A Perspective from the Xima Software Leadership Team
If we had to sum up 2025 in a single theme, it would be AI. It was impossible to attend a conference, read an industry report, or talk with a contact center leader without AI driving the conversation. Every team wanted to know the same thing: What will AI automate, and how fast?
For much of the year, it felt like we were racing toward an AI-first contact center.
But as the year went on, something interesting happened.
Leaders started asking a different question.
Not “What can AI do?”
But “Is AI actually delivering on the promise — or is this becoming hype?”
And when you look at what the most credible research bodies reported in 2025, the picture becomes much clearer and more grounded than the early-year excitement suggested.
Gartner, for example, reported a major shift: “the key trends influencing customer service leadership are increased reliance on technology over headcount and growing acceptance of AI.” At the same time, they reported something that directly challenges the “AI will replace agents” narrative. Gartner found that “by 2027, 50 percent of organizations that expected to significantly reduce their customer service workforce will abandon these plans.”
AI isn’t eliminating humans.
It’s reshaping the work humans do.
Forrester echoed this with a dose of realism. Their 2026 forecast noted that “the year ahead will be defined by the gritty, foundational work” required to make AI actually useful inside contact centers. Not glamorous transformation. Not magic. Work.
What they also predicted is more balanced than the hype suggests. Yes, automation will continue maturing, and they expect “one in four brands will see a 10 percent increase in successful simple self-service interactions.” But that growth is tied to the simple issues, not the conversations that require nuance, judgment, or human connection.
And when you examine what contact centers actually measured in 2025, as ICMI did, the disconnect becomes even clearer. Their survey showed that “contact centers are most likely to measure abandonment rate, average handle time, quality, average speed of answer, and agent productivity.” Traditional efficiency metrics – not the kind of data you need to deploy AI well, or to improve the complex interactions AI can’t handle.
This is where Deloitte’s 2025 Customer Service Excellence findings add important context. Their research shows that AI adoption in customer service has grown since 2023, especially through chatbots, and that “the biggest benefits are seen in faster resolution times, higher customer satisfaction, and reduced costs.” These results reinforce what many teams discovered this year: AI works best when it supports good service — not when it tries to replace it.
So is AI hype?
No. But 2025 proved something important:
AI is not a replacement strategy. It’s an enablement strategy.
The organizations that are seeing real gains aren’t the ones trying to automate everything. They’re the ones using AI to reduce friction, improve consistency, surface insights faster, and support agents — not sideline them.
And that leads to what I believe 2026 will look like.
In 2026, contact centers will:
- use AI to handle the simple things so agents can focus on the meaningful things
• invest heavily in agent tools, coaching visibility, and workflow clarity
• modernize reporting so leaders can trust the data guiding their decisions
• shift from “AI excitement” to “AI that actually works in production.”
• strike a balance between efficiency and the human experience
At Xima, we’ve shaped our roadmap around exactly this reality.
Our focus for 2026 is practical enablement: deeper analytics, cleaner performance insights, more intuitive workflows, and automation that supports agents and leaders without creating new complexity. We’re building for the contact centers that want AI to work, not just appear on a slide deck.
2025 may have been the year AI dominated the conversation.
But 2026 will be the year contact centers turn that conversation into real, sustainable improvement.
To our customers, partners, and the Xima team — thank you for your trust and partnership. The next chapter is going to be an exciting one, and we’re ready to help you lead it.
Sources
Gartner: Future of Customer Service: Frequently Asked Questions
https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2025-06-25-gartner-identifies-three-trends-that-will-shape-the-future-of-customer-service
Gartner: Gartner Predicts 50% of Organizations Will Abandon Plans to Reduce Customer Service Workforce Due to AI.
https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2025-06-10-gartner-predicts-50-percent-of-organizations-will-abandon-plans-to-reduce-customer-service-workforce-due-to-ai
Forrester: Predictions 2026: AI Gets Real for Customer Service — But It’s Not Glamorous Work https://www.forrester.com/blogs/2026-the-year-ai-gets-real-for-customer-service-but-its-not-glamorous-work/
ICMI: What Contact Centers Are Measuring
https://www.icmi.com/resources/2025/what-contact-centers-are-measuring
Deloitte Digital: Customer Service Excellence 2025
https://www.deloittedigital.com/nl/en/insights/perspective/customer-service-excellence-2025.html
