Cisco analysis reveals organizations’ challenges and readiness to undertake AI
Creating really unbelievable buyer experiences is arduous. Interval. Know-how evolves, buyer expectations rise, and organizations battle to maintain tempo with both, not to mention each. However Agentic AI is altering that equation.
I dug into the 2025 Cisco AI Readiness Index and pulled out the important thing developments shaping how organizations are utilizing AI to remodel buyer expertise.
CX is profitable the AI race
Buyer expertise is the place AI, notably Agentic AI, is making the most important affect proper now. 67 p.c of respondents mentioned AI is assembly or exceeding buyer expertise expectations immediately, and inside the subsequent 12 months, virtually half predict additional breakthroughs. With 40 p.c of respondents anticipating these AI brokers will collaborate straight with people inside the subsequent yr, this expectation just isn’t solely real looking but in addition a transparent reflection of the evolving partnership between individuals and expertise.
Right here’s why: CX workflows are closely depending on human interplay. The actual energy of Agentic AI just isn’t changing these people; it’s augmenting them. AI handles the repetitive duties, releasing groups to concentrate on high-value actions that really create personalised experiences prospects care about.
Agentic AI adoption is coming quick, however most aren’t prepared
Organizations are betting huge on agentic AI’s autonomous capabilities. 83 p.c plan to deploy AI brokers inside the subsequent yr. However enthusiasm doesn’t equal readiness. Solely 13 p.c of corporations are ready to leverage AI successfully.
The issue? Most orgs are approaching AI adoption backwards. 53 p.c of respondents are nonetheless navigating AI adoption in silos, working fragmented, opportunistic initiatives as an alternative of constructing cohesive methods. That’s not a deployment plan, that’s hope dressed up as motion.
There’s an enormous hole between AI ambition and AI execution.
Strategic planning is lacking piece
There’s an enormous hole between AI ambition and AI execution. I hear about this continually from prospects beginning their AI journeys. They need to transfer the needle. They simply don’t understand how.
The reply? A cohesive AI change administration plan. But solely a 3rd of organizations have really constructed one.
Right here’s what an actual change administration plan does: it guides your individuals, course of, and expertise via AI prioritization, adoption, and integration. It creates shared understanding throughout the org about what AI can do, what success appears to be like like, and the way you’ll get there. Most significantly, it defines particular use instances with measurable outcomes, not aspirational energy level.
At Cisco CX, we’ve constructed our AI transformation this manner. We aligned our capabilities with clear expertise and enterprise objectives earlier than we began constructing. We outlined the outcomes we would have liked to hit. Then we constructed in direction of these outcomes, not towards the good demo.
The way forward for CX begins now
We’re dedicated to serving to prospects bridge the hole between Agentic AI ambition and actuality, making each buyer interplay predictive, proactive, and personalised.
This isn’t a distant imaginative and prescient. Our analysis reveals 68 p.c of buyer interactions shall be dealt with by agentic AI by 2028. The way forward for buyer expertise is already right here. The one query is whether or not you’re prepared for it.
Study extra — Learn the Cisco AI Readiness Index 2025 and its in-depth report