CMSWire: CX Leaders: Integration, Not Budgets, Define Your Next Advantage

This article was written by Greg Kihlström for CMSWire. Read the full article here.

Connected insights turn consumer understanding into faster cycle times, stronger ROI and lasting customer loyalty.

Marketing and CX leaders are actively investing in AI and data roles, and recent research from Zappi shows that seven in 10 teams now use technology routinely in their consumer insights workflows.

Yet the study also shows that the impact is uneven because too few organizations have solved the integration problem, with only 38% reporting that insights and data are actually connected. Data fragmentation is the top barrier, not budget, and fewer than four in 10 companies say their insights and data are actually connected. This is a critical factor shaping the industry today.

Investment Is Rising, With Uneven Results

Hiring for AI and data integration roles continues to grow while digital consumer insights are now the norm. The barrier profile has shifted as a result. Budget issues have receded while integration complexity has moved to the top of the list. That shift reflects where the industry actually is: there is funding, there are tools, but there is not a standard operating model for how data moves through the enterprise.

According to the research, only a third of organizations are systematically managing insights. This means that most still rely on separate tools and programs or ad hoc combinations of vendors and platforms, which makes reuse and measurement difficult. Until leaders standardize how evidence is produced and consumed, incremental AI investment will continue to deliver only incremental value.

This article was written by Greg Kihlström for CMSWire. Read the full article here.