Verint, Talkdesk, 8x8, Microsoft, Zoom, eGain, and Observe.AI. This sets the stage for sourcing decisions and gives listeners a realistic view of the vendor ecosystem. 

From there, we dive into where CX stands today. Companies have chatbots, transcription tools, and AI-driven coaching — but most of it is fragmented. The real future is orchestration: AI systems that not only interact with customers but orchestrate workflows across humans, machines, and enterprise systems. 

Looking ahead, Gary and Scott explore four insights executives may not have considered: 

• Contact centers as insight engines — mining every customer interaction for churn risk, product feedback, and revenue opportunities. 
• A shift in the economic model — from cost-per-seat to outcome-based pricing tied to resolution, containment, or customer satisfaction. 
• Regulatory blind spots — how compliance, transparency, and trust will define CX success as much as speed and efficiency. 
• The organizational shift — why CX won’t remain a siloed department but will evolve into an enterprise-wide orchestration function. 

The episode also highlights the role of independent AI consultants in bridging the gap between technology and business outcomes. From assessing data readiness and designing orchestration fabrics to implementing governance frameworks, consultants help companies avoid vendor lock-in and align AI to their unique business models. 

For CIOs, COOs, and CEOs, the message is clear: the companies that start building AI fluency and governance now will be the ones delivering tomorrow’s customer experience. The future of CX is not just faster service — it’s intelligent, predictive, and woven into the fabric of the entire enterprise. 

About your AI Guides

Gary Sloper

https://www.linkedin.com/in/gsloper/

Scott Bryan

https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottjbryan/

Macro AI Website:

https://www.macroaipodcast.com/

Macro AI LinkedIn Page:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/macro-ai-podcast/

Gary's Free AI Readiness Assessment:

https://macronetservices.com/events/the-comprehensive-guide-to-ai-readiness

Scott's Content & Blog

https://www.macronomics.ai/blog

Transcript

00:00
Welcome to the Macro AI Podcast,  where your expert guides Gary Sloper and Scott Bryan navigate the ever-evolving world of artificial intelligence.  Step into the future with us  as we uncover how AI is revolutionizing the global business landscape,  from nimble startups to Fortune 500 giants.  Whether you're a seasoned executive,  an ambitious entrepreneur,

00:27
or simply eager to harness AI's potential,  we've got you covered.  Expect actionable insights,  conversations with industry trailblazers  and service providers,  and proven strategies to keep you ahead in a world being shaped rapidly by innovation.  Gary and Scott are here to decode the complexities of AI  and to bring forward ideas that can transform cutting-edge technology  into real-world business success.

00:57
So join us,  let's explore, learn  and lead together.  Welcome back to the Macro AI podcast. I'm Gary.  And I'm Scott Bryan. And today we're exploring the future of customer experience in the AI era. A topic that's really moving fast and one that every business leader really needs to understand. Yes, exactly. We'll give a quick primer on CCAS. So that stands for Contact Center as a Service for any listeners that are new to that space.

01:27
and then walk through where the technology stands today and where it's heading in the next decade as  AI really transforms the entire customer journey.

01:44
So what is CCAS? So let's start with  quick definition. So CCAS, Contact Center as a Service, is simply the cloud-based modeling for running your contact center. So that means  no hardware closets,  no traditional PBX for anybody that's been in the industry for a while. It's all delivered through the cloud. Exactly. Yeah. It gives you the flexibility, scalability, integrations with CRM and workforce tools.  And uh really over the last

02:14
decade or so, the market has really matured and there are clear leaders that most enterprises will be familiar with like Five9, Nice,  Genesis, and Avaya. They've been uh key players in the space. Yeah, all good partners that I've worked with in the past. And really at the same time, we're seeing strong innovation from rising suppliers. We've had some of them on the show.  And if you look at, know, Varent, for example, they're

02:42
moving aggressively into CCAS and customer engagement. And they're blending that  with analytics and workforce intelligence. And then you have organizations like TalkDesk and 8x8 who continue to expand globally. And even others that you may not necessarily think of, such as Microsoft, for example. And then we're all familiar with Zoom  coming out of COVID. And  those two companies are really  extending their platforms into customer experience. Yeah, exactly. m

03:12
The vendor ecosystem is really expanding in this area. And uh we've had a chance to talk directly with innovators like E-Gain  and Observe.ai here on the Macro AI podcast. uh E-Gain has been bringing deep knowledge management  and AI assisted self-service into the CCAS ecosystem.  And Observe.ai we had on the show is focused on  conversation, intelligence, and real-time agent coaching. Yeah, that's a point.

03:41
for CIOs and  sourcing leaders and procurement, it means the CCAS landscape isn't just a handful of incumbents that we're traditionally accustomed to. It's really a mix of established vendors with scale, plus specialists and disruptors who are really pushing artificial intelligence and analytics and orchestration in  whole new directions.  Exactly. Yeah, and the competitive vendor landscape really does matter, but the bigger story is how AI is reshaping

04:11
all of these platforms to deliver a smarter, more seamless experience. And that's the pivot that we really want to explore today. Yeah, that's right. So we think about where customer experience and CCAS stand today. ah You know, most companies are experimenting with it. Maybe a chat bot on a website, ah AI doing transcription for them or real time agent coaching. It's helpful, but you know, I still think it's pretty fragmented and some are still

04:41
pretty frustrating for the end organizations using them.  Exactly. Yeah. The AI is there, but it's  siloed. know, one bot here, scheduling tool there, and customers can feel when it's disconnected and businesses can, they feel and they can see the inefficiency. Yeah. And I think the key word here is  the orchestration. So right now AI and CX, it's kind of like instruments tuning up before the symphony. So the future,

05:10
is the full orchestra playing together. And that's, what I've explained to  a lot of CIOs and directors in the CX world,  especially running these contact centers. Yeah. That's a, that's a really good analogy. The orchestra playing together. Thank you.  So, uh, so that's, mean, here's something that a lot of leaders miss. Your, your contact center isn't just a place where customers call for help. It's actually the richest source  of

05:38
voice of the customer data across your entire enterprise. Yeah, you're absolutely right. mean, every call, every chat, every uh digital interaction is unstructured data waiting to be mined. So, you most companies are only scratching the surface, maybe a little sentiment analysis, maybe, you know, call transcript search, you know, especially on a bad call.  But, there's more there to be had. Yeah. Now that AI is really merging.

06:08
all this changes. The customer experience  is now really a complete insight engine.  So AI will mine interactions to detect uh product issues or predict churn risk or identify upsell opportunities and even  the next generation of employee coaching. Yeah, because today it's really done by kind of manual intervention, listening to some calls, maybe something was flagged. So you're absolutely right.

06:35
And I think that that means  the contact center moves from being a cost center to a source of strategic intelligence. So- Exactly. CIOs and COOs who figure this out will be the ones giving their boards data that changes how  their business competes because they'll be able to extrapolate that from the AI environment. Yeah. So this is probably a good pivot to talk about  where things are going in the future. So-

07:03
If you fast forward 10 years,  a  large share of customer interactions will be resolved uh end to end by autonomous AI agents, which we've talked about a few times on a number of shows and it's going to continue to be a hot topic, AI agents. So then not just basic chat bots  that some of you may have been frustrated with, but  AI capable ones that can handle real workflows. Yeah. And have that back and forth  dynamic  conversation.

07:33
And for  those complex issues that humans are doing, this isn't telling you that your prescription is ready. It's much more in depth. And I think the  customer experience becomes more enterprise-wide. pulling in logistics or billing or  field services, depending upon your business. So it's anywhere AI needs to orchestrate data. And people to solve the customer's need is what these organizations can take advantage of.

08:02
And, you know, as I kind of say that out loud, may, you know, it kind of really has an economic model shift.  And Scott, here's another shift in business again, that, that leaders don't always see, you know, the economic model of the contact center is going to change. And you just, you know, kind of talked about that from traditional just cost center.  I totally agree. think  an economic model shift is definitely coming. So for decades,  everybody's familiar with

08:32
uh cost per seat or cost per minute. But looking forward in the AI era, it really becomes uh outcome-based. So companies will uh measure uh and vendors will charge based on containment rate,  resolution, even net promoter score impact.  those things are  coming. I think that sourcing people, IT firms, well, IT personnel need to understand this so that they can work to negotiate and

09:02
understand what's happening on the product side. Yeah, and I think anytime you can improve the MPS  for any organization that's powerful, you talk to any customer success professional and they'll tell you that's what they're measured on.  100%. And so the workforce model changes  as well. ah AI takes  on the repetitive level one work while humans specialize in empathy or complex problem solving and...

09:28
revenue  driving interactions. You talked about the upsell model. So that's where  humans working alongside machines  will play really well here in the contact center. Yeah. And in the AI world,  people are probably familiar with the term human in the loop. That's where they really are going to pop in is in those scenarios. um But  just that aside, I think this means that CIOs aren't just buying a technology.

09:56
they're really rewriting how CX or the customer experience shows up on the P &L. So for the first time, customer experience can now be budgeted as a growth driver and looked at by the finance professionals as a growth driver, not just an operating cost. That's an excellent point that I don't think a lot of organizations have thought through. Even at the finance level, I don't think a lot of CFOs have really looked at it that way. So you make a really good point there. ah

10:25
you know, as I, as I'm kind of thinking about this too, you know, taking another step further, regulatory and ethical blind spots, you know, using this type of environment. So there's,  you know, that dimension here that's easy to underestimate. So AI and CX isn't just about efficiency. It's about compliance and trust working with your end customer. Yeah, absolutely. uh So think, you know, PCI payments.

10:53
uh HIPAA for health interactions  or uh major things like the EU AI Act, which is already defining rules for transparency and bias. So customers are going to expect explainability,  which comes in, that's another  AI term, explainability. And they're going to look for that even in the service. So for example, why was I routed to this bot? Why was this decision made? And explainability will have to be built into the AI model and then rolled up into the

11:23
the customer experience model. Yeah. I think it'll definitely cross  different generations, right? There'll be some generations that will absolutely not want to talk to a bot or an AI agent, even if it sounds like a human, it's interacting like a human. then you'll have another gen. Yeah.  Yeah.  And, then other generations may say, this is great. Like, I just want to get my problem solved or my question answered.  Um,  so, you know, in and of itself,

11:52
I think trust itself becomes a customer experience KPI. So if customers feel the artificial intelligence is opaque or biased or unsafe, they'll churn, they'll leave. Even if the service was fast, they'll get spooked, they'll be gone. 100%. Yep. So that's another reason why governance has to be part of the customer experience or CX strategy from day one. And it's going to be really hard to bolt on later. Yeah.

12:21
You bring up a good point around the CX strategy and maybe if we pivot a little bit, because I know you and I both have to kind of answer  and explain  how  building that strategy sometimes can't just be done within and how an AI consultant can help position businesses for that growth. So it's really a natural question, right? uh How do companies actually get from where they are today?

12:50
and move towards this AI driven future.  Yeah, and this is where an AI consultant plays a critical role. uh It starts with assessment. So looking at your current data infrastructure, your CCAS platform, your contact center as a service platform today, uh your surrounding systems like CRM,  ERP and knowledge bases.

13:13
And a consultant can come in from a third party perspective. not, can, you can see the forest through the trees because you're looking at the whole business and the technology from an outside perspective. Completely agree. And a lot of the times I, you know, explain to clients that you're doing this for your first time. I've done this multiple times  and you know, I've seen what works, what doesn't  granted your organizations  unique in and of itself, but

13:42
the outcomes that you're trying to achieve look like some of your competitors that  I may have worked with. And so because we're doing this repetitively, we have that  built up skill that we've acquired that you're just acquiring for the first time. Yeah. And real world feedback. Exactly. So, know, other things we're asking is, do you have structured engagement data? Is your knowledge base retrievable from an AI pipeline?

14:12
Another question could be, ah your APIs open to AI agents? That's a big one. You who have you partnered with that have API capability to these AI agents and that can trigger actions in downstream systems. So these are questions that you really got to dig through because you may have  software that's not ready. It's not AI enabled yet.  Yeah. And then it's about architecture. So designing the orchestration fabric.

14:40
orchestration fabric will be a term that starts to become a little bit more prominent in CCAS designs.  where is your customer data hub, your AI models, and it's where your business workflows connect. So this might mean uh building rag pipelines, retrieval, augmented generation pipelines, setting up model registries, or creating policy engines for governance that all roll into your context in our orchestration fabric.

15:10
to that point,  just the traditional layer one through three where you're talking about  building these RAG environments, uh oftentimes they're built within  cloud providers.  so one of the things I'll tease right now, we have uh a really good segment coming up with a CEO of uh one of the  cloud leading uh orchestrating uh network providers, I guess you could say. I won't give away the name yet, just yet, but. uh

15:39
And they're delivering these types of connections  seamlessly. It's not over the internet. And so these are the things that you really have to understand. There's a lot of different components. Um, and then once you've kind of built the infrastructure, getting back to  governance, that's really critical. So consultants can help stand up an AI risk committee or committees, um, implement explainability frameworks. You were talking about that a little while ago and design controls.  So your deployments don't just work technically, right? We don't want them to just.

16:09
function technically, they need to meet compliance, meet privacy and brand trust requirements, and really ensure with some of the policies or governing laws that do come out in the future that they can adapt to those.  So that's going to be critical here as  you this next decade kind of you were talking about before organizations have to really plan for. Yeah, right on. And then there's another piece. And it's one a lot of companies underestimate. An independent consultant isn't just bringing technical depth,

16:39
They're also learning your business,  your customer journey, your KPIs, and they can connect the dots between the technology roadmap and the business outcomes that you're targeting. So whether that's reducing cost per interaction or improving MPS Net Promoter Score like we talked about, or driving upsell opportunities, obviously. Yeah, that's completely right. ah Too many vendors will try  to fit you into their platform features.

17:06
And I think that's where an AI consultant can independently ah benchmark those features  and align it with the right vendor.  And that's because they're neutral. ah That consultant is neutral. They don't have the product. ah They're not trying to push it.  And really they're there to align  your artificial intelligence to your business model, not the other way around. And I think that's important because if you are just shoved into a uh

17:35
platform and an architecture, and it has limitations, you're not going to be able to drive exactly what you're just talking about, Scott, improving NPS and identifying what those KPIs are that could help NPS, for example. So that's where an AI consultant in my mind uh really helps. Yeah, exactly. mean, an individual vendor isn't necessarily going to look at the full orchestration platform or pull in another supplier that might  meet a particular need.

18:05
And then finally,  consultants can help you stage the entire journey. So you don't just  flip a switch to an AI first contact center. uh You pilot co-pilots, you move into  autonomous containment for low risk intents. You evolve contracts to be outcome based and you build an internal AI fluency in parallel. So there's a lot of  moving parts and a lot of things that you need to coordinate for  full success.

18:35
completely agree. And to that point on contracts, that's where an AI consultant can help, you know,  in that workflow of achieving favorable terms.  And I think those are the things that obviously you have internal counsel that will look through the T's and C's. But when it comes to the technology of AI and how that's evolving and shifting, making sure that you're  signing up for something that is best for both sides. And I think that's where a lot of organizations, you know, lean on

19:04
myself and Scott, for example, because  not only we're seeing the architectures and we're talking about all the fun things, but we see the business aspect of it as well.  When it comes down to placing that order, signing that  master services agreement, those are the things that an AI consultant can provide  some background info to corporate counsel. Yeah, overlooking one piece can be costly. Absolutely. And I think the end goal is

19:31
positioning your business not just to adopt artificial intelligence, but to lead with it. So turning CX  or customer experience ah from a cost center into this growth engine that we've been talking about.

19:45
Yeah. And this probably good time to just shift into, uh move over into the organizational shift that  some people overlook. And I  think, Gary, you'd agree with this, but maybe the biggest blind spot I see in boardrooms is organizational. ah Absolutely. ah I fully agree.  And it's not, and I'm chuckling not because  companies are doing this  nefariously or they're,  just, this is brand new. So just, I want to caveat that.

20:15
Most companies still see customer experience as the contact center or maybe the service department or a team that they don't fully invest. It has to come from your board and your CEO all the way down to be on the same page. But in this AI era, ah I think customer experience  becomes enterprise wide if you've got everybody from the top down all in alignment. Right. Yeah. And that obviously causes a lot of

20:42
challenges, can be internal political challenges, roadblocks, hurdles, personnel related hurdles for whatever reason. And that this, what you just said is, you know, that that means that org charts are uh probably going to change. You'll have hybrid human and AI teams  and customer experience leaders who sit at the same table as product marketing and operations. I mean, CX becomes orchestration. It's not just a department and that's going to require

21:11
CIOs and  COOs and CEOs to rethink how they structure teams, roles,  and even incentives, right? So if  you are building a platform that can make it even much more fun  for the traditional agent to now not necessarily do trouble resolution, but the platform's telling them, hey, here's five upsell opportunities, or a customer that's willing to be uh a voice  of a customer, know, voice of.

21:37
a reason for you as a company and a referral partner, those are the things that you want the human sentiment to come in and the live person to actually have that conversation. And that just upskills your internal team. drives positive culture. And ultimately those are great things that you can report back into the board. Yeah. So definitely a lot of leadership challenges that go along with this tech, type of technology transformation and, you know, CIOs and CIOs.

22:06
As we've talked about before, you one of the first things on the shortlist is making sure that you get your data house in order. Uh, and then you need to understand and figure out how to build governance into the foundation  and then start working on all the other technical components that we mentioned. Yeah. I mean, really comes down to, you know, the companies that wait for AI to mature will find themselves playing catch up while their competitors deliver the customer experience of the future. And you don't want to be on the backend.

22:35
you know, oh on this, in my opinion.  I agree with that. All right. So  to wrap it up for today's episode, C-CAS gave us the cloud, but AI is giving us the orchestration. think that's a really important summary. And in the AI era, customer experience isn't just a function. It's really part of your business strategy. Perfect. Couldn't have said it better.

23:01
So  let's wrap it up there then, Gary. That's  it for today's episode of the Macroway ad podcast.  So everybody, thanks again for listening.  And if you enjoyed the show, please share it with a colleague and subscribe.  See you next time. Thank you.