Budget planning season is approaching, and this year, it’s particularly like preparing for a high-stakes expedition into uncharted territory. As a CX leader, you’re the navigator, facing unpredictable weather (volatile markets), dwindling supplies (internal resource constraints), and shifting terrain (the evolving landscape of AI and tech complexity). Your mission? Chart the smartest course — knowing where to invest for the greatest impact and where to lighten the load. Forrester’s Budget Planning Guide 2026: Customer Experience is your map and compass, helping you build a high-impact, AI-ready CX function that can thrive in any climate.

CX Leaders Are Optimistic About Budgets Despite Market Volatility

CX budgets vary widely across the globe — from $20,000 to over $5 million, with most teams reporting budgets of between $1 million to less than $2.5 million. In terms of outlook, CX leaders are optimistic; three-quarters of CX decision-makers anticipate budget increases that match or exceed inflation. CX leaders plan to allocate their budgets in four categories: technology; data and research; initiatives, projects, or improvements; and services — with some regional differences:

  • CX leaders in North America are the most optimistic about budget increases. Thirty-seven percent anticipate budget growth of between 5–10%, which exceeds inflation. They plan to invest 28% of their budget in technology, followed closely by initiatives, projects, or improvements. They follow their global peers in focusing tech investments on foundational tech tools such as customer relationship management, digital intelligence, and business intelligence tools.
  • Australian CX leaders are cautiously aiming to match inflation. Forty-two percent of CX leaders in Australia expect budget increases in the 1–4% range. Most of CX leaders in Australia plan to focus on optimizing their existing team: 36% expect their budget for personnel to remain flat. In contrast, CX leaders in India anticipate more substantial budget increases, reflecting a more aggressive growth mindset.
  • Across Europe, CX leaders’ spending power is growing. While UK-based teams are optimistic, with 11% expecting double-digit increases, French CX leaders see their budgets under the most pressure, with two-thirds expecting budgets to remain flat or increase by less than 5%. But against a background of low inflation, this means increased spending power for most teams. Meanwhile, German CX teams are significantly more focused on culture change than their European peers.

Double Down On AI-Fueled Experimentation In 2026

As you plan for 2026, it’s increasingly important to focus spending on building a high-impact, AI-ready CX function and to decrease efforts that lack alignment and measurably positive impact:

  • Invest: AI and data literacy to ensure success with AI-powered tools. Although CX leaders increasingly incorporate AI into research and design workflows, only one-third of CX teams have mastery of data literacy skills — a prerequisite for using AI responsibly for CX measurement tasks. According to our recent Forrester’s State Of AI Survey, 2025, Indian firms lead the way globally in terms of adopting production-ready generative AI capabilities for functions such as summarizing customer feedback or identifying patterns in customer feedback and data. US and UK firms are fast followers, while French and German firms lag.
  • Divest: financial incentives for CX metrics. Tying bonuses to CX metrics can promote score obsession over genuine customer obsession. It’s expensive, hurts your firm’s culture energy and ability to improve CX, and wastes the CX team’s time defending scores and managing exceptions rather than driving real change. Firms in Singapore in particular tie executive bonuses to CX metrics, potentially exacerbating the potential of score manipulation. Indian teams, however, top out in terms of using a CX score to prioritize where they give internal awards and recognition, doubling down on highlighting cultural bright spots.
  • Experiment: turning efficient gains into CX innovation. As you gain efficiencies from AI adoption, you must plan where and how to use those gains to maximize impact. Reinvest a portion of savings from AI-powered efficiency gains to fund disciplined experimentation that drives long-term differentiation and growth. For example, you could use savings from post-call AI summarization in your contact center to pilot synthetic data and predictive analytics initiatives to identify CX interventions that deepen loyalty.

Take The Next Step In Your 2026 Budget Planning

Interested in more insights on where to invest, pull back, and experiment for success in the year ahead? Download our complimentary copy of Budget Planning Guide 2026: Customer Experience and the accompanying worksheet to put the recommendations into action. Then, register for our upcoming webinar, where our analysts will dive deeper into the recommendations and provide an overview of peer spending benchmarks.

Already a Forrester client? Read the report and schedule a guidance session to go further into the recommendations. Also, join us for our peer discussion happening tomorrow, July 16.