DCX Links | October 26, 2025
What if your next big CX innovation wasn’t another dashboard—but a mindset shift?
Welcome to the DCX weekly roundup of customer experience insights!
This week, we explore a future where customer experience is co-created with AI, guided by emotion, and measured not in clicks but in trust and resonance.
From brain-computer interfaces to AR mirrors that drive real sales, the stories below challenge us to think beyond screens and systems—and design experiences that feel as natural as they are intelligent.
Whether you’re grappling with AI ROI or seeking the next breakthrough, the future of CX starts here—with empathy, ethics, and intelligent action.
Let’s dig in!
This week’s must-read links:
The Web Won’t Look Like the Web in 2125
Uber’s New “Digital Tasks” Turn Drivers into AI Trainers
Meta’s New AI Guardrails Put Parents Back in the Driver’s Seat
The “Next Best Experience” Era Is Here
DCX Stat of the Week: 60% of Companies See No Value from AI Despite Massive Investment
DCX Case Study of the Week: Sephora’s AR Mirrors Drive 31% Sales Increase
The Web Won’t Look Like the Web in 2125
Forget pages, menus, and screens. In 100 years, “web design” could evolve into something closer to designing realities—a world where AI, AR, and neural interfaces merge digital information seamlessly into human experience.
Why it matters:
The boundaries between physical and digital will blur. Designers won’t build pages—they’ll craft fluid, adaptive environments that anticipate human intent.
Customer experience will extend beyond devices. Imagine brands designing sensory and emotional states rather than visual layouts.
CX leaders must prepare for a world where interaction is invisible but constant—personalization powered by thought, not clicks.
State of play:
Voice, holograms, and brain-computer interfaces could replace screens entirely, turning websites into living ecosystems.
Designers may become “experience architects,” training AI to understand human emotion, context, and story.
Creativity and empathy remain the final human edges—what can’t be automated must be felt.
The bottom line:
The future of web design won’t be about pixels—it’ll be about psychology. As interfaces disappear, the real competitive advantage will lie in designing how digital experiences feel.
🔗 Go Deeper: Noah Davis, Web Designer Depot
Uber’s New “Digital Tasks” Turn Drivers into AI Trainers
Lede: Uber is piloting a new way for US drivers to earn—by completing short, app-based digital tasks instead of driving. Behind the scenes, this experiment signals a bigger shift: gig workers helping train the AI systems that will shape the next generation of customer experiences.
Why it matters:
AI needs human nuance. Each voice clip, image, or translation helps refine AI models that power personalization, recommendations, and natural language experiences. CX leaders should note: better data equals better customer interactions.
Micro-work, macro impact. Drivers become part of a distributed “experience workforce,” training systems to recognize emotion, intent, and cultural context—the very ingredients of great CX.
Downtime becomes design time. For Uber, this is both a new income stream for drivers and a strategic way to scale its AI Solutions arm through real human input.
State of play:
Drivers can opt in via the Uber Work Hub and complete tasks paying $0.50–$4, from uploading images to recording audio.
Tasks are optional, fast, and feed into AI model training for Uber and partner companies.
The pilot runs in select US markets and is expected to expand in 2025.
The CX takeaway:
Uber’s experiment shows where CX is heading—toward human-AI collaboration. The next generation of customer experiences won’t just use AI; they’ll be trained by the very people they serve.
🔗 Learn More→ Uber Blog
Meta’s New AI Guardrails Put Parents Back in the Driver’s Seat
Meta is rolling out new parental controls that let parents manage and monitor how their teens interact with AI on Instagram and other platforms. The move reflects growing concern about how generative AI intersects with youth safety—and how tech companies can rebuild trust with families navigating digital life.
Why it matters:
AI is becoming a co-parent. Teens are turning to AI companions for advice, creativity, and learning support. Meta’s new safeguards—like PG-13 language filters and parental visibility into chat topics—acknowledge that AI now shapes emotional and social development.
Transparency is the new trust signal. Giving parents insight into how teens use AI helps restore confidence after years of scrutiny over social media’s effects on mental health.
The model for CX teams: This approach shows how designing with families, not just for them, builds long-term trust and engagement.
State of play:
Parents can disable one-on-one chats with AI characters, block specific bots, or review conversation themes.
Teen interactions are capped to safe, educational topics and rated for PG-13 appropriateness.
AI also detects suspected teens misreporting their age and automatically applies protections.
The CX takeaway:
Meta’s update highlights a broader shift: responsible AI design is now part of the customer experience mandate. Whether your users are parents, patients, or passengers, safety, transparency, and control will define how people trust digital systems in the AI era.
🔗 Go Deeper: Adam Mosseri & Alexandr Wang, Meta Newsroom
The “Next Best Experience” Era Is Here
Imagine knowing exactly what your customer needs—before they do. That’s the promise of the next best experience (NBX), a new AI-driven approach where every message, offer, and touchpoint is sequenced and personalized in real time. It’s not marketing automation—it’s predictive empathy at scale.
Why it matters:
CX as a value engine: Companies using NBX report up to 20% higher satisfaction, 8% more revenue, and 30% lower service costs. It’s proof that customer experience now drives financial performance, not just loyalty metrics.
From campaigns to conversations: Instead of blasting generic offers, AI orchestrates when and how to engage—like pausing a promo if a customer just filed a complaint. Every moment becomes intentional.
The new CX mindset: AI-powered decisioning shifts teams from “sending messages” to “shaping experiences.” That means silos must dissolve between marketing, service, and product.
State of play:
Leading brands are already using NBX engines to predict churn, time outreach, and generate real-time personalized content with gen AI.
Agentic AI models can now test, adapt, and refine customer communications autonomously—accelerating what used to take teams weeks.
Success still hinges on human trust and adoption; the best models fail if frontline teams don’t believe or act on AI’s recommendations.
The CX takeaway:
The future of customer experience isn’t about managing journeys—it’s about orchestrating moments. CX leaders who build next best experience engines today will own the customer relationships of tomorrow.
🔗Go Deeper: Lars Fiedler et al. McKinsey & Co
DCX Stat of the Week
60% of companies see no value from AI despite massive investment
DCX Stat: Despite substantial AI investment, 60% of companies report achieving no material value at all from their AI initiatives—minimal revenue increases and cost savings—while only 5% achieve substantial returns, according to BCG’s September 2025 study of over 1,250 firms worldwide.
Takeaway: While CX leaders rush to deploy AI solutions to stay competitive, this research reveals most AI initiatives fail to deliver promised value, suggesting teams should focus on proven fundamentals before chasing AI trends.
Source: Boston Consulting Group “The Widening AI Value Gap: Build for the Future 2025”
🔗 Go Deeper: BCG
🔗 MORE STATS: Daily Stats on Substack Notes
DCX Case Study of the Week
Sephora’s AR Mirrors Drive 31% Sales Increase
CX Challenge: Traditional beauty shopping created friction for customers who wanted to try products before purchasing but were hesitant about hygiene concerns, limited in-store testing options, and uncertain about how makeup would look on their specific skin tone and features.
Action Taken: Deployed augmented reality (AR) mirrors and virtual try-on technology across stores and mobile platforms, allowing customers to digitally test makeup products including lipstick, eyeshadow, and foundation using facial recognition and color-matching algorithms.
Result: 31% increase in sales from AR mirror trials, AR try-on users demonstrated conversion rates up to 90% higher than traditional shoppers, reduced product returns due to better color matching, and enhanced customer confidence in purchasing decisions.
Lesson for CX Pros: Technology that removes purchase barriers while adding experiential value creates measurable business impact. The key is addressing a real customer pain point (uncertainty about product fit) with an engaging solution that feels natural to the shopping journey rather than gimmicky.
Quote: “AR try-on users demonstrate conversion rates up to 90% higher than traditional shoppers.”
🔗 Further Reading: BrandXR Research Report on AR Mirrors in Beauty
Thank you!
I hope you found value in this week’s links. See you next Sunday at 8:15 am ET!
If this edition sparked ideas, share it with a colleague or team member. Let’s grow the DCX community together!
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