Far from a year of transformation for customer service leaders, 2026 will see organizations mired in a raft of unglamorous work to solidify the foundations of AI operations, including change management and talent. It won’t be easy: Customer service quality will dip as organizations struggle to scale the remit of AI while crashing into operational realities. Organizations have lapped up vendor promises that AI empowers customers to self-serve on their terms, with fewer but more-specialized human agents to boost customer satisfaction and lower operational costs. Most organizations cannot achieve these efficiencies. Against this backdrop, vendors will fight for greater control of end-to-end AI operations.