EverAfter's CX Report Highlights AI Implementation Challenges in Customer Success Teams

An Overview of AI Adoption within Customer Success Teams


EverAfter's 2025 Digital Customer Success Benchmark unveils a concerning trend in the adoption rates of Artificial Intelligence (AI) among Customer Success (CS) teams. Despite 72% of these teams acknowledging AI as a critical component for success by the year 2026, the report reveals that only 32% have managed to implement even a single live use case. Alarmingly, a mere 3% of teams have achieved broad deployment of AI solutions, marking a significant gap between aspiration and reality.

Key Findings from the Report

The survey, conducted between April and May 2025, included responses from CS professionals primarily in leadership or operations roles across North America and EMEA. A standout revelation was that 27% of participants identified data quality as the foremost hurdle preventing the adoption of AI technologies, surpassing both budget constraints and the need for skilled personnel combined. This indicates a critical need for organizations to fortify their data management processes before they can fully embrace AI's potential.

Pilot Paralysis: The Industry's Stalemate

A significant portion of the market appears stuck in what has been termed "pilot paralysis." The study illustrates that 31% of CS teams are currently exploring AI solutions while another 31% are operating pilots. This lack of progression towards production deployment stems fundamentally from concerns surrounding data quality. Simply allocating budgets will not suffice to overcome these challenges.

Persistent Operational Challenges

In addition to struggles with AI adoption, the research highlights ongoing operational challenges facing CS teams. Notably, 36% of respondents cited bandwidth constraints of Customer Success Managers (CSMs) as a major obstacle to scaling operations. The report indicates that onboarding processes consume 27% of CS time, marking it as the most time-intensive activity. Despite efforts in digital transformation, 68% of teams still rely on traditional tools such as CRM lists or spreadsheets for outreach efforts.

One interesting observation is that early-stage CSMs engage with an average of 28 manual touches each week compared to just four automated interactions. Furthermore, teams in the mid-market segment are the most burdened by routine follow-ups, as 38% indicated that this is their biggest time sink.

The Personalization Confidence Gap

The report also uncovers a crisis of confidence among CS teams regarding personalization efforts. While a strong 52% of teams express confidence in their ability to personalize customer experiences, only 33% are able to provide personalized journeys for more than half of their customers. This discrepancy underscores the industry's struggle to effectively scale high-touch engagement strategies.

What Success Looks Like

On a more optimistic note, organizations that have successfully transitioned to production are concentrating on practical workflow enhancements. Noteworthy implementations include AI-generated Quarterly Business Review (QBR) summaries (19%), auto-generated tasks for next-best actions (17%), and predictive analytics for flagging churn risk (14%).
“I can attest that AI cut our quarterly renewals reporting by over 30 hours, allowing us to redirect our efforts towards more strategic initiatives,” remarked Jeremy Donaldson, Customer Success leader at LifeLoop.
Joshua K. Pritchett, Director of Scaled Customer Success at Okta, added, “We're investing in innovative tools like EverAfter, integrating them into our customer interface to boost traffic and engagement.”

The Bigger Picture

The implications of the report are significant. As Noa Danon, CEO of EverAfter, noted, while 72% of teams view AI as pivotal to CS by 2026, the stark fact remains that only 32% operate a single live use-case currently. The message is clear: data quality is imperative for overcoming existing barriers.

About EverAfter

EverAfter focuses on providing AI-driven customer interface solutions, catering to B2B SaaS entities aiming to scale tailored customer experiences efficiently.

For further details, you can reach out to Adi Gorelik, Brand Communications Lead at EverAfter via [email protected].

Topics Business Technology)

【About Using Articles】

You can freely use the title and article content by linking to the page where the article is posted.
※ Images cannot be used.

【About Links】

Links are free to use.