NEW RESEARCH · IN PARTNERSHIP WITH CMSWIRE

Benchmarking the 2026 State of Contact Center Maturity

AI plans and strategy are ready.  Execution is elusive.

We asked 400 global contact center leaders about the tools they use and the tools they give their agents, then scored transformation maturity across seven pillars. The result is the clearest available picture of where the industry actually stands, and where the distance between roadmap and reality is costing you customers, agents, and margin.

You need to be evaluating, QA’ing, and revising your agentic agents just like your human agents.

Key takeaways

Six things the data made clear

Inside the Report

  • The Benchmark Explainedp. 5
  • Key Takeawaysp. 7
  • Pillar 1: Strategyp. 8
  • Pillar 2: Customer Experience (CX), Channels, and Automationp. 13
  • Pillar 3: AI, Analytics, and Quality Managementp. 16
  • Pillar 4: Real-Time Intelligence and Agent Assistancep. 20
  • Pillar 5: Workforce Management and Operational Agilityp. 24
  • Pillar 6: Agent Experience (AX)p. 27
  • Pillar 7: Reporting, Measurement, and Value Realizationp. 30
  • 5 Steps to a More Mature Contact Centerp. 32

Who we surveyed

Respondents
400 contact center leaders
Fielded
May–June 2026
Seniority
C-suite 25.25%
VP 12.5%
Director 62.75%
Region
USA 50%
UK/Ireland 25%
APAC 25%
Organization size
Small (<2,000 agents) 31.75%
Medium (2,000–5,000) 36.25%
Large (>5,000) 32.25%
Method
All responses required and aggregated to ensure confidentiality. Numbers may not total 100% due to rounding.
Benchmarking the 2026 State of Contact Center Maturity Plans and strategy are ready. Execution is elusive.

Read the full 2026 benchmark

Thirty-five pages on what 400 contact center leaders told us about strategy, AI, automation, and the agent experience — where the industry is delivering, and where it stalls.

  • The full seven-pillar scorecard with high and low scores
  • 12 figures breaking results down by region and organization size
  • What teams get right, where they struggle, and how to improve — per pillar
  • The 5-step plan to move up the maturity curve
Get the report