CX at a Crossroads: Acting on the 2025 U.S. AI Action Plan

The recently published Winning the Race: America’s AI Action Plan may appear to be just another federal mandate, but for anyone leading customer experience, it is much more than that. It is a clear signal that expectations around AI-driven service are accelerating, and being reactive is no longer an option.

This is not about preparing for some distant future. AI transformation is happening now. The imperative is to build a strategy that improves service today while empowering your customer operations to scale for the AI world of tomorrow.

If you are leading a CX or support organization, your role is no longer limited to managing support services. You are now managing perception, performance, and, when done right, strategic growth.

Incremental change is no longer enough

There is no debate that artificial intelligence, particularly the advancement of large language models, represents the most significant shift in how businesses and governments operate since the invention of the internet. Unlike the digital revolution that took decades to mature, this transformation is already underway and moving quickly.

Organizations do not have the luxury of time. The imperative is to act with urgency and clarity. This means moving beyond incremental improvements and fully reimagining how customer operations are designed, staffed, and optimized. CX leaders must accept that existing strategies and processes are not enough. In some cases, they need to be completely reinvented.

The companies that will lead in this new environment are not the ones relying on familiar ways of working. They are the ones willing to think differently, challenge outdated assumptions, and build for flexibility and speed. Astute CX teams understand that their support operations must evolve continually as AI capabilities advance.

Legacy support models are falling behind

The Action Plan emphasizes workforce development and AI readiness. AI does not succeed in isolation. It performs best when teams are trained to collaborate with it, interpret its output, refine its behavior, and ensure it reflects your brand values.

Crescendo was built to solve this exact problem. From day one, we created a new operating model designed specifically for the artificial intelligence era. Our approach helps companies move faster, deploy smarter, and anticipate their customer’s needs. These are not theoretical ideas. They are realities our clients are experiencing today.

We have seen this transformation firsthand. Our support delivery teams use AI, via our CX Agent Assist, to reduce repetitive workloads and focus on what our people do best: demonstrating empathy, resolving complexity, and creating moments of customer delight. The results are clear - higher CSAT, faster resolution times, and stronger alignment with brand voice and tone. AI has also helped us evolve our QA teams from reactive conversation auditing into driving improvements in knowledge management, escalation flows, and AI assistant behavior.

The traditional BPO model was built around affordable labor and scale. It was designed to cut costs by outsourcing, not to help companies meet rising customer expectations or adopt rapidly evolving technologies. That model no longer serves the needs of modern businesses. The future belongs to organizations that embrace Augmented AI, where intelligent systems manage routine tasks and people focus on complex and high-value interactions that require human insight and emotional intelligence.

Technology alone is not enough

Making AI a core capability across every support channel is just the beginning. The true value comes from embedding it deeply throughout the CX team to drive faster and more accurate responses, consistent outcomes, and ensure higher self-service success. Teams that operate this way are not just more efficient. They are measurably more effective.

At Crescendo, we see this shift every day. While many organizations stop at deploying a basic chatbot and call it progress, the reality is that operational processes, team roles, and systems often remain unchanged. This is where transformation stalls.

We partner with ambitious teams to shape the future of their customer operations. Together, we go far beyond software implementation. We help them launch new support channels, deepen their understanding of customer needs, improve satisfaction, and deploy agile operating teams that adapt and evolve alongside their business.

What sets this partnership apart is the focus on business outcomes and speed. What would take most organizations over a year, Crescendo clients accomplish in just a few months. We are not following outdated implementation roadmaps but creating new paths forward, anchored in outcomes, not existing runbooks.

Real transformation requires bold thinking and a willingness to let go of legacy approaches. The organizations making the most progress today are not always the largest. They are the ones willing to redefine and reimage what their customer experience should be.

Elevating CX Operations to a strategic function

AI is more than a technology investment. It is a chance to elevate your operations function into a strategic growth engine for the business. When automation is paired with human insight, teams can solve real problems, scale intelligently, and deliver meaningful outcomes.

At a recent event in New York City featuring Fareed Zakaria and Ken Chenault, the conversation turned to the future of customer experience. Chenault, the former CEO of American Express and now board member at Berkshire Hathaway and managing director at General Catalyst, made a compelling point. If he were still leading American Express, his greatest competitive concern would be a company like Crescendo. A company that can give any business the same level of relentless innovation and customer care that once only global enterprises could afford. That future is already here.

You do not need to transform everything overnight, but waiting is no longer an option. Managing support services internally or through legacy tactics is becoming increasingly inefficient. AI has shifted the landscape, and staying competitive and meeting customer needs now depends on moving faster, working smarter, and having a new operational plan.

Crescendo was built to meet that moment. As a fully managed customer experience partner, we combine the intelligence of modern AI with the rigor of a world-class CX operations team. We are building the future of CX in the AI era, for ambitious businesses and public institutions alike.

You have a partner ready to help you lead this transformation with clarity, accountability, and with your customers at the center. When you're ready to move forward, so are we.

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