Microsoft just gave 700 million users access to AI that thinks before it speaks
PLUS: Your emotion AI primer and five prompts that turn customer frustration into insights
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🗓️ August 11, 2025 ⏱️ Read Time: ~5 minutes
👋 Welcome
I've been tracking something interesting in customer service. While everyone's focused on making AI faster and more efficient, there's a quieter trend emerging around emotional intelligence. Companies are starting to realize that customers don't just want quick answers, they want to feel understood. The research backing this up is pretty compelling, and it's shifting how smart CX leaders need to think about their AI investments.
📡 Signal in the Noise
The convergence is real. From GPT-5's reasoning capabilities to emotion AI reading between the lines, we're seeing AI systems that don't just process requests—they understand context, emotion, and intent at levels that seemed impossible just months ago.
🧠 Executive Lens
I've been thinking about how we frame AI investments. Most conversations still center on cutting costs or speeding up responses. But the companies getting the best results are using AI to understand their customers better, not just serve them faster. That shift in thinking matters more than the technology itself.
📰 Stories That Matter
🧠 OpenAI's GPT-5 lands with Ph.D. level reasoning and 80% fewer hallucinations
Three days ago, OpenAI dropped GPT-5 with a capability that should make every CX leader pause: the ability to think through complex problems step by step before responding. Unlike previous models that fired off quick answers, GPT-5 shows its reasoning process, handles multi step workflows, and cuts hallucinations by 80% compared to earlier reasoning models. Companies like Notion and Vercel are already using it to transform software development from idea to working code in single interactions.
Why This Matters: Your customers' most complex problems just became solvable by AI that thinks like your best human agents.
Try This: Audit your top 10 most escalated customer issues and test whether GPT-5's reasoning approach could handle the multi step troubleshooting your human agents currently manage.
Source: CNBC
💝 Microsoft integrates GPT-5 across enterprise stack, signaling the agentic AI shift
Microsoft announced Thursday it's embedding GPT-5 directly into Microsoft 365 Copilot, consumer Copilot, and Azure AI Foundry, making the reasoning-powered model available to millions of enterprise users immediately. The integration emphasizes GPT-5's agentic capabilities: AI that can complete tasks autonomously rather than just answering questions. This move signals Microsoft's bet that the future of enterprise AI lies in systems that can take actions, not just provide information.
Why This Matters: The line between AI assistant and AI agent just disappeared for millions of enterprise users.
Try This: Map your current customer service workflows to identify which tasks could shift from human guided to AI autonomous with reasoning capable systems.
Source: Microsoft
🎭 Research shows 86% of consumers want AI in customer service, but emotion AI is the missing piece
New data reveals that while 86% of consumers recognize AI's benefits in customer service, the technology still struggles with emotional intelligence. Companies are now turning to emotion AI (systems that analyze voice tone, facial expressions, and text sentiment) to bridge the empathy gap. Premier NX's recent analysis shows businesses using emotion AI alongside traditional chatbots see 25% higher customer satisfaction because the technology can detect frustration and adjust responses accordingly.
Why This Matters: Speed and accuracy aren't enough anymore. Customers want AI that understands how they feel.
Try This: Analyze your customer service transcripts for emotional indicators like "frustrated," "confused," or "urgent" to identify where emotion AI could intervene proactively.
Source: Premier NX
🔧 Zendesk study finds Unity deflected 8,000 tickets and saved $1.3M with AI automation
Unity's implementation of Zendesk's AI automations and bots resulted in a 93% customer satisfaction score while deflecting nearly 8,000 support tickets without human intervention. The gaming platform also achieved an 83% improvement in first response time, demonstrating how strategic AI deployment can simultaneously improve customer experience and operational efficiency. The success came from AI handling routine queries while human agents focused on complex technical issues requiring gaming expertise.
Why This Matters: The ROI on AI customer service isn't theoretical. It's measurable and immediate when implemented strategically.
Try This: Calculate the cost of your top 5 most common support ticket types and model how AI deflection could impact both costs and agent satisfaction.
Source: Zendesk
📊 Verint report reveals 86% of consumers expect AI benefits, with Gen Z leading at 98%
Verint's "State of Customer Experience 2025" report shows a generational shift in AI acceptance, with 98% of 18 to 34 year olds recognizing AI's benefits in customer service compared to 86% overall. The research indicates that customers aren't just tolerating AI, they're demanding it for efficiency and effectiveness. However, the study also reveals that successful AI implementation requires balancing automation with human touch points for complex emotional situations.
Why This Matters: Customer resistance to AI isn't the barrier. Customer expectations for smart AI are accelerating faster than most companies can deliver.
Try This: Survey your customer base by age demographic to understand AI acceptance levels and adjust your automation strategy accordingly.
Source: Verint
✍️ Prompt of the Day
Title: The Emotional Intelligence Audit
Analyze the following customer service conversation and identify:
1. Emotional indicators in the customer's language
2. Moments where the agent could have shown better emotional intelligence
3. Specific phrases that demonstrate empathy or lack thereof
4. Recommendations for improving emotional connection
Customer conversation: [PASTE YOUR CONVERSATION HERE]
Provide your analysis in this format:
- Emotional Journey: Map the customer's emotional state throughout the conversation
- Missed Opportunities: 3 specific moments for better emotional response
- Empathy Score: Rate 1-10 with justification
- Improvement Script: Rewrite 2 key agent responses with higher emotional intelligence
What this uncovers: Hidden emotional patterns in your customer interactions that traditional metrics miss
How to apply it: Use this framework to train agents on emotional intelligence and identify systematic empathy gaps
Where to test: Start with your most challenging customer conversations or complaints with low satisfaction scores
🛠️ Try This Prompt
You are an expert CX strategist analyzing the emotional intelligence gaps in our customer service. Based on this customer interaction data: [PASTE DATA], create a comprehensive emotion AI implementation plan that includes:
1. Priority emotional indicators to monitor (frustration, confusion, urgency, satisfaction)
2. Specific triggers for human escalation based on emotional state
3. Scripted responses for each emotional scenario
4. Training recommendations for agents to work alongside emotion AI
5. Success metrics that balance efficiency with emotional connection
6. 90 day rollout timeline with pilot program recommendations
Format as an executive briefing with clear ROI projections and risk mitigation strategies.
Immediate use case: Transform raw customer data into actionable emotion AI strategy
Tactical benefit: Bridge the gap between AI efficiency and human empathy in your customer service operations
How to incorporate quickly: Use this framework to present emotion AI ROI to leadership and create implementation roadmaps
📎 CX Note to Self
"The future isn't AI replacing empathy. It's AI amplifying our ability to understand what customers truly need."
👋 See You Tomorrow
I'm watching this space closely because the combination of reasoning AI and emotional intelligence feels different from previous waves of automation. The companies experimenting with both are creating customer experiences that feel more thoughtful, not just more efficient.
What's your take on emotion AI? Are you seeing gaps in empathy in your customer interactions that technology might help address? Hit reply and let me know your thoughts.
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Have a great 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. 👉 FREE 32 Power Prompts That Will Change Your CX Strategy – Forever
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