By Heather Guntrum, Chief Customer Officer, M-Files

The following trends outline how customer experience and customer success will evolve in 2026, as organizations combine AI-driven scale with human expertise, reliable execution, and trust.

Hybrid Human + AI Workforces Transform Customer Engagement

In 2026, Customer Experience (CX) and Customer Success (CS) organizations should operate hybrid teams of human experts and AI “digital employees.” AI will handle repetitive and mid-complexity tasks, while humans focus on high-value, relationship-driven moments such as strategic co-innovation, escalations, and executive reviews. Success will depend on seamless handoffs, context preservation, and maintaining trust in interactions. This hybrid model allows organizations to scale efficiently without sacrificing personalized engagement, enabling teams to deliver faster, more consistent and meaningful experiences, and positioning human expertise for the moments that truly matter in customer success.

Digital-First, Self-Service Will Become the Norm

B2B buyers increasingly expect digital-first when engaging with their vendors and trusted partners. In 2026, customers will demand intuitive in-product guidance, robust knowledge bases, and community-driven resources that allow them to self-serve when appropriate, reserving human interaction for complex or high-stakes decisions. AI-assisted insights will help surface relevant guidance and predictive recommendations, creating frictionless journeys that combine efficiency with personalized support. Organizations that integrate digital-first self-service with human expertise will meet evolving customer expectations, strengthen adoption, and improve satisfaction, while those failing to adapt risk disengagement in a world where buyers increasingly control how, when, and with whom they interact.

Experience Gaps Push Firms to Compete on Reliable Execution

CX has become a primary differentiator, but most organizations under-deliver. Over the next year, companies that consistently execute reliable, low-friction experiences while demonstrating clear value will stand out. CX and CS teams will need to leverage data to track outcomes, adoption, and ROI, closing the “experience gap” that leaves customers frustrated. Execution excellence, such as delivering promised outcomes and seamless journeys, is becoming more important than relationship warmth alone. Companies that master this balance will gain trust, loyalty, and a performance advantage, proving that measurable, reliable results are as critical to CX as innovation or product features.

AI and Predictive Insights Will Enable Scaled, Personalized Customer Success

Top-performing customer success teams will use AI and predictive analytics to deliver personalized guidance at scale. In 2026, automated journey flows, predictive risk alerts, and AI-assisted recommendations will enable high-touch engagement for strategic accounts while supporting mid- and long-tail customers digitally. Outcome measurements, including adoption, ROI, and value realization, will replace reactive metrics like churn prevention. By orchestrating AI success journeys combined with human expertise, companies can scale personalization without losing relevance, ensuring every customer achieves measurable business outcomes while strengthening long-term relationships.

Trust and Responsible AI Will Become Central to Customer Experience

In 2026, AI will be integral to customer experience, but customers will evaluate its use through the lens of trust, transparency, and ethics. Organizations must ensure “AI first, human always available,” providing low-friction access to human support while embedding ethical guardrails in automated processes. Clear consent, transparency, and responsible AI practices will become part of the customer experience itself. Companies that demonstrate ethical, accountable AI usage will build stronger loyalty and confidence, while those that neglect responsible AI risk reputational harm. Trust will be a key differentiator in AI-enabled, digitally-driven CX.

2026 Customer Success Predictions

Prediction 1. Why Customer Experience Will Be Defined by Execution, Trust, and Hybrid Teams

Customer experience has entered a new era.

For years, organizations have invested heavily in CX strategies, tools, and frameworks, yet many customers still feel friction, inconsistency, and unmet expectations. As we look toward 2026, it is clear that the gap between customer promise and customer reality is becoming the defining challenge for B2B organizations.

The next phase of customer experience will not be won through incremental improvements or more technology. It will be shaped by how effectively organizations combine human expertise, AI-driven scale, and reliable execution to deliver outcomes customers can trust.

Here are the shifts that will define customer engagement and success in 2026.

Prediction 2. Hybrid Human + AI Workforces Transform Customer Engagement

By 2026, customer experience and customer success organizations will operate as hybrid teams, pairing human experts with AI-powered digital employees.

AI will increasingly handle repetitive and mid complexity tasks, such as onboarding guidance, issue triage, usage analysis, and proactive recommendations. This allows human teams to focus on the moments that matter most, including strategic co-innovation, complex escalations, and executive level engagement.

The real challenge will not be adopting AI. It will be designing seamless handoffs between humans and machines while preserving context, continuity, and trust. Customers should never feel like they are starting over or being passed between disconnected systems.

When executed well, this hybrid model allows organizations to scale without sacrificing personalization. Human expertise becomes more impactful because it is reserved for high value interactions, while AI ensures speed, consistency, and availability across the broader customer base.

Prediction 3. Digital-First, Self-Service Will Become the Norm

B2B buyers are increasingly clear about how they want to engage. They expect digital first experiences that give them control over when and how they interact with vendors and partners.

In 2026, customers will demand intuitive in-product guidance, comprehensive knowledge resources, and community driven support that allows self service when appropriate. Human interaction will remain essential, but it will be reserved for complex, high stakes, or strategic moments.

AI-assisted insights will play a critical role in making self-service effective rather than overwhelming. By surfacing relevant guidance, predicting needs, and recommending next steps, organizations can create frictionless journeys that feel both efficient and personalized.

Companies that successfully integrate digital first self-service with accessible human expertise will see stronger adoption, higher satisfaction, and deeper customer confidence. Those that fail to adapt risk disengagement in a world where buyers increasingly control the relationship.

Prediction 4. Experience Gaps Push Firms to Compete on Reliable Execution

Customer experience is widely recognized as a differentiator, yet most organizations still under deliver.

In 2026, the companies that stand out will not be those with the most ambitious CX vision, but those that execute consistently and reliably. Customers are increasingly frustrated by gaps between what is promised and what is delivered.

CX and CS teams will need to move beyond sentiment alone and focus on measurable outcomes, including adoption, value realization, and return on investment. Reliable execution, such as seamless journeys, clear milestones, and delivered outcomes, will matter as much as relationship warmth.

Trust is built through consistency. Organizations that close the experience gap by delivering what they promise, when they promise it, will earn loyalty and long-term advantage in increasingly competitive markets.

Prediction 5. AI and Predictive Insights Will Enable Scaled, Personalized Customer Success

The next generation of customer success will be defined by scale without loss of relevance.

In 2026, leading CS teams will rely on AI and predictive analytics to deliver personalized guidance across their entire customer base. Automated journey flows, predictive   and AI assisted recommendations will enable proactive engagement rather than reactive firefighting.

High touch human engagement will remain critical for strategic accounts, while mid-market and long-tail customers will receive personalized support through digital channels. Success metrics will shift from churn prevention to outcome-based measures such as adoption, ROI, and value realization.

By orchestrating AI driven success journeys alongside human expertise, organizations can ensure every customer achieves meaningful business outcomes, while strengthening long term relationships at scale.

Prediction 6. Trust and Responsible AI Will Become Central to Customer Experience

As AI becomes embedded in   trust will become the ultimate differentiator.

In 2026, customers will evaluate AI not just on usefulness, but on transparency, accountability, and ethics. Organizations must adopt an AI first, human always available mindset, ensuring customers can easily access human support while benefiting from automation.

Responsible AI practices, including clear consent, explainability, and ethical guardrails, will become part of the customer experience itself. How a company uses AI will directly influence customer confidence and loyalty.

Organizations that demonstrate responsible, trustworthy AI usage will strengthen relationships and brand credibility. Those that neglect this responsibility risk reputational damage in a world where trust is increasingly fragile.

What 2026 Means for Customer Leaders

2026 will not reward organizations that simply adopt more technology. It will reward those that design customer experiences around outcomes, trust, and execution.

The future of customer experience lies in hybrid teams, digital first engagement, predictive insight, and responsible AI. Most importantly, it lies in delivering on promises with consistency and clarity.

Customer experience is no longer about moments alone. It is about momentum, reliability, and results. And in 2026, the organizations that master those fundamentals will set the standard for customer success.