Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a staple of modern customer experience, but consumer trust is lagging behind.
But new research from Metric Sherpa, in partnership with Sprinklr, reveals a significant disconnect between how comfortable business leaders believe customers are with AI – and how customers actually feel. From recommendation engines to chatbots, AI now touches nearly every interaction we have with brands. So how can brands create consumer trust in AI?
The AI Comfort Gap and Consumer Trust
Business leaders assume that customers are generally comfortable with AI. The study shows that more than 60% of business leaders believe consumers are “very comfortable” using AI for basic service tasks, while only 34% of consumers said the same. That gap matters because, as the report notes, “Overconfidence in AI adoption risks alienating customers and undermining trust.”
Arun Pattabhiraman, Chief Marketing Officer at Sprinklr, said that many brands are moving too quickly to adopt AI before earning customer confidence.
“One surprising insight was the clear gap between brand enthusiasm for AI and customer skepticism,” he said. “While companies are eager to adopt AI, many customers remain cautious and want to see proof that it works well and respects their preferences.”
Related: Customer Trust: Why Leaders Overestimate And Consumers Disagree
Justin Robbins, founder and principal analyst at Metric Sherpa, added that the surprise wasn’t about who trusted AI, but how little trust there was overall.
“Even the groups where there was the highest level of trust within that group, it was still very low,” he explained. “The level of comfort in even some of the most simple, should-be reliable ways in which we could be using AI, most consumers are still very reluctant.”
Adoption Does Not Equal Trust in AI
Consumers may accept AI for convenience, but they still reserve their real confidence for human interactions. Robbins said much of the skepticism comes from poor early experiences. “That speaks to some of the bad use cases of chatbots and other basic self-service that are still haunting us now, five or ten years later,” he said.
Pattabhiraman noted that leading companies are learning from those missteps by designing AI systems that prioritize transparency and accountability. “Leading brands are approaching AI with a focus on responsible design – balancing automation with human oversight to ensure transparency and inclusivity,” he said. “While AI can accelerate service and personalize experiences, many companies are making sure customers understand when and how AI is being used, and that human support is available when needed.”
The Generational Divide in Consumer Trust in AI
The study found a clear generational divide in how consumers perceive and trust AI. Digital natives are more comfortable experimenting with it and weaving it into their daily routines, but even among younger groups, trust levels remain low. Older consumers, meanwhile, tend to approach AI more cautiously and expect greater human oversight.
This divide underscores a central truth about customer experience: trust is personal. Customers don’t all share – or trust – in the same way. Some will openly embrace AI-driven convenience, while others will quietly disengage if they feel uncertain or unseen. Understanding these generational nuances is key to improving consumer trust in AI.
Building Trust, Not Just Tools
Both Robbins and Pattabhiraman emphasized that technology alone cannot close the trust gap. “There is opportunity to improve trust with our customers,” Robbins said. “We need to show up. We can’t just tell them they can trust us. We need to show them.”
That begins with integration. “Organizations are closing the gap between brand promises and customer experiences by using AI-native tools to unify data across service and feedback channels,” Pattabhiraman explained. “When these capabilities are integrated across customer service, marketing, and digital journeys, companies can move beyond collecting scores to acting on insights – turning every interaction into an opportunity to build trust.”
One of Sprinklr’s clients, Aramex, offers a powerful example. The logistics leader modernized its customer experience by using Sprinklr Service and WhatsApp integration to enhance efficiency and provide 24/7 support. The company has since automated 90% of customer cases and saved over a million agent hours each year – a transformation that has reduced delays, improved satisfaction, and strengthened trust at scale.
Calibrating AI for Confidence and Long-Term Trust
The research makes one thing clear: customers are not rejecting AI, but blind trust is rare. Brands that succeed will design AI interactions that earn confidence step by step – through transparency, fairness, and the option for human connection.
Consumers don’t want AI to replace humans; they want it to assist. They don’t want to be trapped by AI; they want to be supported by it. The best AI interactions are those that complement human service, or alternatively, those that immediately transfer to a human agent when they hit a wall.
In the age of intelligent automation, the true differentiator won’t be speed or sophistication – it will be how brands cultivate consumer trust in AI.
“The most simple thing we can do,” Robbins said, “is if we’re going to make a promise, we’ve got to get better at knowing that we’re going to be able to keep it.”
Download the full report here.
