Reimagining self-service, piloting employee-facing GenAI, and exploring new offerings in the customer journey analytics (CJA) market are the three key priorities for customer service and support leaders in 2024, new Gartner research reveals.

The findings are based on a Gartner survey conducted from September to October 2023, involving 246 customer service and support leaders. The survey revealed CX leaders are increasingly taking responsibility for technology strategy within their organisations. For example, 79% knowledgeable about their enterprise's plans for GenAI adoption. Furthermore, 83% stated their enterprises either have plans to invest in GenAI or have already done so.

"Advances in GenAI and shifting customer preferences are pushing service and support leaders to reimagine what's possible for their organisation in 2024. Leaders are focused on how they can leverage technology to accomplish their top priorities, including improving customer experience and optimising their operations," said Senior Principal, Research, in the Gartner Customer Service & Support practice, Kim Hedlin.

Nearly all (94%) leaders are planning to make GenAI investments are at least 'exploring' employee-facing virtual assistants.

"Many leaders see employee-facing GenAI as an experimental step on the way to deploying customer-facing virtual assistants. Respondents indicated it's an important way to learn the risks of GenAI while still having a human in the loop, before moving on to riskier customer-facing deployments," explained Principal, Research, in the Gartner Customer Service & Support practice, J.J. Moncus.

The survey also highlighted a growing preference for self-service among younger generations of customers. In response, 51% of service and support leaders who cited self-service adoption as a priority also named it a significant challenge for 2024.

"The GenAI hype is providing momentum for leaders' self-service investments. Leaders have seen glimmers of a future in which conversational interfaces powered by GenAI could handle more complex interactions than a traditional chatbot. That vision is helping shape leaders' self-service strategy in 2024," Hedlin added.

In the next 12-18 months, 56% of service and support leaders plan to invest in the CJA market, with 45% indicating that they'll be investing in this market for the first time.

"Customer service and support leaders are using CJA to gain a more holistic understanding of what customers need. Customers' and executive leaders' expectations for service interactions will only continue to rise. Service and support leaders need to identify and understand significant customer touchpoints in order to deliver a better experience," Moncus concluded.