Tim Banting
In our 2026 CX conversations, I’m seeing more buying teams quietly abandon “CCaaS vs UCaaS” debates. They’re moving to a more useful question: where does value actually get created in the enterprise interaction stack?
That shift matters because the old labels increasingly describe packaging, not performance. Especially as CX and UC share more of the same identity, routing, and interaction fabric.
2026 is as good a time as any to evaluate a reset for how you govern customer interactions, data, and AI.
1) Stratification changes the buying question from “Which platform?” to “Which layer do we trust?”
Feature parity is arriving faster than most enterprises can run a full evaluation cycle. So the more durable differentiator isn’t the checklist – it’s which part of the CX stack a vendor can reliably own and operate at scale.
In 2026, the stack is splitting into clearer layers:
- Infrastructure is increasingly interchangeable.
- Data becomes the control plane – the system that unifies identity, context, journey history, and governance across channels.
- AI becomes the value engine, using that data to automate work, improve decisions, and raise outcomes.
- Communications becomes the interaction fabric – a programmable layer that connects front-office engagement to back-office execution.
This is why your RFP shouldn’t treat the “contact center” as a standalone destination. It’s better to view it as the enterprise’s highest-velocity producer and consumer of customer-operational data – and evaluate vendors on how well they manage, govern, and activate that data across the wider business.
2) AI pushes ROI discussions up – and pricing forces discipline
Executives are judging platforms by outcomes, not features – and monetization is following. As enterprises move from per-seat licensing to metered AI consumption, it is a signal that value will be measured in usage, insight, and business impact.
Practically, this changes governance: you’ll need more precise success metrics, tighter controls on experimentation, and faster pathways from insight to operational change (not “pilot theatre”).
3) The 2026 CX buying scorecard: fewer tools, higher leverage
What I’d ask buying committees to align on – before vendor demos:
- Control plane: Where does customer data persist across journeys (not products)?
- Value engine: What decisions will AI improve, and how will you prove it quarterly?
- Workflow surface area: How well does CX connect into case management, field ops, finance, and risk?
- Adoption and accountability: Democratic buying power now spans IT, HR, facilities, and compliance—so build a balanced scorecard that prevents shelfware.
My interview with CX Today frames this shift as categories explaining value less well. But another perspective is this: the winners in 2026 will be the enterprises that treat CX as a governed system of value creation – where data, AI, and workflow alignment are managed like core operating infrastructure, not tool sprawl.
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