AI in CX: An industry-by-industry breakdown of what customers want

In part one of this series, we showed that customers’ familiarity with AI impacts their beliefs and expectations of AI-powered customer service. Our study uncovered three customer personas. Here’s a quick recap: 

But here’s where it gets interesting: how do these personas play out in the real world across different industries? 

To find out, we surveyed 4,500 desk workers and segmented them by the types of tools or services they use the most often for work. The top four industries were software-as-a-service (SaaS), logistics, professional services, and financial services. 

We saw that the number of Adopters, Dabblers, and Traditionalists isn’t evenly distributed — each industry has its own mix, leading to wildly different expectations and support preferences. Take a look at the breakdown:

While some industries are surging ahead with AI adoption, others are just beginning to explore the possibilities. Here’s what stands out:

• SaaS leads in AI adoption: The SaaS industry supports the highest percentage of Adopters (33%), indicating a greater comfort with AI. We know that this leads to higher expectations from AI-powered experiences.

• Dabblers dominate across the board: Dabblers represent the largest segment in all four industries, ranging from 42% in financial services to 49% in professional services. This suggests a widespread curiosity and cautious exploration of AI’s value across diverse sectors.

• Logistics and financial services businesses support more Traditionalists: Logistics and financial services show a higher proportion of Traditionalists (37% and 35%, respectively) compared to SaaS (22%) and professional services (30%). This indicates a greater skepticism towards AI and a stronger preference for human-first support in these sectors.

• Professional services show balanced adoption: While having a significant Dabbler segment (49%), professional services have a lower percentage of Traditionalists than logistics and financial services, signaling these customers are curious about AI without fully committing. This balance leads to steady, thoughtful integration of AI in workflows, rather than rapid or resistant adoption.

The bottom line? Customer expectations aren’t just shaped by their own AI usage. They’re shaped by the norms of their industry, too. For industries that have historically been very human-first, they might face slower adoption rates of their AI-powered service.

For example, imagine two customers: one reaches out to SaaS support and expects their chat to instantly remember the context from a previous ticket. Another customer using a financial tool just wants to talk to a rep about configuring their procurement workflow.

Your industry’s comfort level matters. A one-size-fits-all approach is a recipe for churn. 59% of customers will push their team to switch to a competitor after three or fewer bad experiences.

Let’s get into just how much customer preferences and expectations differ within industries and how this should inform your CX strategy.

research: The state of service expectations

We surveyed 4,500 desk workers to find out what they really want from customer service, AI-powered support, and more.

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AI usage across industries shifts channel preferences

Even the way customers reach out for support varies dramatically by persona. Some prefer channels more strongly than others. Here are the top five service channels that each persona turns to first:

SaaS customers’ preferred channels

⚠️Traditionalists are 114% more likely than the average customer to turn to social media for support.

Logistics customers’ preferred channels

Professional services customers’ preferred channels

⚠️Adopters are 176% more likely than the average customer to prefer peer-provided support like Google, Reddit, and YouTube.

Financial services customers’ preferred channels

⚠️Adopters are 56% more likely than the average customer to prefer in-person support.

Diverse channel preferences underscore the importance of an omnichannel experience, where customer context can flow seamlessly across channels for optimal experiences. 

For example, even though SaaS has the highest percentage of Adopters, customers still want email and account manager support on top of live chat. Meanwhile, in industries with a higher percentage of Traditionalists, like financial services, live chat is increasingly gaining popularity as more Adopters use that channel.

Where AI can have the most impact on the customer experience

The more familiar customers are with AI, the more they understand its capabilities and potential. We see this in the more AI-savvy customers increasingly using AI in more advanced applications, whereas the more traditional industries are still using AI for more basic tasks. 

For example, Adopters who say SaaS is their primary work tool are 42% more likely to use AI to help with coding and 30% more likely to consult it on business strategy. Meanwhile, Dabblers whose work relies mostly on professional services tend to use AI for writing content (34%) and as a Google alternative for research (31%). Traditionalists in logistics primarily use AI to generate emails (31%).

Customer AI fluency shapes what they believe AI can benefit customer service:

These diverse perspectives provide clear guidance for customer service leaders on where they should focus next in their customer experience strategies. For example, professional services like legal could use AI to scan for regulatory updates and compare them against client profiles to flag those likely affected. This could inform their proactive communication to notify clients and recommend consultations.

Where AI is still letting customers down 

On the flip side, there are equally differing opinions on where AI can improve to deliver better experiences. 

Each of the four industries agrees that AI-led customer service could be better at solving their problems the first time.

The varied expectations and preferences across industries make it clear that a single approach to AI-powered customer service won’t cut it. To truly make an impact, your strategy needs to be tailored to the specific needs of your customers and their industry. Here’s how you can do that, with actionable plans for each industry.

What this means for your AI-powered service strategy

• For SaaS companies: Since SaaS customers are generally more comfortable with AI and have higher expectations, you can push the boundaries of AI-powered support. Focus on implementing advanced AI models that can handle complex queries and offer proactive solutions, without losing empathy in the process.

• For logistics and financial services: These industries tend to have more Traditionalists who prefer human interaction. To build trust and demonstrate value, prioritize automating operational tasks that quickly show tangible benefits, such as faster response times or significant time savings. This could involve AI-powered tools for tracking shipments, managing inventory, or optimizing delivery routes.

• For professional services: With the highest population of Dabblers, this industry is in a pivotal position to sway more customers to use AI-led support. Start by using AI for predictable, routine tasks and gradually introduce more complex automation as your customers become more comfortable. This could include AI for answering frequently asked questions, processing routine requests, or providing basic information, freeing up human agents for more nuanced interactions.

• For all industries: Regardless of your industry, it’s crucial to understand that customer preferences and expectations for transparency vary greatly. Continuously monitor customer feedback, both direct (surveys, reviews) and indirect (sentiment analysis, usage patterns), to refine your AI-powered experiences and ensure they align with what your customers truly want and expect.

The AI comfort gap isn’t going anywhere — and your strategy should adapt

Your customers have told you what they want. SaaS users? They’re ready for the full AI experience. Financial services folks? They still want that human touch. The data shows all.

The companies winning right now aren’t prioritizing mass deflection — they’re the ones actively shaping their customer experience around what their customers want. 

But here’s the thing: customer comfort with AI changes fast. What works today might need tweaking tomorrow. The winners will be the ones paying attention and adjusting as they go.

Your customers are already telling you exactly what they want. The question is: Are you listening?

Join us for Control Shift: a live webinar about building smarter AI-powered experiences with even smarter humans behind it.

Be the first to see the all-new Front on July 16 at 10 am PT

Methodology

This survey was commissioned with Global Web Index (GWI) from February to March 2025. A total of 4,501 respondents from the United States took an online survey, where they were screened to be full-time employees who spent more than 50% of their working time on a computer. The audience we’re focusing on in this segment consists of professionals who most often use software-as-a-service (SaaS, n=1,139), logistics (n=949), professional services (n=1,030), and financial services tools or services (n=1,105) to perform their job. This 4,223 is a subset of the full State of Service Expectations study. Respondents were compensated for their time upon completing the survey.