Hot Takes or Hard Truths? The 2026 AI & CX Reality Check with Transcom

Everywhere you turn, the conversation about AI and customer experience sounds the same. AI will replace the contact center. Customers don't want to talk to humans anymore. Automation will fix everything. But how much of that is actually true — and how much of it is costing brands real customers, real revenue, and real trust?Nicole Willing sits down with Cortney Jonas Burnos, VP of AI and Digital at Transcom, and Jeff Blair, Chief Growth Officer, to put the industry's boldest AI and CX assumptions under the microscope.Eight hot takes. Two experts with decades of frontline CX and AI experience between them. Zero tolerance for hype.What emerges isn't a defence of AI or a rejection of it. It's something more useful: a clear-eyed, evidence-backed challenge to the assumptions quietly shaping — and in some cases, quietly damaging — CX strategy in 2026.You'll find out why 78% of customers now attempt self-service first — and why self-service is simultaneously ranked the least effective channel for resolving issues. You'll hear why the brands seeing the biggest returns from AI are actually spending more on customer experience, not less. And you'll understand why the biggest barrier to AI transformation isn't technology at all.The conversation covers the moments that matter most — when digital tools fail, when customers escalate, when a bot loop turns a manageable issue into a brand reputation problem. It challenges the idea that outsourcing means losing control. It reframes what great agents actually do in an AI-powered environment. And it draws a straight line between poor automation decisions and the customer churn that follows.If your 2026 CX strategy is built on any of these assumptions, this is the conversation you need to have before your next budget decision.The real question, as Jeff Blair puts it, isn't whether AI will replace the contact center. It's whether organisations are ready to rethink how customer experience actually operates in an AI-powered world.The hot takes are provocative. The hard truths are harder to ignore.Stay ahead of the trends shaping customer experience — explore more insights, interviews, and analysis at CX Today.Learn how Transcom is helping organisations design smarter, AI-powered customer experiences.