Transformation in action: Raising the bar for customer experience

Summary

AI is shifting support from reactive backlog management toward proactive experience design, as teams gain capacity through faster, more efficient service across languages and time zones. The report says 58% rank experience and satisfaction as their top 2026 priority, up from 28%, while mature deployment triples the share able to always meet expectations from 9%. Intercom’s support team expanded access, improved first-response rates, and added onboarding sessions while absorbing a 300% demand increase without expanding headcount, enabled by deep integration of Fin. Clay uses Fin across Slack, email, and in-app chat, where it handles half of roughly 7,000 monthly queries and participates in 90% of all queries. The recommended model treats support as a product, combines AI with human handoffs, anticipates needs, builds trust, and personalizes interactions.

Takeaways

1. 1

   Intercom’s support team absorbed a 300% increase in total demand without adding headcount, while opening support to trial customers, improving first-response rates, and adding consultative onboarding sessions.

2. 2

   Clay deployed Fin across Slack, email, and in-app chat. Fin is involved in 90% of queries, handles half of total volume, and supports more than 7,000 queries monthly.

3. 3

   Planned 2026 investment is nearly equal across chat, email, and social messaging at 36% each, followed by phone or voice at 31%, reflecting a focus on omnichannel consistency.

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