Critical Issues
Navigate the future of customer engagement with confidence.
2026 Critical Issues
Each year, Council members vote on the most important issues facing the customer service industry, in their region of the globe. The annual Critical Issues become the key areas of focus for member discussion and Council events throughout the year.
Enabling Human-Centered AI
Areas of Focus:
- Preparing teams for AI-powered work through focused training and enablement
- Embedding human + AI collaboration in workflows
- Balancing automation with human judgment and empathy
Developing the Next Generation of Leaders
Areas of Focus:
- Preparing and mentoring supervisors for growth and advancement
- Equipping supervisors with effective team leadership and communication skills
- Creating visible career paths to fuel retention
- Building knowledge transfer and succession readiness
Building a Smart AI Strategy & Roadmap
Areas of Focus:
- Defining a 3–5 year vision and priority AI use cases
- Designing a scalable AI ecosystem and integration roadmap
- Setting governance, risk, and compliance guardrails
- Aligning an enterprise AI ownership and accountability model
Determining Strategic Priorities and Tech Investments for Measurable ROI
Areas of Focus:
- Building compelling business cases for C-suite approval
- Balancing IT, contact center, and business priorities
- Defining key metrics to measure ROI and financial impact
- Driving scalable growth while managing expenses efficiently
Meeting Rising Customer Expectations
Areas of Focus:
- Using AI insights to predict needs, read sentiment, and guide next-best actions
- Improving loyalty through proactive personalization
- Optimizing digital containment for true resolution
- Modernizing KPIs and EX + CX alignment to customer outcomes
Designing, Measuring, and Mastering an Effortless Experience
Areas of Focus:
- Co-creating with customers and employees to solve core customer pain points
- Removing friction across end-to-end journeys
- Designing digital to feel human and intuitive
- Optimizing experiences through test-and-learn cycles
- Unlocking the metrics that matter and the data that reveals where friction truly lives