Why CXM Needs a Re-think

In a dynamic and hyperconnected world, consumer expectations are evolving at a faster pace than ever. Personalized experiences, real-time responsiveness and seamless digital interactions are no longer differentiators; they are mandates. Uncertainty across the wider consumer landscape is placing further pressure on companies’ Customer Experience (CX) capabilities: Research reveals that brand loyalty is expected to decline by 25 percent in 2025 due to price sensitivity.¹

Tech-driven Customer Experience Management (CXM) transformation represents a critical way to meet these rapidly shifting expectations, enabling organizations to not only keep pace but anticipate change. Future-facing companies are already evolving their CXM capabilities from reactive service models to strategic growth engines, intelligently adapting to customer demands seamlessly across channels.

So, how exactly are enterprises realizing this potential? Enter the convergence of cloud-native architecture and Generative AI (Gen AI) – a powerful combination that sits at the heart of CXM transformation. Harnessed in the right way, the technologies can facilitate the scalability, flexibility and data agility required to support real-time engagement and unlock unprecedented capabilities in personalization and intelligent automation.

In this article, we explore the core challenges inhibiting customer experience transformation and how cloud, Agentic AI and Gen AI are enabling future-ready CXM. Along the way, we highlight how leading enterprises are co-creating intelligent, scalable and human-centric experiences by partnering with experts like WNS.

CXM Challenges in a Digital-first World

Today’s consumers demand value, speed and empathy at every touchpoint. Research reveals that 71 percent of consumers expect companies to deliver personalized interactions, with 76 percent expressing frustration when this doesn’t happen.² Another recent study, meanwhile, shows many customers are also seeking greater control over their experiences, along with seamless consistency across channels.³

Within this context, CX is mission-critical. However, despite its importance, enterprises across industries are facing significant barriers to delivering the kind of experiences that not only meet but also exceed expectations.

Data accessibility represents one pressing issue, with fragmented or siloed data, often held across complex legacy systems, leaving organizations hamstrung when it comes to fueling CX with real-time insights. Research from WNS and Corinium Intelligence indicates that over 67 percent of organizations have encountered complexities during data migration when implementing cloud solutions.

This lack of unification extends to platforms too, with a massive 78 percent of executives conceding that their marketing and loyalty technologies are siloed.⁴ With nearly 40 percent of enterprises expressing reservations about the quality of data for training AI models – a key barrier to Gen AI adoption – the ability to unlock innovation, drive efficiency and deliver seamless customer experiences remains out of reach for many.

Cloud as a Strategic Enabler

As companies grapple with fragmented data, legacy systems and rising customer expectations, their CX ambitions often remain constrained by outdated infrastructures and disconnected experiences. Yet, the solution doesn’t lie in incremental fixes; it demands foundational re-invention. That’s where cloud-native architecture comes into play.

Unlike legacy systems that constrain innovation and agility, cloud-native platforms provide a dynamic foundation from which organizations can re-imagine CX with the responsiveness, personalization and empathy that consumers now demand. As a result, they are a strategic imperative for companies seeking a competitive edge in today’s CX landscape and beyond.

A cloud-native architecture enables fluctuations in demand to be managed seamlessly, scaling when necessary, and crucially facilitates the convergence of data, insights and customer-centric capabilities in one place. This unification is where organizations can begin to customize customer journeys, replacing static insights with real-time contextual signals across touchpoints for hyperpersonalized engagement and omni-channel consistency, armed with a live 360-degree view of their customers.

Promisingly, cloud-native platforms also enable the rapid integration of new technologies, meaning companies can tap into emerging trends without missing a beat. 54 percent of companies are executing a phased integration of systems to minimize disruption, the leading strategy for bridging the gap between legacy and cloud systems. However, once this shift is achieved, businesses will be empowered to evolve and build out their CX strategies seamlessly, continuously optimizing based on customer feedback.

Adding to the cloud’s strategic imperative is the positive impact on trust and transparency. Unified platforms can deliver enhanced compliance with a fast-moving regulatory landscape, for instance, or offer customers greater insight into or control over how their data is harnessed – a boon for the 94 percent of consumers who want control over the information they share with businesses.⁵

Gen AI in action

Perhaps the most impactful benefit of cloud-native platforms is the ability to experience the full transformative impact of Gen AI within CX. The technology is already revolutionizing what’s possible when it comes to customer engagement, and is an essential strategic focus across industries.

This wide-ranging impact is evident in the multi-faceted impetus behind Gen AI adoption within CXM. For instance, 55 percent of enterprises seek to elevate customer satisfaction through tailored and personalized interactions, 80 percent hope to yield improvements in operational efficiency and customer satisfaction scores, while 70 percent believe in Gen AI's potential to drive cost reductions.

Whatever the driving force, unprecedented levels of personalization, responsiveness and scalability are on offer. Think engaging customers in all-new ways with hyperpersonal interactions, automating complex processes for real-time insights or the creation of dynamic marketing assets linked to live customer sentiment.

One Gen AI-powered e-mail campaign, for example, drove a four-fold increase in click-through rates for a leading retailer, with 85 percent of respondents trusting the recommendations on offer.

Agentic AI: From Automation to Autonomy in CX

While Gen AI has unlocked unprecedented personalization and content generation capabilities, Agentic AI takes this a step further, enabling systems to act with intent, context and autonomy. Agentic AI refers to AI systems that not only understand inputs but can also pursue specific goals, make context-aware decisions and dynamically adapt workflows with minimal human intervention.

This evolution marks a shift from reactive automation to proactive orchestration. In CXM, that means moving from bots that answer questions to agents that resolve problems end-to-end, intelligently and empathetically. With Gartner predicting that fast-evolving Agentic AI will resolve 80 percent of common customer queries, it’s also freeing up employees to focus on the human, emotional aspects of CX, delivering experiences that are high touch as well as high tech.⁶

Partnering for Transformation

Leveraging cloud and AI together has the potential to transform CXM, enabling enterprises across industries to lead with experience, intelligence and agility in every customer moment. However, what does this look like in practice?

At WNS, we’ve been collaborating with clients to leverage cloud and AI in operationalizing their CXM vision.

While leadership buy-in for emerging technologies has more than tripled in recent times, 65 percent of executives say they are expected to do more with less when it comes to realizing digital transformation efforts.⁷ With this in mind, the pivotal role of strategic partners in facilitating and supporting CXM initiatives cannot be overstated.

Take Gen AI. 62 percent of enterprises plan to collaborate with partners in building Gen AI solutions and enhancing technical capabilities, with 60 percent intending to leverage third-party support for the seamless integration of Gen AI solutions with existing technologies.

Why? Partnerships represent a proven means of instantly accessing the latest in data, analytics and emerging technologies. Forging the right partnerships means accelerating transformation, optimizing operations and, crucially, re-casting CXM as a strategic growth tool, ensuring enterprises can stay ahead in a fast-moving, customer-centric landscape through the next decade and beyond.

At WNS, we co-create smarter businesses by helping enterprises architect AI-augmented, cloud-enabled CX frameworks that balance intelligence with empathy. Our solutions deliver real-time insights, personalized engagement and measurable business outcomes.

To discover how you can re-wire customer experience into a competitive advantage, connect with our CX specialists or explore our future-ready CXM solutions.

References

1. Forrester’s B2C Marketing & Customer Experience Predictions 2025 | Forrester

2. Unlocking the Next Frontier of Personalized Marketing | McKinsey

3. Artificial Intelligence and the Orchestrated Customer Experience | KPMG

4. Forrester’s B2C Marketing & Customer Experience Predictions 2025 | Forrester

5. 94% of Consumers Want Control Over the Information They Share with Businesses | VentureBeat

6. Gartner Predicts Agentic AI Will Autonomously Resolve 80% of Common Customer Service Issues Without Human Intervention by 2029 | Gartner

7. KPMG US Tech Survey Report Findings | KPMG