Tim Banting
From Promises to Proof
In 2026, enterprise technology buyers are demanding evidence over aspiration. Tight budgets, stricter oversight, and AI regulation have shifted procurement from hopeful innovation to accountable execution. Buyers want vendors to demonstrate real value through measurable outcomes, transparent integration, and verifiable data handling.
Techtelligence research across 1,800 enterprises shows that while investment in Unified Communications (UC) and Customer Experience (CX) remains strong, the emphasis has changed. Buyers now prioritize shorter, outcome-driven projects where value is proven quickly, not promised vaguely.
Experience Infrastructure: The New Foundation of CX
The boundary between customer experience and internal collaboration is disappearing. By 2026, Techtelligence forecasts that UC and CX will converge into a single layer of capability known as Experience Infrastructure – a connected framework that links how employees work with how customers are served.
For CX buyers, this convergence changes the selection criteria entirely. Experience Infrastructure requires platforms that integrate data, communication, and analytics across every part of the organization. When service agents, back-office teams, and AI systems share information in real time, customer issues are resolved faster, interactions become more personal, and satisfaction improves.
The implication for buyers is clear: investing in CX without considering collaboration – or vice versa – creates inefficiency and blind spots. Future-ready CX strategies will be built on unified data flows, seamless interoperability, and AI that connects insight with action. Experience Infrastructure is no longer a concept; it is the practical path to measurable, end-to-end experience improvement.
Time as the New Currency of Value
“Time capital” is emerging as a defining metric of transformation success. Techtelligence data shows that buyers increasingly measure ROI by the time returned to teams and customers rather than only financial savings.
Buyers should seek vendors who can quantify time savings across the full customer journey – how automation shortens resolution times, accelerates decisions, and removes friction. Yet the true value lies in how that time is used: improving service, deepening relationships, and enabling innovation.
Building a Future-Proof Buying Strategy
With UC and CX platforms converging and AI regulation intensifying, buyers must think long term. The strongest strategies will focus on systems that integrate seamlessly, evolve with compliance demands, and prove outcomes continuously.
Technology selection in 2026 is about control – control over data, over value realization, and over vendor accountability. The enterprises that demand proof rather than promises will not just optimize their technology spend; they will redefine what credible digital transformation looks like.
Discover more trends and industry insight
Find my full analysis of the CX trends shaping the market, in this week’s interview for CX Today.
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