The Gap Between AI Adoption and AI Value Keeps Widening — And Customers are the Ones Feeling It.
PLUS: Today’s tool shows how simple, consistent video can actually reduce customer effort instead of adding more channels.
📅 November 25, 2025 | ⏱️ 4-min read
Good Morning!
There’s a clear pattern in today’s stories: AI is everywhere, but meaningful impact is still rare. Companies are investing heavily, yet customers only feel the difference when the technology actually makes their experience easier.
We’re seeing that play out across the board — from enterprise AI struggling to show value, to frontline tools like Zoom and Google finally nudging experiences in the right direction. And while innovations like agentic AI sound exciting, most teams aren’t ready for the responsibility that comes with letting AI act on its own.
The theme is simple: AI helps when it reduces effort — for customers and employees. Everything else is noise.
Here’s what you need to know today.
🧠 AI Investments Are Surging — But Value Isn’t Keeping Up
A recent Boston Consulting Group (BCG) report shows only 5% of companies are capturing significant value from their AI investments, while nearly 60% report minimal impact despite large deployments.
Why it matters for CX: This is a lesson most CX teams already know — features don’t equal outcomes. If the customer journey doesn’t noticeably improve, AI becomes a cost rather than a differentiator. The takeaway is clear: don’t measure AI by “completion,” measure it by customer impact.
💡 Hybrid Work + AI Demand Boost Zoom’s CX Toolset
Zoom raised its full-year outlook as demand climbs for its AI-powered collaboration and service tools, especially in hybrid work environments.
Why it matters for CX: When your teams work in fragmented environments, tools that reduce friction, improve clarity, and speed up response times directly shape the customer experience. AI that helps agents think and act faster usually helps customers feel better.
🤖 Agentic AI Sounds Great — Until You Try to Deploy It
Industry experts at recent CX events are cautioning that “agentic AI” — systems that take actions on a customer’s behalf — is promising but often oversold. Many teams lack the operational structure and safeguards required to use these tools responsibly.
Why it matters for CX: You can’t automate judgment. Before you let AI take actions, make sure your processes, exception paths, and customer protections are rock-solid. Otherwise, you’re scaling risk, not efficiency.
📱 Google Expands Conversational Shopping Just in Time for the Holidays
Google rolled out major upgrades to its “AI Mode” in Search for the holiday season, including conversational shopping, product suggestions, and real-time store inventory checks that customers can request in natural language.
Why it matters for CX: This is the direction retail is heading — customers don’t want to navigate endless menus; they want to ask and get smart, personalized recommendations. It moves the brand from “storefront” to “shopping assistant,” which will raise customer expectations for every other retailer.
🛠️ Tool of the Day: Microsoft’s Sora-Powered Video Studio
Microsoft is positioning its Sora-powered video tools as practical CX assets — particularly for customer support and employee training.
Why it matters for CX:
Short support videos reduce repeat contacts.
Agents onboard faster with consistent, clear instruction.
Customers appreciate solutions they can see, not just read.
This is the kind of AI tool that actually lightens the load for teams while improving clarity for customers.
📊 DCX AI Data Stat
According to the latest McKinsey & Company Global Survey on AI, while 88% of firms say they’re using AI in at least one business function, only 39% report that AI has made a measurable impact on enterprise-level earnings (EBIT).
Business incentive for CX leaders: The lesson is familiar: just because AI is widespread doesn’t mean it’s changing outcomes for the customer. For CX, this means you should align every AI initiative with how you measure customer-impact (reduced effort, increased resolution, higher loyalty) — not just deployment counts.
⚡ Your 1-Minute Action Plan
Pick one AI initiative on your roadmap and ask your team:
“How will this reduce effort for the customer?”
If you can’t answer that quickly and clearly, you’re not ready to launch.
🔎 See you tomorrow
AI isn’t the strategy — it’s the toolset.
The advantage goes to the leaders who design experiences around human behavior first, then use technology to scale what works. When you get that order right, customers feel the difference almost immediately.
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If today’s breakdown gave you a new angle on AI in CX, send it to a colleague who’s building the future of experience with you.
📬 Feedback & Ideas
What’s the biggest AI opportunity — or pressure — in your CX world right now? Reply and let me know. I’d love to hear what you’re wrestling with.