Hot topics
What the customer-service and customer-experience writers we follow are talking about right now. Each topic with the prevailing view and a concrete example. Updated May 2026.
Topic 1
AI adoption in customer experience
The view
Companies are rushing to use AI without first fixing the underlying customer experience problems it is meant to solve. AI tools are most valuable when built on a strong service foundation, not as a shortcut around one.
An example
Blake's Customer Connection warns that organisations are adopting AI without strengthening their CX foundation first.
Topic 2
Customer success as a revenue-critical function
The view
Customer success leaders need to bring hard, defensible numbers to finance and the board, not vague metrics. Renewal plans and QBR agendas only work if they survive direct CFO scrutiny.
An example
The CS Café published a renewal-bridge plan template designed to hold up to CFO questioning rather than be relitigated every two weeks.
Topic 3
Career moves into customer success
The view
People coming from other fields, such as content writing or product management, are well placed to move into customer success, and often earn more than staying on their original track. The skills that transfer best are executive communication and structured documentation.
An example
The CS Café argues that content writers outperform on renewal documentation and executive communication, the two things that most protect revenue in a CS role.
Topic 4
Customer problems as signals of business failure
The view
A recurring customer issue is usually a sign that something inside the business is broken, not just a ticket to close. The harder task is getting the right internal team to own and fix the root cause.
An example
Decoding Customer Experience argues that the issue you are trying to close may be pointing at the part of the business no one wants to own.
Topic 5
Why CX tools fail in practice
The view
Tools like journey maps do not fail because the workshop was done badly. They fail because nothing changes after the work is handed over. The gap is in execution and accountability, not in the frameworks.
An example
Customer Experience Decoded says journey mapping fails in the handover, when the output never reaches the people who could act on it.