Qualtrics Report: Executives are Hesitant to Lead in AI Transformation, Putting Up to $1.3 Trillion at Risk

AI creates estimated $860 billion opportunity in customer experience; market leaders prioritize improving customer experience and could extend their lead with AI

Industries expected to see the biggest gains are business and professional services, consumer retail, and retail banking

A new report from Qualtrics reveals a majority of senior executives are reluctant to lead their industry in AI adoption – a reality that could see many organizations miss out on their share of a trillion dollar opportunity while early adopters get rewarded with exponential gains.

Findings from the Qualtrics report reveal organizations across a range of industries stand to gain an estimated $860 billion in annual revenue and cost savings – a figure which could rise to $1.3 trillion – by using AI to improve the experiences they deliver to customers. While three-quarters (72%) of executives say AI will significantly change how they approach customer experience over the next three years, few executives are willing to lead the charge. Only 15% of executives aspire to be at the forefront of how AI changes the business landscape.

Also Read: How AI can help Businesses Run Service Centres and Contact Centres at Lower Costs?

Organizations investing in customer experience are already gaining market share that could prove significant. Market leaders¹ are more than twice as likely to have made improving experiences a greater priority over the past three years compared with their peers. These leaders can further separate themselves by adopting and integrating AI in how they deliver customer experiences today. Organizations that don’t risk falling further behind.

“Companies that deliver great experiences build deeper relationships with their customers, and AI is transforming these interactions, going beyond measuring experiences to closing the loop with customers in the moment to make every connection count,” said Qualtrics CEO Zig Serafin. “Qualtrics AI is already helping organizations respond and deliver personalized, proactive and empathetic experiences that increase loyalty, boost employee engagement, and drive greater business insights and opportunities.”

Using AI to improve customer experience is a multi-billion dollar opportunity for every industry

The $860 billion value from powering customer experience with AI comes from three primary areas. Increased productivity, such as by automating routine tasks, contributes an estimated $420 billion, accelerated topline growth adds $260 billion, and streamlined processes, such as automatically solving customer issues, save organizations $180 billion annually.

At an industry level, the largest gains are in business and professional services ($150 billion), consumer retail and retail banking (both $100 billion), commercial insurance ($70 billion), and small business banking, clinical care, and hotels (all $60 billion).

Beyond business value, executives expect AI to directly enhance customer experiences. They anticipate it will have the greatest impact on improving product quality and delivery (45%), enhancing customer support (44%), personalizing experiences and enabling more empathy in engagements (both 39%).

Effectively implementing AI requires a cross-organizational approach with centralized leadership

Almost half of executives (42%) expect to see a significant measurable impact within two years from using AI to improve experiences. An additional 42% expect to see impact in three to five years.

For executives wanting to accelerate their AI efforts, the key to a successful rollout is having an organization-wide strategy under centralized leadership, rather than running disparate programs. However, while 89% of executives report having at least one AI initiative underway, just 12% of executives have this strategy. Market leaders stand out again in this respect: they are 2.3 times more likely to take this path compared with more stagnant companies.

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Key actions to realize the value of AI in customer experience

To overcome this challenge, the report identifies seven key actions organizations must take.

1. Set AI ambition and value strategy to decide where to invest in AI.
2. Establish risk and ethics guidelines for responsible and compliant AI use.
3. Create the technology and data foundation to evolve and grow with AI technology.
4. Design AI organization and governance team to oversee company-wide implementation.
5. Launch high-impact priority use cases to build momentum for expanded implementation.
6. Develop the talent strategy with employee training.
7. Lead the cultural shift of embracing AI as a core enabler of customer experience.

Qualtrics wishes to thank the organizations whose input and analysis helped inform this report, including McKinsey & Company.

Qualtrics redefines the future of Experience Management with Experience Agents

This week, Qualtrics announced Experience Agents: highly specialized AI agents that autonomously deliver exceptional customer and employee experiences at scale across every channel and interaction. Experience Agents will interact directly with customers and employees to deliver personalized, proactive and empathetic interactions that increase loyalty, boost employee engagement, and drive business insights and opportunities. They scale across every channel and touchpoint, respond in-the-moment to fix or improve experiences, and track market trends to pursue strategic opportunities.

Qualtrics also announced new capabilities in the XM® for Customer Experience suite that allow businesses to bring together structured and unstructured feedback across every channel to create a complete view of their customer experience; get instant access to customer feedback, competitor insights, and industry benchmarks to take quick and targeted action; and equip frontline teams with real-time insights, support, and recommendations to improve experiences in the moment. These new capabilities give organizations the omnichannel insights they need to win in the era of agentic AI.

Methodology

The executive data for this report comes from a global executive study conducted by Qualtrics XM Institute in the fourth quarter of 2024. Using an online survey, XM Institute collected data from 1,501 executives from companies with 1,000 or more employees. The surveyed executives who work at companies headquartered in either Australia, Canada, Germany, the UK, or the US (300/country). Respondents were screened to include positions VP-level and above.

AI opportunity estimates are based on McKinsey research on AI experience to value.

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