Across industries and geographies, one theme echoed clearly in recent interviews with several CX professionals: Customer expectations are changing faster than the systems designed to serve them. Whether they’re consumers, patients, students or other constituents seeking help, people now contact organizations informed by AI, impatient with friction, and sensitive to whether organizations truly understand and value them. 

As 2026 unfolds, the ability to provide customers with seamless, context-aware and emotionally intelligent experiences — delivered instantly when possible, and human-centered when it matters most — will define which organizations earn trust and which quietly lose relevance.  

The CX professionals we spoke with — from the C-suite and frontline team leaders to engineers and Q&A analysts — offered clear insight into the customer behaviors and expectations already reshaping CX operations. They also shared practical guidance on how organizations should prepare now, not just for today but also for 2027 and beyond.  

The Customer Behaviors That Matter Most  

Customers Think in Conversations, Not Channels  

Across industries, CX professionals pointed to the same core shift: Customers no longer tolerate fragmented experiences or repeated explanations. They expect organizations to remember who they are, what’s already happened, and why they’re reaching out — regardless of channel or timing.   

Akshat Sharma, QA Analyst at Skylux Inc., described this as the era of “silent expectations,” where customers expect speed, personalization, and continuity without having to ask for it. Other CX professionals we interviewed agree, noting that organizations need to reframe CX around context rather than just channels. 

“Customers don’t think in tickets or queues anymore. They think in conversations,” said Lorena Lovric, Director of Customer Service at Aterian.  

In healthcare, Scott Blanchard, Director of Digital Patient Experience at Rush University System for Health, sees this playing out in customers’ growing demand for flexibility without friction. Patients want to engage through their preferred channel, at their preferred time, and still expect continuity if they switch channels mid-journey. Supporting that behavior, he noted, requires CX teams to expand self-service while preserving a seamless end-to-end experience. 

David Rick, Manager of Information Systems, Access Center Digital Enablement, at Rush University Medical Center, echoed this sentiment. “Customers now expect to stop and restart interactions without having to repeat themselves,” he said. This is a clear signal that disconnected systems and siloed data are no longer acceptable in CX operations. 

What’s shifting is not just how customers move across channels, but how much intelligence they expect systems to apply on their behalf. Increasingly, customers are comfortable trusting technology to remember, anticipate, and act — changing both where and how CX is delivered.   

“Customers will trust intelligent, autonomous systems to act on their behalf, fundamentally changing where and how CX is delivered,” said Parvez Alam, Network Engineer at NCR Voyix. 

That trust raises the bar for CX operations. 

Organizations can no longer operate in a reactive mode, responding to isolated requests. Instead, they must design journeys that adapt in real time and align automation and human judgment seamlessly. As Alam put it, CX operations must “shift from reaction to orchestration,” supported by AI-native infrastructure, rearchitected roles, and systems that embed trust and empathy alongside efficiency.

AI Has Changed the Starting Line 

Customers increasingly arrive informed — and sometimes misinformed — by AI before engaging with an organization. In legal services, Monique Keels has seen constituents rely heavily on AI tools for legal guidance. “People are a little bit more trusting of AI,” said Keels, Manager of the Brief Services and Legal Advice Helpline at Community Legal Services, noting both the opportunity and the risk. When those tools lack guardrails or local nuance, customers may arrive confused or frustrated, requiring CX teams to rebuild clarity and trust. 

At the National Domestic Violence Hotline, Chief Technology Officer Marty Hand described a similarly complex challenge. Survivors may reach out after receiving AI-generated advice that is inaccurate, unsafe, or emotionally harmful. Or search may direct survivors to automated “help pathways” that were not created with domestic violence safety principles in mind.  

“As a result, our advocates must often validate, correct, and contextualize what callers, chatters, or texters have already encountered — even as AI-driven search and discovery tools increasingly shape whether and how survivors find The Hotline in the first place,” said Hand. “We also must stay vigilant about how The Hotline appears in AI-powered search experiences, ensuring that survivors receive clear, safe and immediate routes to live, trained advocates as appropriate.”  

These new AI-led pathways underscore a shared reality: Organizations must now consider these information sources could alter customer and employee experiences — and ensure they provide trusted, purpose-built and human-centered support. 

Automation Is Expected; Empathy Is Non-Negotiable 

While customers continue to gravitate toward automation and self-service for speed and convenience, empathy remains the defining factor when experiences become complex or emotional. “Customers want to feel heard — and their patience is shorter than ever,” said Rachel Papka, Chief Innovation Officer at Steinberg Diagnostic Medical Imaging Centers (SDMI). 

Papka pointed out that while some consumers prefer to self-serve whenever possible and without friction, they also expect to be recognized and understood when they do need human support.  

“They don’t want to explain their situation; they want organizations to already know it,” she said. “So, we must continue to lead with empathy — not just in our conversations, but in how we design our digital experiences. CX today isn’t about speed alone; it’s about simplicity, emotional reassurance, and confidence.” 

Bill Boga, Executive Director of Contact Center Strategy and AI Transformation at Kaplan NA, echoed that sentiment. But he also called out the lingering skepticism many customers have toward self-service. “There’s an image issue with AI in customer service” shaped by years of ineffective bots and impersonal IVRs, he said.  

Oonagh O’Reilly, Director of Transformation and Operational Support at Eir, added that self-service today must be flawless. “Automated interactions need to consistently deliver a seamless, successful customer journey”, said O’Reilly. “Failing to achieve this will undermine confidence in a company’s overall customer experience.” 

Taken together, these insights point to a clear reality: Customers expect automation to feel intelligent, relevant, and emotionally aware — and they expect fast access to empathetic humans when it can’t provide the information or issue resolution they need.  

“They’ll demand natural, conversational interactions and smooth transitions between automation and humans,” said Glenda Kingston, Director, Quality Assurance, Sedgwick. “Organizations should invest in conversational AI, voice analytics and agent coaching for adaptive communication styles to meet these evolving expectations.” 

How Organizations Should Prepare Now 

Design CX as a System That Remembers  

The organizations that will successfully use CX as a competitive differentiator are moving toward systems that retain context, adapt in real time, and support both customers and employees. “Stop thinking in tickets and channels and start designing CX as a living system,” advised Lovric of Aterian.  

In practice, that means investing in integration, data governance and shared visibility across touchpoints, so conversations can continue without friction or repetition. 

This need for continuity also shows up clearly in healthcare. Rick at Rush University Medical Center, emphasized that customers expect to pause and restart interactions without losing momentum. Meeting that expectation requires CX leaders to prioritize interoperability now — not as a future-state ambition, but as a foundational capability. 

“Organizations should prepare now by closely analyzing customer journeys, automating processes where success and friction-free experiences can be ensured,” said O’Reilly of Eir.  

Make Self-Service Appealing and Effective 

Self-service has to feel genuinely helpful, intelligent and respectful of customers’ time if they’re going to choose it repeatedly. “The tolerance of clumsy automation is disappearing fast. AI isn’t impressive anymore, relevance is,” said Lovric of Aterian.  

“Customers are going to start expecting more sophisticated virtual agents in 2026 as the technology becomes more widely implemented,” added John Butine, Senior IT Support at Liberty HealthShare. “Organizations should start implementing these AI capabilities in more and more parts of their operation.” 

Boga at Kaplan suggested that organizations make self-service tools more engaging by making them more agent-like while ensuring that the answers they provide are useful. 

He also cautioned that bots trained on internal language and limited datasets often fail customers, forcing them to escalate. Preparing now means translating internal knowledge into customer-friendly language and ensuring AI can surface accurate, relevant answers quickly. 

“Organizations should partner with their operational stakeholders to remove barriers to self-service,” added Blanchard at Rush University System for Health. He also recommended that organizations identify their desired front-end self-service experience and strategize the data requirements and governance needed to make it consistently effective for customers. 

Invest in the Agent Experience  

As automation handles more routine interactions, human engagements become fewer — and far more consequential. O’Reilly of Eir stressed that organizations must help agents see technology as an ally, not a threat. “Agents need to fully understand that they are not being replaced by technology but rather being supported by it,” she said. 

Papka of SDMI echoed this perspective from a patient-care lens. When agents are trained in emotional intelligence and aligned closely with clinical or operational teams, the contact center evolves from a transactional function into a trusted extension of the brand.  

Providing agents with the information they need in real time will help them build those trusted customer relationships. Boga of Kaplan recommends implementing capabilities like Agent Copilot to improve information access, consistency across interactions and resolution speed — all of which benefit both agents and customers.  

“The consumer appreciates not sitting on the phone for half an hour while an agent is researching needed information,” said Boga. “Plus, messaging will be consistent — and that’s huge. Probably one of the most frustrating things for customers is to hang up, call back and get a completely different answer.” 

Lead With Trust, Not Trends 

Chasing innovation at the expense of trust can erode customer confidence to the point of churn. “You can have the greatest innovations, but if you don’t have trust and consistency with your clients, you’ll lose them,” said Keels of Community Legal Services. 

Preparing for the future is about understanding customer behavior, she said. Trends come and go, often based on changes in customer behavior. The priority is to study how people interact with your products and services, and get to the root cause when they don’t. 

Keels also advised that when organizations introduce innovations like AI to the customer experience, companies should focus on how to leverage these innovations and solutions while making sure that consistency and trust remain at the forefront.  

That principle is critical in high-risk, high-emotion environments. Hand of National Domestic Violence Hotline highlighted the importance of distinguishing purpose-built, governed AI from generic tools. As AI reshapes how people seek help, organizations must ensure their CX remains grounded in safety, confidentiality, and expert human judgment — the elements that build lasting trust.

Where to Start 

Customers don’t reward organizations for trying to be customer centric. More than ever, they reward those that are — with loyalty, advocacy and wallet share. 

Winning in that environment means the future of CX belongs to leaders willing to: 

  • Build CX systems that remember and adapt 
  • Use AI responsibly, transparently, and empathetically 
  • Empower agents as the human core of the customer experience 

“The future of CX belongs to companies willing to learn faster than their customers lose patience,” said Lovric of Aterian. “The best CX teams won’t have all the answers, they’ll have the courage to keep evolving.” 

For CX executives, the work starts now: Examine where context breaks, where empathy gets lost and where technology can truly support the human experience. 

Because the customers of 2026 and beyond won’t wait for you to catch up. 

Ready to compete in this experience-first economy? Watch our on-demand webinar “Five trends reshaping customer experience in 2026” to hear what industry experts and CX pioneers say are five patterns transforming CX this year.