Customer experience (CX) is evolving faster than ever, and businesses are under increasing pressure to deliver seamless, personalised, and efficient interactions across every touchpoint. To understand where industry leaders believe the greatest CX impact will come from, we recently ran a LinkedIn poll asking:
“Which will have the biggest impact on customer experience in the next 5 years?”
The results were clear, and surprisingly revealing:
- AI & Automation – 45%
- Personalisation of Service – 32%
- Staff Training – 14%
- Omni-Channel Consistency – 9%
These results tell us far more than just what professionals are voting for. They uncover how priorities are shifting, where investments may be heading, and crucially, what might be underestimated in the race to enhance customer experience.
In this blog, we break down the results and explore what they really say about the future of CX.
1️⃣ AI & Automation Dominated the Poll – But Why?
With 45% of the votes, AI clearly stands out as the perceived game-changer for the next five years.
Brands are excited about AI because it promises:
- Faster customer response times
- 24/7 availability
- Predictive and proactive service
- More efficient operations
- Consistent automated interactions
And in many ways, this excitement is justified. AI is already reshaping service delivery in retail, hospitality, banking, and utilities.
But there’s also a risk: AI can only amplify the experience your people and processes already deliver.
If the foundations are weak, AI won’t magically fix them - it will simply make flaws more obvious, more quickly.
At Performance in People, we see through mystery shopping data that customers still rate human warmth, empathy, and communication as the most memorable part of any experience. AI is powerful, but not a complete CX solution.
2️⃣ Personalisation Is a Growing Priority – And Often Misunderstood
Coming in at 32%, personalisation reflects a major shift in customer expectations.
But there’s a misconception:
personalisation is not just using a customer’s name or referencing order history.
True personalisation means:
- Understanding customer intent
- Anticipating needs
- Tailoring experiences in real time
- Offering relevant suggestions, not generic scripts
- Showing genuine interest in each interaction
AI can support this, but frontline employees bring it to life.
This is where mystery shopping insights are crucial. We consistently find that the human impact (behaviours) of personalisation (like tone of voice, empathy, rapport-building) drives higher satisfaction and loyalty than purely automated approaches.
3️⃣ Staff Training Ranked Low… Yet It Influences Everything Else
Only 14% of respondents chose staff training, making it one of the most undervalued CX drivers in the poll.
However, training directly influences:
- How effectively staff use AI tools
- How consistently employees deliver personalisation
- The level of emotional engagement customers feel
- Brand standards and service consistency
AI and technology can’t compensate for untrained or disengaged teams.
They only reach their full potential when employees are confident, skilled, and customer-focused.
In fact, our own research highlights that emotionally engaged staff achieve significantly higher CX scores, reinforcing that human behaviour remains a core competitive advantage.
4️⃣ Omni-Channel Consistency: The Silent CX Dealbreaker
Despite its importance, omni-channel consistency received just 9% of votes.
Yet inconsistent journeys are one of the biggest pain points customers report:
- Different answers in store vs. online
- Conflicting information between channels
- Variable tone of voice across communication platforms
- Slow or fragmented transitions between digital and human support
Customers don’t think in channels - they think in experiences.
When brands appear disjointed, customer confidence suffers.
Mystery shopping across both digital and physical channels often reveals gaps brands didn’t know existed. Consistency may not be the most exciting CX topic, but it’s foundational.
What Do These Results Mean for the Future of CX?
The poll highlights an important truth:
Technology is driving CX innovation, but human experience remains the differentiator.
Based on the data, the CX landscape over the next five years will likely centre around:
🤖 AI supporting (not replacing!) human service
Brands will increasingly combine automation with human empathy for hybrid customer journeys.
🎯 Personalisation becoming the standard, not the goal
Customers expect relevant, connected, and tailored experiences every time.
👨🏫 Human training becoming even more important
Frontline employees will need new skills: emotional intelligence, digital fluency, and customer-centred communication.
🌐 Consistent journeys across channels
The brands that win will deliver the same message, tone, and service quality everywhere - store, online, chat, phone, and apps.
Conclusion: CX Leaders Are Betting on AI, But the Human Element Still Wins
Our LinkedIn poll shows where industry attention is heading - toward AI-powered, personalised, streamlined experiences. But it also reveals areas that risk being overlooked, such as staff training and omni-channel consistency.
At Performance in People, we believe the future of CX belongs to brands that combine:
- Smart technology
- Skilled and emotionally engaged employees
- Seamless, consistent experiences across every channel
That’s a future where customers feel valued, understood, and supported - no matter how they choose to interact.
