Ada Study Finds Consumers Prefer “Always-On” AI Customer Service, But Only When It Can Successfully Resolve Their Issue

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New global research conducted with NewtonX reveals major misalignment between what enterprises prioritize and what consumers value in agentic customer experience

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TORONTO — Ada, the trusted AI-native customer experience company and creator of the Agentic Customer Experience (ACX) Operating Model, today released a dual-sided primary research study exploring consumer sentiment toward AI customer service as well as trends and obstacles in enterprise ACX adoption. The study reveals that most enterprises are falling short when it comes to issue resolution – the factor that matters most to consumers – instead optimizing for factors such as cost reduction and deflection.

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Conducted in partnership with NewtonX, the study surveyed 2,000 consumers and 500 enterprise CX and AI-decision makers across North America, Europe, and Asia, and identified a growing gap between businesses’ AI ambitions and the real, day-to-day experiences of their customers.

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The findings challenge the common assumption that consumers are skeptical of AI in customer service. Instead, the research validates that consumers are welcoming of the technology and, in many cases, prefer it, as long as it addresses their needs.

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Key Findings:

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Consumers Value Accuracy, Capability Over Empathy

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The survey asked consumers to rank the most important attributes of customer service and found that accuracy and problem-solving ability were their top priorities, well ahead of empathy. Common reasons consumers reported for failed AI experiences included: comprehension failures where AI did not understand the request (74%), capability gaps where AI could not handle the complexity (56%), and the AI repeating the same unhelpful response (50%).

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Despite AI Enthusiasm, Enterprise Gaps Remain

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Businesses across verticals are rapidly deploying AI in customer service, but the study finds a significant misalignment between what enterprises prioritize and what consumers actually value. Organizations most often cited benefits such as reduced wait times, lower cost per interaction, and increased ticket deflection. Yet, consumers value resolution most, an outcome that ranked seventh among the top outcomes for businesses.

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More than half of businesses lack an effective measurement infrastructure

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A key contributor to this misalignment is that most businesses don’t have enough visibility to isolate AI agent performance. 55% of businesses surveyed are measuring and reporting on AI and human agent interactions together, making it even more difficult to isolate AI performance or connect it to downstream influence on metrics such as customer loyalty or revenue growth. Without that separation, businesses can’t pinpoint where AI is falling short, establish a credible ROI baseline, or identify how to improve agent performance over time.

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“Most businesses are still optimizing for the most familiar metrics: deflection, containment, and cost savings. But those are now table stakes,” said Mike Murchison, CEO of Ada. “What this new data reinforces is what these metrics don’t tell us: was the customer’s problem actually solved? CX leaders are now being asked to demonstrate that AI drives business outcomes beyond just efficiency and cost-cutting. Our ACX operating model is designed to do exactly that – help businesses architect a practical, scalable path to maturity that not only measures quality and depth of resolution, but connects AI performance to real commercial impact.”

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“Our research shows that many companies are scaling AI without a clear view of how it’s affecting the customer experience. When businesses measure AI and human performance together, it becomes much harder to see where the technology is breaking down,” said Leon Mishkis, COO at NewtonX. “If an interaction fails because the system doesn’t understand the customer, that’s not just a technical problem. It’s a sign the business is losing touch with what customers need. In 2026, always-on service is only an advantage if it’s reliable. If it isn’t, AI becomes a much faster way to damage brand trust.”

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Enterprises must scale ACX maturity in tandem with investment

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Despite these challenges, enterprises continue to invest aggressively in AI-driven customer experience: 92% of organizations say they plan to increase AI investment in CX over the next year. As businesses look to close the gap between AI ambition and operational reality, the report highlights the need for stronger measurement, enterprise-wide governance frameworks, and talent equipped with emerging AI-specific skills, including agent dialogue design, integration engineering, and knowledge management. 36% of CX leaders say their internal team is not adequately resourced and skilled to manage, audit, and coach AI agents effectively.

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Methodology

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This research was conducted by NewtonX in partnership with Ada between December 2025 and February 2026. The dual-sided study surveyed 2,000 global consumers who had interacted with AI-driven customer service in the past 12 months. This was paired with a quantitative survey of 500 enterprise CX and AI decision-makers across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific who hold direct responsibility for technology investment and deployment. The findings were further validated through in-depth qualitative interviews with senior CX leaders in the financial services, retail, technology, and travel sectors.