40% Of Agentic AI Projects Will Be Cancelled By 2027
PLUS: Voice AI readiness assessment & 30-day pilot framework
AI news. AI prompts. Real CX progress. For AI-Curious CX Leaders
🗓️ Thursday, June 26, 2025 ⏱️ Read Time: ~5 minutes
👋 Welcome
Reality's setting in. While everyone's been obsessing over the next shiny AI tool, the smartest CX leaders are quietly figuring out what actually works. Today's stories cut through the noise, from Gartner's brutal prediction about failed AI projects to the companies quietly winning with voice automation.
📡 Signal in the Noise
Two speeds are emerging: hype-driven experiments that crash and burn, versus practical implementations that deliver real ROI. The gap between AI theater and AI results is getting wider.
🧠 Executive Lens
Here's the thing nobody wants to say out loud — most of your competitors' AI projects will fail. That's not cynicism; it's math. The winners will be those who pick their battles carefully and execute flawlessly on the basics.
📰 Stories That Actually Matter
🚨 Gartner predicts 40% of agentic AI projects will be cancelled by 2027
More than 40% of agentic AI projects will bite the dust by 2027, according to Gartner's latest reality check. The culprits? Escalating costs, unclear business value, and what researchers call "agent washing," vendors slapping the "agentic" label on regular chatbots without real autonomous capabilities. Only 130 out of thousands of so-called agentic AI vendors are the real deal, making this space more hype than substance for now.
Why This Matters: While your competitors chase shiny AI objects, you can focus on proven automation that actually moves the needle.
Try This: Audit your current AI initiatives. Are they solving real customer problems or just checking boxes?
Source: Reuters
💰 Customer service AI startup Decagon raises $131 million at $1.5B valuation
Decagon just pulled in a massive $131 million Series C, reaching unicorn status with a $1.5 billion valuation in less than a year. Their AI customer service platform is already delivering serious results. Financial services company Chime saw a 60% reduction in contact center costs and doubled their Net Promoter Score. The funding positions Decagon to compete head-to-head with giants like Salesforce while proving that specialized AI can beat generic solutions.
Why This Matters: Smart money is betting big on AI that actually reduces costs and improves customer satisfaction metrics.
Try This: Calculate your current cost per customer interaction. This becomes your baseline for evaluating AI ROI.
Source: Reuters
🎯 Voice AI emerges as 2025's breakout automation technology
Voice AI agents are quietly becoming the automation story of 2025, with 70% of businesses planning adoption by year-end. Unlike the flashy demos of 2024, today's voice AI is delivering practical results. DoorDash automates 35,000+ calls daily with 94% success rates, while Vodafone's voice assistant boosted their NPS from 14 to 64. The tech has moved from experimental to essential, handling complex conversations while seamlessly escalating to humans when needed.
Why This Matters: Voice automation can handle your highest-volume, routine interactions while freeing agents for complex relationship-building.
Try This: Map your top 5 call types by volume — these are prime candidates for voice AI automation.
Source: Deepgram
🧠 AI Impact Summit reveals human-centric approach to customer automation
Industry leaders at this week's AI Impact Summit emphasized that the most successful AI implementations amplify human capabilities rather than replace them. Sears KAIros CEO highlighted how AI agents in call centers now have better access to materials for superior customer recommendations. The consensus? AI's killer app isn't replacing people, it's handling mundane tasks so humans can focus on uniquely human skills like empathy and complex problem-solving.
Why This Matters: The companies winning with AI are those designing human-AI collaboration, not human replacement.
Try This: Identify three tasks your agents spend time on that machines could handle better, freeing them for relationship-building.
Source: Newsweek
🔄 Voice AI shifts from flashy demos to enterprise backbone
Voice AI has evolved from attention-grabbing demos to critical enterprise infrastructure running hospitals, compliance systems, and customer support in real-time. Companies like Content Guru achieved 93% customer satisfaction with 90%+ automation during peak periods, while AI-Media scaled content output by 120x with no additional costs. The shift marks voice technology's maturation from experimental tool to business-critical infrastructure.
Why This Matters: Voice AI has moved past the proof-of-concept phase, it's now delivering measurable ROI at enterprise scale.
Try This: Evaluate your current phone-based customer interactions for automation opportunities, starting with your most predictable call types.
Source: Indapoint
✍️ Prompt of the Day
Voice AI Readiness Assessment
Prompt Text: "I'm a CX leader evaluating voice AI implementation for our customer service operations. Analyze our current phone-based interactions and provide a prioritized roadmap for voice automation.
Current context:
We handle [X] calls per month
Top 3 call types are: [list them]
Average call duration: [X] minutes
Current first-call resolution rate: [X]%
Agent cost per hour: $[X]
Please provide:
Which call types are best suited for voice AI automation (rank by feasibility and impact)
Estimated cost savings and efficiency gains for each
Implementation timeline recommendations
Key success metrics to track
Potential risks and mitigation strategies
Budget range for pilot program
Format as an executive briefing with clear next steps and resource requirements."
How this helps:
Quantifies the business case for voice AI investment with specific ROI projections
Identifies quick wins versus longer-term automation opportunities
Provides framework for pilot program design and success measurement
🛠️ Try This Prompt
Prompt Text: "Create a 30-day voice AI pilot proposal for our customer service team. Focus on automating our most common customer inquiry: [describe your top call type].
Include:
Pilot scope and success criteria
Required technology stack and vendors to evaluate
Team roles and training needs
Customer communication strategy
Measurement framework and KPIs
Go/no-go decision criteria for full rollout
Make it actionable with specific timelines, budgets, and deliverables."
What you'll get:
Transforms voice AI strategy into concrete 30-day action plan
Provides structured approach to vendor evaluation and selection
Creates clear framework for measuring pilot success and scaling decisions
📎 CX Note to Self
"Your competitors' AI failures aren't bugs — they're features. While they chase every shiny new tool, you can win by executing brilliantly on the basics."
👋 See You Tomorrow
That's it for today. The AI landscape is separating the serious players from the experimenters. Focus on solving real customer problems, measure everything, and let others chase the hype.
Hit reply with your thoughts. 👋
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Have an AI‑mazing day!
—Mark
👉 P.S. Want more prompts? Grab the FREE 32 Power Prompts That Will Change Your CX Strategy – Forever to start transforming your team, now.