Customer‑Facing GenAI Chatbots: Assessing Features and Benefits in Provider Marketing
One thing is clear - organisations providing customer service and customer contact in 2026 have far more technology provider options than they did even two years ago. There is no one standout provider, but the market has been turned upside down by the arrival of...
Real-Time Account-to-Account (A2A) Payments: A Quiet Revolution
Real-time Account-to-Account (A2A) payments, commonly presented to consumers as “Pay by Bank”, represent a structural evolution in how money moves through the UK economy. While a modest share of total payment value, growth dynamics, regulatory momentum, and...
CX 2026: 1 priority and 7 trends
CX trends come and go, and most organisations simply watch them unfold. But the leaders who act, who turn change into progress, are the ones who define the future. Large, established organisations often move slowly, constrained by legacy systems and risk aversion,...
When Cybersecurity Becomes an Economic Risk: Lessons from 2025 and the 11 Trends That Will Shape 2026
Until recently, cybersecurity was widely viewed as a technical discipline; essential, but largely invisible to the wider organisation. That perspective shattered in 2025, when cyber-attacks on two of the UK’s most recognisable companies, Marks & Spencer (M&S)...
Savings Confusion: When Simplification Helps – and When It Hurts
Why do people struggle to save?Despite the number of tools and products available, many consumers fail to engage meaningfully with savings. Confusion, inertia, and low trust play a major role. Recent research in the JCR, The Benefit and Maleficent Effects of...
Customer Experience is at a Crossroads — And AI Alone Won’t Fix It
Business leaders could be more honest about how customer experience (CX) is having a bit of an identity crisis.After studying as widely as possible the views of CX leaders across industries — from retail and banking to healthcare and energy — one thing is clear:...
Agentic Commerce and the “Do-It-for-Me” Economy: Promise, Pitfalls, and Future Payments
In an age where AI can write emails, predict customer behaviour, and even negotiate contracts, the next frontier is here: agentic commerce - AI agents that don’t just assist, but act. From paying for groceries to booking flights, autonomous agents are poised to...
Delegating to Machines: A Glimpse into AI Commerce
We’re entering a new phase of customer experience - one where AI doesn’t just help, it acts. From making phone calls to choosing suppliers, agentic AI is starting to handle tasks on our behalf. But with this shift comes new questions: Who’s really in control? Can we...
Steady decline in businesses using homeworking
The future of homeworking continues to generate debate and uncertainty. While some businesses push for a full return to the office, many employees are resisting, prompting ongoing revisions to workplace policies across industries. The UK Employment Rights Bill,...
Contact centres: The front line of home energy customer experience
For many consumers the contact centre is the only human touchpoint they have with their energy provider. That one interaction—whether smooth or stressful—can define their view of the entire brand.Research from Engage Customer, conducted with Davies Hickman, reveals...