Leveraging AI to enhance customer experiences

The noise around Artificial Intelligence is profound. With promises to revolutionize industries, enhance decision-making and redefine customer experience, organizations have quickly been adopting and scaling AI across their businesses.

Now, the focus is shifting to actualizing AI’s transformative potential. As leading organizations look beyond the noise, they are implementing effective AI use cases to meet rising customer expectations. As they do, they are using a pragmatic approach that prioritizes practicality, purpose and value – all grounded in trust.

For 15 years, KPMG professionals have been asking consumers about their individual experiences with brands. This year, the KPMG Global Customer Experience Excellence (CEE) 2024-2025 report explores how leading organizations have rapidly implemented AI with swift return on investments and enhanced customer experiences. It delves into the realities of AI implementation from leading brands and looks ahead to the critical factors for AI to reach new heights in customer experience excellence.

This year’s CEE results show a stabilization in overall customer experience with a small rise in most countries. This turnaround from last year comes from more brands humanizing their AI interfaces to make them more engaging and relatable to customers.

The KPMG Global CEE 2024-2025 report examines leading, customer-centric AI implementation practices. Successfully implementing AI requires organizations to adopt an approach that differs significantly from traditional IT processes to meet rising customer expectations with this technology. 

Customer experience is stabilizing globally

Consumers want to connect with personalities, not machines. Leading organizations are beginning to humanize their AI systems with human-like characteristics that can offer more personalized, emotionally resonant experiences with their distinct personalities and conversational style.

1% - 2%

Most countries reported 1% to 2% growth in overall customer experience.

77%

of the number one brands increased their year-on-year CEE scores by 1.3%, demonstrating that excellence, once attained, fosters continuous improvement.

Humanizing the customer experience

Regular interaction with advancing technologies has consumers putting a higher value on ethical and honest business practices. This year’s report finds Integrity (18.8%) to be the biggest driver of NPS (net promoter score). Personalization (20.2%) is biggest driver of Loyalty, highlights the importance of tailored customer interactions.

Shifting customer expectations

Customer expectations continue to evolve. Yet, now, with the growing adoption of AI, concerns and attitudes towards cost-of-living, ESG (environment, social and governance) and AI continue to emerge. Understanding these concerns will be crucial to organizations looking to create value through AI.