Zendesk Customer Experience Trends for 2026
Every year, Zendesk publishes its Customer Experience Trends report, and every year it promises a glimpse into the future. This year marks the eighth edition, based on surveys from more than 11,000 respondents, and unsurprisingly, AI is everywhere.
But here’s the uncomfortable truth: most of what’s described as “new” is not new at all. These are the same customer experience principles we’ve been talking about for years, now wrapped in AI terminology. The fundamentals haven’t changed. What has changed is the pressure to execute them properly.
Personalization at Scale Through Memory-Rich AI
The first major trend is memory-rich AI, which promises true personalization at scale. The idea is simple: connect customer data across systems so AI can understand context and act accordingly.
Zendesk highlights that:
85% of consumers believe persistent memory helps brands build deeper relationships
83% say remembering context across channels reduces frustration
85% believe memory-rich AI is key to personalized journeys
In theory, this is correct. Customers hate repeating themselves. They want systems that remember who they are, what they bought, and what went wrong last time.
In practice, this only works if your data is clean, connected, and intentional. AI does not magically fix fragmented systems. If your CRM, support platform, booking engine, and order management tools don’t talk to each other, AI just becomes a faster way to deliver confusion.
Personalization at scale is not an AI problem. It’s a data discipline problem.
AI-Powered Self-Service and the Demand for Instant Resolution
Self-service powered by AI is not optional anymore. Customers expect fast, accurate answers, and they expect them immediately.
According to the report:
68% of customers expect faster responses than a year ago
86% say speed and accuracy directly influence purchasing decisions
This sounds reasonable until you look at how most AI chatbots are deployed. Many are designed to contain customers, not help them. If the conversation deviates even slightly from a predefined flow, the system breaks. Worse, escalation paths are often missing entirely.
AI cannot solve everything. It must know when it doesn’t know. If customers ask to speak to a human and the system can’t comply because everyone was laid off in the name of cost savings, that’s not innovation. That’s negligence.
AI-powered self-service works only when escalation is treated as a feature, not a failure.
Multimodal Support and Context-Rich Interactions
Zendesk’s third trend focuses on multimodal support, meaning customers can mix text, images, screenshots, and video within the same conversation.
The report claims:
76% of consumers prefer companies that allow text, image, and video in one thread
86% of CX leaders believe multimodal AI is the next wave of service
The promise here is faster resolution through richer context. A screenshot or short video can explain a problem in seconds instead of paragraphs.
This is genuinely useful, but it also assumes a high level of customer comfort with technology. Not everyone wants to record their screen or upload videos, especially older users. Multimodal support should be an option, not an expectation.
When done right, it reduces friction. When forced, it creates it.
New AI Metrics, Promptable Analytics, and Explainable Decisions
Many organizations unintentionally slow down customer experience by centralizing decisions. When agents are afraid to act without approval, escalations increase and resolution times suffer. Customers wait, not because the solution is complex, but because authority is limited.
An effective OKR in this case is empowering agents to make decisions in the customer’s best interest. This requires trust, clear guidelines, and ongoing training. When agents are confident and autonomous, they solve issues faster, enjoy their work more, and deliver better experiences.
Customer experience is not just about tools or metrics, it’s cultural. If CX matters, empowerment follows naturally.
New AI Metrics, Promptable Analytics, and Explainable Decisions
Zendesk’s fourth and fifth trends revolve around AI-driven analytics and transparency in AI decisions.
Key points include:
82% of leaders believe promptable analytics unlock insights faster
80% say transparency in AI decisions is non-negotiable
Only 37% of organizations currently explain AI decisions to customers
Customers don’t just want answers. They want reasons. If an AI denies a refund, it must explain why in plain language. “System decision” is not an explanation.
This applies internally too. Leaders want to ask questions like:
Compare ticket volume this November vs last November
Identify top drivers of escalations
Surface resolution bottlenecks automatically
This is powerful, but only if metrics are grounded in reality. AI analytics should support decision-making, not replace accountability. Poor inputs still produce poor outputs, just faster.
Conclusion
After more than a decade working closely with Zendesk and customer experience teams, one thing is clear: customer experience hasn’t fundamentally changed.
The principles are the same:
Respect the customer’s time
Reduce friction
Provide clarity
Empower humans
Design for escalation, not perfection
AI doesn’t replace these principles. It amplifies them. If your foundation is weak, AI will expose it. If your foundation is strong, AI will accelerate results.
This report is valuable, but it’s also marketing. The real work still happens in the basics: data hygiene, process design, agent empowerment, and thoughtful implementation.
Do those well, and AI becomes a force multiplier. Skip them, and AI becomes an expensive distraction.
That’s customer experience in 2026. Same work. Higher stakes. New tools.
Let’s get to know each other!