IDC FutureScape: Worldwide Future of Customer Experience 2025 Predictions
This IDC study presents 10 of the most urgent business and technology agenda areas for customer experience executives for 2025 and beyond."In the evolving landscape of customer experience, the true potential of generative AI will hinge on harnessing not only its technological prowess but also the organizations' ability to create shared experience value for the company as well as customers," said Sudhir Rajagopal, research director, Customer Experience Management Strategies at IDC. "As businesses operationalize intelligent experiences, they must return to foundational principles — enhancing employee skills, ensuring data integrity, and establishing robust AI governance. Only then can they escape out of the proof-of-concept purgatory and scale innovations that deliver reimagined, autonomous experiences. Ushering in a new era of intelligent, empathetic experiences will require organizations to blend human insight with AI capabilities."
IDC FutureScape Figure
Executive Summary
IDC FutureScape Predictions
Summary of External Drivers
Predictions: Impact on Technology Buyers
Prediction 1: By 2027, Consumers Will Spend $100 Billion via AI Agents That Run Independently on Their Smartphones to Programmatically Shop for Goods, Services, and Considered Purchases
Associated Drivers
IT Impact
Business Impact
Guidance
Prediction 2: To Avoid Misaligned CX Initiatives, by 2029, 60% of G2000 Firms Will Shift KPIs Being Measured from Siloed to X-O Focused, Ensuring Enhanced Customer Value and Connected Experiences
Associated Drivers
IT Impact
Business Impact
Guidance
Prediction 3: By 2029, 55% of F500 Companies Will Adopt Experience Agents to Deliver E2E, Autonomous Experiences, with Near-Infinite Contextual Customer Outcomes, and Shrink Time to Revenue by Over 80%
Associated Drivers
IT Impact
Business Impact
Guidance
Prediction 4: By 2027, 60% of CX Vendors Will Shift to New, Outcome-Based Pricing Models, Making the Value Exchange for Their Clients More Transparent and Improving the Monetization of Their AI Investment
Associated Drivers
IT Impact
Business Impact
Guidance
Prediction 5: By 2028, 45% of G2000 Companies Will Recast GenAI-Powered Integrations to the Mid-, Back-, and Front-Office Systems and Operations as CX Programs to Prevent Revenue Erosion and Increase Market Share
Associated Drivers
IT Impact
Business Impact
Guidance
Prediction 6: By 2030, 55% of B2C G2000 Companies Will Enable Real-Time IoT Product Data to Notify Customers of Future Failures, Issue Resolution Recommendations, and Help Customers Self-Solve Proactively
Associated Drivers
IT Impact
Business Impact
Guidance
Prediction 7: As AI Implementations Scale, Human-in-the-Loop Approaches Will Be Eliminated, Resulting In 60% of CX Teams Creating New, Dedicated Roles for the Systemic Governance of AI by 2028
Associated Drivers
IT Impact
Business Impact
Guidance
Prediction 8: By 2026, 80% of SMBs Will Be Displaced by Large Enterprises in Online Channels, Leading Many to Shift to a Physical Experience, Thereby Upending the Digital Commerce Customer Journey
Associated Drivers
IT Impact
Business Impact
Guidance
Prediction 9: Seeing Value in Referral Growth and in Controlling Costs, by 2028, 60% of G2000 Companies Will Have Restructured and Aligned Their Customer-Facing Teams Under a CRO to Optimize CX Outcomes
Associated Drivers
IT Impact
Business Impact
Guidance
Prediction 10: By 2027, the Metaverse Will Evolve Beyond AR/VR/Crypto to Focus on Positive Social Outcomes and Accessibility, Enabling 40% of F500 Firms to Access New Markets Through Truly Omni-Channel Experiences
Associated Drivers
IT Impact
Business Impact
Guidance
Advice for Technology Buyers
External Drivers: Detail
AI-Driven Business Models — Moving from AI Experimentation to Monetization
The Drive to Automate — Toward a Data-Driven Future
AI-Driven Workplace Transformation — Building Tomorrow's Workforce Today
Regulatory Flux — Navigating Compliance Challenges in a Shifting Policy Landscape
Responsible and Human-Centric Technology — Ethics in the Enterprise
Battling Against Technical Debt — Overcoming Hurdles to IT Modernization
Customer Experience Squared — Consumer and Citizen Expectations for Digital Services
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