Staying ahead of industry trends is what allows organizations to stay ahead of their competitors and for customer experience professionals, speculating about the future of the cx industry is nothing new. The role CX will play in day-to-day business operation, changes in technology and the projected growth of CX careers are just a few examples of these often-discussed predictions.

Recently a study of 200 CX professionals was conducted to get their take on the future of the CX industry in 2019. While each professional had their own opinion on the matter, there seemed to be a consensus that industry experts should pay close attention to the following in 2019:

• Digital transformation: Experts predict that digital changes that allow for valued, on-time support, personalized web experiences for loyal clients and messaging channels that allow brands to get conversational with customers will be big for 2019.

• Data and analytics: The ability to build a meaningful data infrastructure in order to turn Big Data into a useful business resource will continue to be a challenge in 2019. CX professionals will need to start addressing this, as well as ensure they are in a position to start bringing that data together to build predictive models that aid smarter decision making.

• The role of AI in CX: AI has been the buzzword of 2018 and it doesn’t look like that will change anytime soon. Depending on which way the wind is blowing, we hear that AI is going to be terrible, and we’re all going to lose our jobs, or it’s going to be amazing and a joyous new future awaits us all. Of course, the truth – certainly in CX terms – lies somewhere in the middle. There is definitely some great opportunity ahead for AI over the next year or so and there will be processes that can be improved through its use.

• How to link CX initiatives to Return on Investment: The perennial CX problem is how you prove the value of CX initiatives. Experts agree that getting rid of the informal CX process and linking human centered design to tangible business strategies/outcomes is the only way to start correlating CX to ROI.

• Trust and emotional engagement: Customer trust is hard won – and more easily lost – than ever before. Communication and personalization will be critical for businesses who are serious about winning this battle.