Using agentic AI with a dedicated AI for CX platform or in-house solution cut average resolution costs by more than 20%, Forethought 2025 AI in CX Benchmark Report found

SAN FRANCISCO: Agentic AI is more effective at resolving customer service issues and costs less than simpler generative AI and non-AI solutions, Forethought’s 2025 AI in CX Benchmark Report found.

“Companies using AI that can go beyond responding to questions to take action and resolve customer issues are seeing the biggest improvements in satisfaction, retention and efficiency,” said Deon Nicholas, president, executive chairman and co-founder of Forethought. “Over the past year, adoption of agentic AI for CX has accelerated, but many companies are still choosing less effective options that leave their customers stuck in frustrating IVRs or chat-based decision trees. Businesses that want to stay ahead must prioritize solutions that resolve customer issues end-to-end.”

The report features findings from a survey of more than 600 CX professionals at mid-market companies in the US. It analyzes the technology combinations companies use for CX to identify the most impactful CX tech stacks.

Forethought compared companies using basic decision trees, retrieval-augmented generative AI (RAG), and agentic AI, which enables autonomous decision-making and can take action on a user’s behalf. The report also analyzed the use of specific help desk software, including Freshdesk, Kustomer, HubSpot, ServiceNow, Salesforce, Genesys and more, on CX metrics.

Agentic AI outperforms

Across all industries, companies using agentic AI saw improvements across CX metrics while lowering costs, reinforcing that agentic AI for CX outperforms simpler AI and no AI.

• Companies using agentic AI had, on average, 33% higher deflection rates compared to those using non-agentic AI.
• 73% of companies using agentic AI said their deflection rate improved this year, compared to 40% of those not using agentic AI. 82% credited AI for their deflection rate improvement.
• Using agentic AI with a dedicated AI platform or an in-house solution cut average resolution costs by $4, or more than 20%.
• 64% of respondents using agentic AI said their CSAT scores were higher in 2025, compared to 55% of those using RAG-based AI and 49% of those using no AI.
• Of companies using agentic AI with help desk software, those achieving the highest deflection rates used Freshdesk (66%), Kustomer (61%) and Hubspot (60%).

Multi-channel CX is critical

Most companies surveyed offer support across voice, chat and email. While voice remains the top channel for most companies, chat is quickly emerging as the fastest-growing channel, implying that a multi-channel approach to CX is critical.

• Chat was predicted to be the #1 growth channel of the future by a plurality of respondents.
• 60% of consumers agreed that voice was the most effective channel for resolving a customer service issue.
• Millennials favored chat (41%), while Gen Z was more likely to prefer texting and Baby Boomers were more likely to prefer phone and email. This reinforces the importance of adopting a CX solution that spans multiple channels.

AI adoption accelerated, but barriers remain

While most companies said they have adopted AI for CX, there are still technical and human barriers to driving more robust adoption.

• 57% of companies said they use AI for CX in 2025, but only 13% have been doing so for over two years.
• Nearly half used a dedicated AI for CX solution, up sharply from one in seven respondents in 2024.
• 88% said it’s important for AI agents to speak in their brand tone and voice, and 94% said it’s important for AI agents to convey empathy in responses.
• 73% said challenges with existing systems integration are a barrier to AI adoption, 59% cited data privacy and security concerns and 58% cited customer acceptance and trust issues.

To learn more and download the full 2025 AI in CX Benchmark report, click here.

About Forethought

Launched in 2018, Forethought is the most advanced agentic AI for customer experiences, trained on proprietary data. The company powers support for leading customer-centric organizations like Upwork, Grammarly, Airtable, and Cotopaxi iFit, and has raised $90M+ in venture capital from leading investors, including NEA, Sound Ventures, and Operator Collective. Forethought has been recognized by G2 as a High Performer in 2024 and Mid-Market Leader, Best Est. ROI, and Easiest to Do Business With in Customer Support for 2025.

Fonte: Business Wire