Supercharging the Customer Journey Experience: The Power of AI The traditional concept of the brand-led customer journey has been replaced by a more dynamic approach in which the customer is in control. This shift demands a proactive response from all businesses, and leaders must ensure their teams are equipped to keep up in what is now a customer-led landscape. Central to achieving this is AI and real-time customer journey technology. It’s what’s driving a new level of success in the market, allowing teams to create journeys that meet and exceed the expectations of individuals today. In this article, we examine this idea and explain why businesses yet to embrace this approach must act now or risk getting left behind. The role of AI in successful customer-led journey experiences Unlocking the power of customer-centricity relies on the most cutting-edge technology. More and more leaders are recognizing this, actively exploring and implementing AI and real-time CX solutions to revolutionize operations by solving their biggest challenges and supercharging customer journeys. When armed with these tools, teams can rapidly process vast amounts of data like never before, discovering insights that cannot be efficiently or effectively uncovered manually due to time and resource constraints. For example, by leveraging AI-driven journey analytics, businesses can identify customer drop-offs, pain points and engagement and resolve them to create a better experience. This can all be achieved within a matter of days or hours. Additionally, AI-powered technology allows teams to orchestrate meaningful experiences in real-time and create consistent, relevant, and hyper-personalized cross-channel journeys. All of this leads to improved revenue, reduced costs, and increased customer satisfaction. The State of Customer Journey Experience 2023 – 2024 report by Alterian and CX Network found that 42% of businesses have made initial efforts to enhance customer journeys using CX technologies. While these numbers are promising, only 10% have a fully integrated customer journey strategy that utilizes the latest CX technology. For those slow off the mark, now is the time to act. According to Alterian CEO Bob Hale, “Late adopters must act quickly or risk losing customers to more innovative rivals. In a rapidly evolving landscape, failure to adopt new technology hampers the ability to catch up, leading to long-term customer, revenue, and market share loss.” The good news is that AI-driven technologies, once adopted, can make a positive difference quickly and fast-track the progress of slow starters. The research demonstrates that an increasing number of businesses are taking notice of this advice and are starting to explore ways to improve their customer journeys. For example, 38% are actively researching or implementing AI-driven analytics to better understand customer behavior, 29% are researching customer data platforms (CDPs) to centralize customer data, and 17% are focused on integrated CX platforms, such as journey orchestration, to deliver personalized cross-channel experiences. Interestingly, 25% more respondents in EMEA are focused on integrated CX platforms than those in the USA and Canada. Looking beyond tomorrow There are clear leaders and laggards when it comes to the state of customer journey experiences – and the leaders are still very much in the minority. If trailing businesses are to catch up, they must leverage AI to analyze and uncover actionable insights and use these to proactively adapt to customers’ needs and create seamless and personalized journeys that give them exactly what they want. It’s this that will propel these businesses to the next level. When 100 business leaders were asked what area they think AI can make the most positive impact on the customer journey experience into the future, 39% of respondents said it would be using AI-driven analytics to better understand their customers’ behaviors and inform CX strategy. Overall, the research also showed that in the EMEA region there was a noticeable push towards data-driven strategies, AI analysis, and enhanced digitalization. More businesses are starting to focus more on centralizing customer views, understanding sales-driving touchpoints, and integrating advanced analytics are essential. AI and automation are starting to be leveraged to better understand and improve the customer journey, with a combination of live agents and conversational AI. Investment is being channeled into AI (including General AI) and ML to simplify the customer experience and harness new possibilities within customer journey analytics. The goal is to innovate and enhance the functionality of software solutions, making them more intuitive and effective in handling customer data. Alex Thompson – Alterian Product Director” Conversely, businesses in the US are increasingly integrating AI and advanced technologies to enhance the customer journey, aiming for personalized, seamless experiences. They are focusing on data-driven insights, real-time responses, and predictive analytics to better understand and respond to customer behaviors and preferences. Despite the technological advancements, the emphasis in this region remains on fostering a customer-centric culture and ensuring effective communication, collaboration, and continuous learning across teams to drive customer satisfaction and loyalty. THE FUTURE: WHAT LEADERS ARE SAYING 100 global CX leaders were asked how they envision their customer journey management evolving in the future. Here’s a snapshot of their responses. “With the infusion of AI, businesses will harness the power of predictive analytics and real-time data to anticipate customer needs and proactively deliver value at every juncture. The future [is about] creating memorable experiences that resonate on a human level, fostering long-lasting relationships and driving brand loyalty.” “We will be able to instantly obtain all the information needed and brainstorm ideas automatically. A huge part of the workflow will be handled by LLMs and AI.” “Businesses should utilize advanced data analytics, which would allow them to tailor their interactions and make real-time adjustments.” “We will use AI to do more predictive understanding of customer behavior.” “AI is going to have a significant impact on customer journey management [and] let us look at the patterns of customer behavior more readily. Learning fast about our customers is invaluable and the key to being relevant and essential. Ultimately, it will help businesses prioritize where to devote budget and resources across business operations.” Future-proof your business with AI The challenges around customer journey experience are well established. While the technology exists to solve these challenges, many businesses are still yet to fully harness the power of AI or incorporate it into their business strategy and operations. An opportunity now exists for you to forge ahead. AI-driven technology, such as Alterian’s Real-Time CX Platform, empowers you to truly understand your customers at a deeper level and create consistent and hyper-personalized cross-channel journeys that will optimize your performance and give you an edge. Once the majority of businesses adopt AI solutions, the effectiveness and efficiency of CX teams worldwide will be redefined forever – and so too will the customer journey experience. For more insights on the state of the customer journey experience and how AI can be harnessed to optimize the customer journey experience, download The State of Customer Journey Experience 2023 – 2024 report. Ready to create unforgettable journeys with AI to make a positive difference to your customers and your business? Get in touch with our team. DISCOVER THE LATEST CX INSIGHTS AND FINDINGS