Consumers prefer human over AI agents, welcome proactive outreach from businesses, and find the best experience from retail and healthcare companies
March 30, 2026 — Metrigy has released its inaugural quarterly Consumer CX Index, a comprehensive study that examines sentiment around customer experience. The baseline index and supporting insights lean toward positive sentiment, though consumers prefer human over AI interactions.
The Consumer CX Index is designed to move beyond surface-level satisfaction by aggregating data across eight distinct sub-indexes: AI satisfaction, AI trust, ease of use, empathy, momentum, proactivity, relationship strength, and resolution success.
Although the initial baseline indicates generally positive sentiment, the data highlights a clear distinction between where technology excels and where the human touch remains irreplaceable. Many consumers balk at full AI automation, with differences based on age, gender, education level, and income.
“The Q1 index shows a consumer base that values digital ease, but still demands the human safety net,” says Layne Haaksma, senior research analyst at Metrigy. “With most consumers considering a company’s customer service reputation before doing business with them, the brands that win will use technology to empower, rather than replace, the human connection to provide a stellar customer experience.”
Key Findings
- 85% of consumers prefer human over AI agents, and even if they’re assured of resolution, 77% still prefer humans. As education increases, consumer preference for AI rises and active avoidance drops. However, we are seeing improvement in their willingness to use AI in select circumstances and also preference for using voice rather than text AI agents
- Women are more forgiving of poor customer service than men and will leave a company after 3.5 bad experiences vs. 3.0 for men. Income also matters: Those making $20,000 per year tolerate 4.6 bad experiences compared to 2.7 for those making $100,000 to $125,000.
- Consumers prefer voice over text for communicating. When it comes to AI agents, 40.8% of seniors (65+) demand an immediate handoff to humans, while only 19.6% of those 35-44 require the same. The top types of outreach they find helpful: fraud or security alerts, customer service follow-up, and delivery updates
- Only 12% of consumers feel companies reach out to them too often, and those who find proactive outreach extremely valuable jumped nearly 18 percentage points from fourth-quarter 2025
- Businesses can no longer view customer service as a cost center, as 86.3% use stellar customer service as a criteria to decide which companies they do business with always (34.7%) or sometimes (51.6%)
“As AI becomes pervasive across all areas of customer experience, we felt it imperative to track changing consumer perspectives about their experiences with and without the technology,” says Robin Gareiss, CEO at Metrigy. “There are too many gaps between business strategy and consumer expectations, both of which are quickly changing. This tracking will enable CX leaders to optimize their AI-in-CX strategies for CSAT, revenue growth, and efficiency.”
Sector Leaders and the Value of Proactivity
The Q1 2026 Index identifies significant performance variances across different industries:
- Retail and Healthcare are currently recognized by consumers for delivering the highest overall quality of experience.
- Telecommunications and Financial Services are leading the market in effective AI implementation.
A major shift in consumer behavior this quarter is the rising demand for proactive engagement. The percentage of consumers who find proactive outreach “extremely valuable” rose by 17.5 percentage points compared to the previous quarter. This indicates that consumers increasingly expect brands to anticipate their needs and reach out before a problem arises, rather than waiting for the customer to initiate contact.
Redefining CX Priorities
The findings suggest a fundamental shift in what constitutes a good experience. For modern consumers, the ability to trust a brand and receive a definitive resolution to their issue is more critical than how fast a response is delivered or how personalized the marketing feels. As companies continue to invest in AI, the index suggests that the most successful organizations will be those that use technology to bolster trust and resolution while maintaining easy access to human support.
About Metrigy: Metrigy is an innovative research and advisory firm focusing on the rapidly changing areas of artificial intelligence, customer experience, and workplace collaboration—along with several related technologies, including knowledge management, security, and workforce engagement management. Metrigy conducts research with business leaders, consumers, and technology vendors. Our analysts deliver strategic guidance and informative content, backed by primary research metrics, indexes, and analysis, for technology providers and enterprise organizations.
