New Zealand companies risk missing out on revenue and growth as AI-driven CX accelerates across the Tasman.

Kiwi businesses are facing immense pressure, with company liquidations soaring 26% year-on-year, according to the latest Centrix Credit Indicator data.

As a mixture of macroeconomic and operational pressures has pushed businesses into survival mode, new research by Concentrix reveals a huge missed opportunity to excel: an underinvestment in customer experience (CX). This comes at the same time as the AI boom accelerates, leaving Kiwi businesses at risk of falling behind and ill-prepared for future growth.

The survey of 401 large businesses in Australia and 108 in New Zealand asked decision-makers to report on their CX capability. It found that 32% of Australian businesses were classified as “CX leaders”, more than double the 14% rate reported by New Zealand businesses.

Also worrying were the 49% of New Zealand businesses categorised as “CX laggards” in comparison to 19% of Australian respondents. The findings show that CX leaders experience a link between greater CX investment and financial results, with 84% reporting revenue growth in the past financial year, in a stark contrast to laggards (46%).

“Compared to Australia, New Zealand has almost triple the rate of laggards,” says Chris Caldwell, President and CEO of Concentrix.

“That’s concerning because laggards typically have no CX vision, no maturity, no investment planned – they’re at a standstill. We also know that 80% of CX leaders are growing at superior levels, but only 40% of laggards are growing, and they’re achieving lower growth rates.”

He also noted that New Zealand companies were unusual in naming labour shortage as a primary reason for not investing in CX. “Globally, that’s so far down the list of concerns they don’t even think about it. A lack of technical talent seems to be a resource constraint.”

Many businesses that are excelling in their CX strategy are reaping the benefits. For example, Concentrix helped MYOB launch MOCA, a generative-AI-powered support assistant, reducing voice call volume by 30%, boosting digital support access by 57%, and driving a tenfold increase in forum and site engagement within eight months.

The future is frictionless, thanks to agentic AI

Without investing in CX technology, local businesses are vulnerable to being left behind as innovation scales up exponentially, says Caldwell.

Fully autonomous AI, known as agentic AI, is expected to soon be in widespread use by CX leaders, which should make interacting with their businesses almost frictionless. Laggards, in contrast, already have lower CX capability and may struggle to bridge the gap without significant investment.

Frontrunners can extend their advantage as they tailor their CX to meet an increasingly tech-savvy younger audience, he adds.

“New consumers don’t want to talk to someone. They have a lower threshold for brand loyalty. They want freedom of choice at every point. As these customers grow into the market, companies need to look after them. Companies that don’t look after their customer base can really be crippled by vocal consumers sharing poor experiences.”

Caldwell expects to see integrated agentic AI that channels customers based on their demographics: preferences, age, language, location, and more. And with so many large local companies failing to invest in CX, smaller competitors have the chance to lure customers away.

“Servicing multilingual customers, and providing 24/7 customer service, for instance, are much more cost-effective than they were even two years ago,” says Caldwell. “Smaller enterprises, some run by younger folks who think differently on CX, are building businesses with more opportunities for growth.”

Concentrix sees its role in New Zealand as not only helping businesses lift CX maturity, but also strengthening customer pride and advocacy across the market.

Too many leaders have never interacted with their own CX

With nearly half of New Zealand companies classified as CX laggards, what’s the best and most cost-effective first step toward improvement? Start with the vision, Caldwell advises. It takes thoughtful discussions across the business, but it’s not expensive and it can deliver excellent results.

“Having a clearly articulated vision means you can make decisions with the perspective of the customer in mind. Instead of asking, ‘What are our processes?’, you’re asking, ‘How does the customer want to interact?’”

Another tip for business leaders is to widen their customer perspective by interacting with their customer care teams: “You’d be surprised at how many C-suites don’t interface with their CX department. The vast majority have never called into the call centre and tried to sign up or disconnect from their services. They don’t understand, at a granular level, how their business is perceived in the market. We find that lack of understanding tends to ripple through into the business’s financials.”

AI is shifting power into the hands of consumers

Ultimately, agentic AI will lead to better CX, more growth, and a lower cost to serve each customer. But to reach that point, New Zealand businesses need to spend more time and money on CX. More than four in 10 (43%) of Kiwi respondents told Concentrix that CX is a secondary priority, rather than a core driver of success.

For Caldwell, this suggests that local companies aren’t doing enough to prepare for what’s on the horizon. He believes that in future we will each have our own agentic AI personal assistant – an autonomous helper that does mundane administrative tasks on our behalf.

“Over the next couple of years, we’re going to see power in the hands of consumers in a way that we’ve never seen before,” he says. “Right now, businesses worry about bad online reviews. But in the future, I could have my personal bot call them all to ask why I haven’t got the rebate I’m owed on my bill. Your personal AI digital assistant can call a company 50 or 100 times – it won’t take you any time or effort. The businesses that are ready to support that will win.”

The full 2025 ANZ CX Index is available at Concentrix ANZ, with detailed insights on how New Zealand companies can close the gap.