Reuters Customer Service & Experience West 2026 Recap: Moving AI in CX from Assessment into Action

Reuters Customer Service & Experience West 2026 brought customer service, experience, and operations leaders together in San Diego for two days of conversations on CX innovation, AI adoption, and operational transformation. 

Held April 21-22 at the Hyatt Regency La Jolla, the event focused on one of the biggest questions facing CX leaders today: how can organizations move beyond AI experimentation and turn innovation into measurable impact? 

Across sessions and peer discussions, one theme was clear: AI maturity isn’t about adopting more technology. It’s about understanding where your organization stands today, where it needs to go next, and how to connect AI strategy to real operational outcomes. 

AI Maturity Workshop: Assess, Accelerate, and Operationalize Your AI Strategy 

One featured session was Liveops’ workshop, “AI Maturity Model Workshop: Assess, Accelerate, and Operationalize Your AI Strategy,” led by Ali Birouti, Director of Digital Evolution at Liveops. 

The 60-minute workshop gave attendees a practical framework to evaluate AI maturity across three essential areas: 

• Human-centered AI 

• Machine-centered AI 

• Virtual agents 

Through guided exercises and real-world CX use cases, participants identified strengths, gaps, and next steps for advancing their AI strategies with more clarity and confidence. 

Why AI Maturity Matters 

Many organizations are already experimenting with AI, but experimentation alone doesn’t guarantee impact. AI delivers the most value when it’s aligned with the right workflows, governance, customer needs, and performance goals. 

The workshop helped attendees think through key questions: 

• Where is AI already creating value? 

• Where are manual processes slowing teams down? 

• Which use cases should be prioritized first? 

• Where is stronger governance or measurement needed? 

• How should AI and human judgment work together? 

By using a maturity-based framework, CX leaders can avoid costly missteps and focus on practical, scalable progress. 

From Crawl to Walk to Run 

A key part of the session centered on the AI maturity progression: Crawl, Walk, Run, and Fly. 

At the Crawl stage, AI is still earning credibility by surfacing insights, identifying patterns, and supporting human review. 

At the Walk stage, AI begins recommending actions, prioritizing customer needs, and supporting decisions inside existing workflows. 

At the Run stage, AI starts automating standardized actions such as routing, QA scoring, compliance checks, and low-complexity decisions. 

At the Fly stage, AI becomes more adaptive, predictive, and continuously optimized based on customer behavior and operational signals. 

The goal isn’t to move through every stage overnight. It’s to understand where your organization stands today and how to build a realistic path forward. 

Ready to assess your current AI maturity and uncover practical next steps for moving from insight to action? 

Take the AI maturity assessment

Key Takeaways from the Workshop 

Several themes stood out: 

AI should reduce friction.
The strongest AI strategies make work easier for teams and experiences more seamless for customers. 

Every organization’s maturity journey looks different.
Being in the Crawl stage doesn’t mean an organization is behind. It means the right foundation is still being built. 

Human judgment remains essential.
AI can improve speed, consistency, and decision-making, but empathy, context, and accountability still shape the customer experience. 

Operational alignment is critical.
AI delivers greater value when it’s connected to workflows, governance, performance measurement, and business outcomes. 

Practical roadmaps matter more than big ideas without execution.
CX leaders need AI strategies that can move from assessment to action. 

Why This Matters for CX Leaders 

Customer expectations are rising, and AI adoption is accelerating. The challenge now isn’t whether organizations should explore AI. It’s how they can use it in ways that improve service quality, efficiency, and trust. 

The takeaway from San Diego was clear: the future of CX will be shaped by organizations that can assess their AI maturity honestly, prioritize the right use cases, and turn AI strategy into accountable action. 

Looking Ahead 

Liveops helps enterprise brands evaluate where they are in their AI journey and identify practical next steps for smarter, more scalable CX operations. 

Whether your organization is just beginning to explore AI or looking to move from experimentation to execution, understanding your maturity level is the first step. 

Ready to see where your CX AI strategy stands? 

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