Customer experience is entering a more demanding phase, where expectations around speed, reliability and trust are converging with rapid advances in AI.
Heather Guntrum, chief customer officer at M-Files, recently outlined how customer experience (CX) and customer success (CS) will evolve in 2026 as organisations balance automation with human expertise.
At the centre of this shift is the emergence of hybrid human and AI workforces. Guntrum argues that CX and CS teams will increasingly rely on AI “digital employees” to handle repetitive and mid-complexity tasks, while human experts focus on relationship-driven moments that require judgement and empathy.
She explained that “Success will depend on seamless handoffs, context preservation, and maintaining trust in interactions,” noting that customers should never feel they are being passed between disconnected systems.
Alongside hybrid teams, digital-first and self-service engagement is becoming the default expectation for B2B buyers. Guntrum highlighted that customers increasingly want control over how and when they interact with vendors, relying on in-product guidance, knowledge bases and community resources for day-to-day needs.
She said that “customers will demand intuitive in-product guidance, comprehensive knowledge resources, and community driven support that allows self service when appropriate”, while reserving human interaction for complex or high-stakes decisions. AI-assisted insights will be critical in surfacing relevant guidance at the right moment, preventing self-service from becoming overwhelming or impersonal.
Despite widespread investment in CX strategies, many organisations continue to fall short on execution. Guntrum pointed to a growing “experience gap” between what companies promise and what customers actually receive. In 2026, she believes firms will increasingly compete on reliable execution rather than aspirational vision alone. She noted that “execution excellence, such as delivering promised outcomes and seamless journeys, is becoming more important than relationship warmth alone”, with CX and CS teams expected to track adoption, ROI and value realisation rather than relying purely on sentiment-based metrics.
AI and predictive analytics will also reshape how customer success is delivered at scale. According to Guntrum, leading teams will use automated journey flows, predictive risk alerts and AI-assisted recommendations to provide personalised guidance across their entire customer base. She said that “uutcome measurements, including adoption, ROI, and value realization, will replace reactive metrics like churn prevention.”
Trust and responsible AI sit at the core of all these changes. As AI becomes embedded into customer interactions, transparency and ethics will increasingly influence customer confidence. Guntrum emphasised the importance of an “AI first, human always available” approach, adding that “clear consent, transparency, and responsible AI practices will become part of the customer experience itself”.
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