Siloed Data Remains Key Barrier to Seamless Customer Experiences
Customer Experience Dive, Tuesday, October 20th, 2026
Disconnected back-end systems still undermine customer service and AI agent rollouts, and only 5% of firms have fully integrated customer functions.
Many companies still have not connected their back-end systems, making it harder to deliver seamless service, understand customers and roll out AI agents.
Signs of siloed data include customers being passed between agents, getting different answers to the same question, or receiving marketing after they cancel, and if the service platform isn't integrated with billing, shipping, returns and CRM, neither human nor AI agents can see what the customer just did.
A KPMG survey found only 5% of companies have fully integrated marketing, sales and service.
Acxiom research shows brands want AI to orchestrate interactions but struggle with accountability and consistency.