AI Calls Businesses While Execs Struggle With Basics
PLUS: Prompts to audit the gap between your AI confidence and actual CX performance
DCX AI TODAY
🗓️ July 18, 2025 ⏱️ Read Time: ~5 minutes
👋 Welcome
The AI revolution in customer experience isn't slowing down – it's accelerating into spaces we never expected. While we've been debating whether AI can handle complex customer queries, it's quietly learned to make dinner reservations and summarize our Slack conversations.
📡 Signal in the Noise
Enterprise AI tools are moving beyond basic automation into true collaboration and autonomous action. The theme today: AI isn't just answering questions anymore – it's taking action on our behalf.
🧠 Executive Lens
While 57% of executives believe AI will enhance customer experience, only 17% think their organizations are effectively optimizing CX overall. The disconnect suggests confidence in AI tools isn't translating to execution fundamentals.
📰 Stories That Matter
🤖 Slack transforms into your AI-powered work brain
Slack rolled out advanced AI features for paid subscribers that go way beyond simple chatbots. We're talking enterprise search that actually works, automated meeting recaps that don't suck, and real-time translations for global teams. The standout feature? AI-powered task management integrated directly into Canvas, turning scattered conversations into actionable workflows.
Why This Matters: This signals the shift from AI as a separate tool to AI as the invisible intelligence layer that makes work actually work.
Try This: Audit your team's most time-consuming recurring tasks – meetings that need summaries, project updates scattered across channels, or status reports that take forever to compile.
Source: PYMNTS
📊 The CX reality check: 57% confident, 17% effective
A new Protiviti-Oxford survey reveals a brutal truth about AI in customer experience. While 57% of global executives are confident AI will enhance CX, only 17% believe their organization is actually optimizing customer experience effectively right now. The gap is most pronounced in Europe, where just 10% say they're executing well despite 45% calling CX extremely important.
Why This Matters: The problem isn't AI capability – it's organizational execution, with omnichannel experiences and digital touchpoints being the biggest pain points.
Try This: Conduct an honest audit of your CX optimization gap by comparing what your leadership thinks you're achieving versus what your frontline teams report.
Source: MarketScreener
🚀 Gartner predicts 80% autonomous customer service by 2029
Gartner dropped a bombshell prediction: agentic AI will autonomously resolve 80% of common customer service issues without human intervention by 2029. Unlike current generative AI that assists agents, these systems will proactively solve problems on behalf of customers. Customer service teams will need to adapt to supporting both human customers and an increasing number of machine customers.
Why This Matters: We're moving from AI-assisted customer service to AI-autonomous customer service, fundamentally changing what human agents will do.
Try This: Identify your top 20 most common customer issues and evaluate which could be fully automated without human oversight – these are your 2029 candidates.
Source: Gartner
📞 Google's AI agents will call businesses for you
Google Search now includes an AI calling feature that phones local businesses on your behalf to check prices, availability, and even make reservations. Available across the US (except five states), the AI handles the awkward small talk so you don't have to. Businesses can opt out, but the calls are monitored for quality control.
Why This Matters: This represents the first mainstream deployment of AI agents that interact with human customer service teams – a preview of how customer interactions will evolve.
Try This: Map out which customer touchpoints in your business could benefit from AI-to-AI communication, eliminating phone tag and reducing friction.
Source: PYMNTS
🎯 The agentic internet will eliminate shopping friction
The World Economic Forum highlighted how 75% of customers find online shopping frustrating due to decision fatigue and fragmented experiences. Enter the "agentic internet" – interconnected AI tools that handle complex searching, purchasing, and maintenance tasks autonomously. Think of it as having a personal digital concierge that negotiates deals, fills out forms, and arranges delivery while you focus on what you actually want.
Why This Matters: This represents the next evolution beyond chatbots – AI agents that complete entire customer journeys rather than just answering questions.
Try This: Map your customer's most friction-heavy journey and identify which steps could be fully automated by AI agents working on their behalf.
Source: World Economic Forum
✍️ Prompt of the Day
Title: CX Execution Gap Analysis
You are a CX strategy consultant analyzing the gap between AI confidence and execution effectiveness. Based on our current customer experience data:
[Paste your CX metrics, customer feedback, and operational data]
Provide a candid assessment of:
1. Where we think we're performing vs. actual customer perception
2. Our biggest execution blindspots in AI-powered CX
3. Three specific actions to close the confidence-reality gap
4. Quick wins that prove AI value without major overhaul
Format as an executive briefing with clear recommendations.
What this uncovers: Hidden disconnects between leadership perception and customer reality
How to apply it: Use monthly to calibrate AI CX investments with actual performance
Where to test: Start with your highest-volume customer touchpoints first
🛠️ Try This Prompt
Act as a customer experience auditor. I'll give you a customer interaction scenario, and you'll evaluate it from three perspectives:
1. Current state (human agent handling)
2. AI-assisted state (agent with AI tools)
3. Autonomous state (AI handling independently)
For each state, assess: speed, accuracy, personalization, cost, and customer satisfaction potential.
Scenario: [Describe your specific customer interaction]
Provide scores 1-10 for each dimension and recommend the optimal approach for 2025 vs. 2029.
Immediate use case: Roadmap planning for AI implementation priorities
Tactical benefit: Data-driven decisions on what to automate when
How to incorporate quickly: Run weekly scenarios with your CX team
📎 CX Note to Self
"The gap between AI confidence and AI execution is where competitive advantage lives. While everyone's talking about what AI can do, winners are doing it."
👋 See You Monday
The agentic internet is coming whether we're ready or not. The question isn't if AI will handle customer interactions – it's whether you'll lead the transition or get dragged through it.
Hit reply with your thoughts on the execution gap. Are you seeing similar disconnects in your organization? 👋
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Have an AI‑mazing day!
—Mark
💡 P.S. Want more prompts? 👉 FREE 32 Power Prompts That Will Change Your CX Strategy – Forever