Leading companies, 1.5x more likely to deploy customer-facing AI, use technology to overcome economic headwinds.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Alexander Group, the premier go-to-market consultancy serving clients around the globe, announced the results of its 2026 Innovating Customer Engagement with AI research, which polled commercial executives on their organizations’ AI adoption. More than three-quarters (78%) of respondents said that AI was driving revenue growth; by contrast, 61% said that inflation and interest rates were driving revenue decline, and 45% described industry competition as such.
“Commercial leaders are grappling with their fair share of challenges,” said Sean Higgins, principal at Alexander Group. “The only significant expected tailwind is coming from automation and AI adoption. Our research shows that leading firms are making strategic, targeted investments to reduce costs and boost efficiency—both internally and among their customer base.”
According to the research, the top AI-powered solutions for commercial teams include:
- Product/service configuration facilitated by generative AI chat and agents (used by 47% of leaders)
- Outbound agentic lead generation (44%)
- Agentic customer service management (42%)
- Inbound lead management, including agentic lead scoring and routing (37%)
- Preventative maintenance solutions like diagnostics and intelligent usage dashboards (35%)
- Self-service purchase portals (23%)
Selecting KPIs is a critical step in any technology implementation to achieve a positive return on investment. Across sales organizations, leaders choose operational efficiency as a top KPI. This includes factors like outbound volume, inbound response speed, strategic selling time, time to quote, order processing speed, deflection rates, and service throughput rates. The greater the operational efficiency, the more value organizations can generate through sales.
“Every organization is different, but there’s a common thread among the leaders: setting clear goals before moving forward with AI,” said Higgins. “Leaders must research and design solutions with adoption in mind and align use-cases with workflows. Prioritize your team during testing and iteration, offering training and being crystal-clear in your communications. Despite its clear benefits and efficiencies, AI can’t do everything—customers still want human interaction. Human touch endures.”
