Forrester Predicts Human Connection Will Drive Customer Success
By 2027, companies will need to focus on human connection to stand out in customer success and service, as AI capabilities become more common. This shift will be crucial for companies to differentiate themselves and provide better customer experiences.
Original reporting · forrester.com
Original: “Predictions 2027: Human Connection Will Be The Next Battleground For Customer Success And Service”
Read “Predictions 2027: Human Connection Will Be The Next Battleground For Customer Success…” at Forrester →
How this was written. Message Verified wrote this article with a language model from Forrester’s reporting (model: @cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast); it describes that reporting rather than adding to it. The original, linked above, is the full story.
Key points from Forrester’s report
- By 2027, human connection will become a key differentiator in customer success and service as AI capabilities become more common.
- Personal AI assistants will increase traffic in customer service channels, requiring companies to prepare their systems to interact with these assistants seamlessly.
- Companies will need to shift their pricing strategy from automation to monetizing human touch to provide more personalized and humanized experiences.
- Forrester predicts that twenty global B2B companies will create autonomous, cross-system service networks to manage bot-initiated requests.
- Companies that combine machine efficiency with human expertise, empathy, and trust will be more likely to win in this environment.
According to Forrester, the increasing use of AI in customer success and service will no longer be a competitive advantage by 2027. As more companies adopt similar AI capabilities, customers will expect more personalized and humanized experiences.
In 2026, companies saw significant gains in retention, efficiency, and service delivery through AI-assisted service. However, this also highlighted the limitations of automation in providing better customer experiences. Forrester reported that more automation does not necessarily mean better customer experiences.
Forrester predicts that personal AI assistants will become the main customer service interface for a significant portion of consumers. This will lead to an increase in traffic in customer service channels, and companies need to prepare their systems to interact with these assistants seamlessly.
The use of AI assistants will also change the way companies approach customer service. Forrester expects that twenty global B2B companies will create autonomous, cross-system service networks to manage bot-initiated requests. This will require companies to invest in AI-agent interaction protocols to handle these requests efficiently.
Additionally, Forrester predicts that a dozen brands will shift their pricing strategy from automation to monetizing human touch. As AI agents handle more customer inquiries, companies will need to focus on providing humanly relatable experiences to differentiate themselves. This may involve offering services that feature guaranteed access to human experts or photorealistic avatars.
To succeed in this new landscape, companies need to design their customer service channels to interact seamlessly with both human customers and AI agents. Forrester advises companies to test their customer journeys end-to-end and prepare for spikes in engagement volume. Companies that combine machine efficiency with human expertise, empathy, and trust will be more likely to win in this environment.
Forrester clients can access the full Predictions 2027 report, which provides more detail on these predictions and additional guidance on how to plan a customer success and service roadmap for 2027. Non-clients can download a complimentary Predictions guide and access additional resources on the Forrester website.
Questions and answers
What will happen to customer experiences as AI capabilities become more common?
Customer experiences will become harder to differentiate, and companies will need to focus on human connection to stand out.
How will personal AI assistants change customer service?
Personal AI assistants will increase traffic in customer service channels, and companies will need to prepare their systems to interact with these assistants seamlessly.
What can companies do to succeed in this new landscape?
Companies should design their customer service channels to interact seamlessly with both human customers and AI agents, and focus on providing humanly relatable experiences to differentiate themselves.
