AI agent 2026trends Customer experienceInteractive report2This report provides key insights for customer experience leaders to shape their AI agent strategy for 2026 and beyond. Within each trend, you will find real-life examples, technical resources, and customer stories to share with your teams for deeper learning.These trends were identified using a blend of qualitative and quantitative data, including internal Google Cloud interviews with AI leaders, customer case studies, and insights from The ROI of AI in customer experience 2025 report (based on a global survey of 3,466 enterprise decision makers).About this reportWant to dig deeper into the trends? NotebookLM is ready to help—simply click the icon for an interactive version of this report.Ask the report3AI agents are redefining customer connection in 2026The decisive shift in customer experience (CX) is happening right now.That shift is agentic AI. This is AI that moves beyond answering simple questions to understanding a customer’s goal, making a plan, and taking actions across applications to achieve it with human guidance and oversight.Due to this capability, AI is connecting discovery, commerce, and customer service into a single, seamless journey. Rather than losing customer context in the handoff between siloed systems, AI agents can preserve preferences and intent, delivering highly personalized, proactive experiences at scale. While these trends are universal, this report pays particular attention to the financial services and retail sectors. These industries often handle high volume and complex customer requests, and AI agents that operate under human control and oversight, following established business processes, can help meet fast-paced consumer demands. In this report, we explore five key AI agent trends shaping customer experience in 2026. Unlocking the value of these trends demands that leaders move beyond the contact center and unify fragmented data to build an intelligent, active engine that prioritizes the customer journey across every touchpoint.What are AI agents?Agents are systems that combine the intelligence of advanced AI models with access to tools so they can take actions on your behalf, under your control.I/O, May 2025 Keynote by Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google4For CX leaders charting their AI strategy, the focus has shifted from hype to business impact. The successful early adopters are harnessing agentic AI to transform the entire digital experience—elevating customer satisfaction, driving operational efficiencies, and sustaining business growth.”Vice President, Product, Applied AI, Google CloudDarshan Kantak55 trends shaping customer experience in 2026Agents for every employee1Empowering individuals to achieve peak productivityAgents for every workflowRunning your business with grounded agentic systems2Agents for securityAdvancing security from alerts to action4Agents for your c...