A survey of just under 100 Swiss companies shows that AI is gaining importance in customer service: 36% are already using it, while an additional 41% are exploring specific applications. Companies with between 50 and 250 employees are lagging behind the most; 55% of them are not undertaking any AI projects. A lack of in-house expertise is the main obstacle. Companies that rely on external service partners make greater use of AI than those operating purely in-house. In customer interactions, chatbots and voice assistants dominate. Most view AI as a tool to support their teams. While 77% of users rate their results so far as at least meeting their expectations, nearly half do not yet systematically measure the performance of these solutions. This underscores the need for action.
The first edition of the AI Barometer for Customer Service, conducted jointly by Teleactis, Colombus Consulting, and callnet.ch, shows how Swiss companies are using artificial intelligence in the field of customer service. The results clearly show that, overall, the implementation of AI is making significant progress. However, a lack of in-house expertise is hindering this development. Companies with between 50 and 250 employees are particularly lagging behind. For this survey, nearly 100 companies from German-speaking, French-speaking, and Italian-speaking Switzerland were interviewed between June and September 2026. The study shows that AI is now a concrete operational issue for the vast majority of companies in the customer service sector. At the same time, there are significant differences depending on company size and whether customer service is managed entirely in-house or partially outsourced.
Widespread Adoption, but Significant Differences by Company Size
The use of AI-based solutions is clearly on the rise: 36% of the companies surveyed already use AI in their customer service operations, while an additional 41% are actively exploring its use. In total, 77% of companies have therefore launched projects in this area or are actively exploring their implementation. Only 23% are not currently planning any such projects. However, these figures mask marked differences. Large companies are leading the way: 55% of companies with more than 1,000 employees already use AI solutions. This figure rises to 30% for small businesses with fewer than 50 employees. Companies with between 50 and 250 employees are significantly more reluctant. Fifty-five percent of them are not currently undertaking any AI projects. This is more than double the average among the companies surveyed. According to the study, two factors are at play in this group. On the one hand, 91% of these companies manage their customer service entirely in-house. On the other hand, they particularly often lack expertise in this area: 64% cite a lack of in-house skills as an obstacle, compared to an average of 46%.
External partners can accelerate the implementation of AI
One of the survey’s most striking findings concerns the link between how customer service is organized and the implementation of AI. Companies that organize their customer service partly in-house and partly through external partners use AI nearly twice as often as those whose customer service is entirely in-house. The rate stands at 50% compared to 31%. The main obstacle cited by all respondents explains this phenomenon: a lack of internal expertise. Companies adopting a hybrid model can draw on the experience of external partners to implement new technologies.
In contrast, companies that manage their customer service entirely in-house must develop the necessary skills internally.
As a result, 28% of companies with a fully in-house customer service department currently have no AI projects. This figure is only 6% among companies that also work with external partners.
AI is gaining ground more quickly in direct customer contact
Among companies already using AI, 54% of applications relate to direct customer contact, and 46% to back-office support processes. However, the level of maturity varies considerably. In direct customer contact, usage is concentrated primarily on two applications: chatbots (48%) and voice bots (30%). Together, they account for 78% of applications in this area. When it comes to internal and support processes, the picture is much more varied. Here, applications are spread across seven different areas, with no clear trend having emerged yet. AI is most often used to assist employees (25%). This suggests that companies currently view AI primarily as a support tool and less as a substitute for their employees.
People remain the top priority: expertise takes precedence over cost reduction
Contrary to popular belief, cost reduction is not the main reason for using AI. For the companies surveyed, the priority is to improve support and the efficiency of their teams (56%), followed by faster response times and better 24-hour availability (52%). Reducing support costs ranks only fourth, at 26%. Among the obstacles, a lack of internal expertise tops the list at 47%. It is worth noting that this problem persists even among companies that already use AI. On the other hand, concerns about the quality of responses or data protection diminish significantly once companies have gained practical experience with AI. The challenge, therefore, is less and less about dispelling reservations about AI. Rather, it is about empowering employees to use and master this technology effectively. Looking to the future, the idea of collaboration between humans and AI also prevails. 56% view AI as a complementary tool that supports their teams. 70% expect AI to take on certain tasks, but always under human supervision. Only 8% expect humans to be replaced on a large scale. “The survey clearly shows that only 8% of Swiss companies expect AI to replace humans on a large scale. In contrast, 56% view it as a complementary tool. At Teleactis, we see this every day: AI requires new human skills while increasing the value that customer service representatives can provide. In short: technology strengthens teams; it does not replace them,” says Stéphane Ronteix, director of Teleactis .
Positive Experiences, but Performance Measurement Still Has Room for Improvement
Companies’ experiences have been largely positive so far: 77% of companies already using AI consider the results to be in line with or even exceeding their expectations. No company rates the results negatively. Half of the companies using AI also report that they are already seeing a positive return on investment (ROI). No company reports a negative ROI.
At the same time, there is still room for improvement in terms of managing and measuring performance.
38% of companies using AI are unable to quantify the budget allocated to it. 46% do not yet systematically measure the performance of their AI solutions. “Our 2026 Barometer shows positive progress in many areas: the adoption of AI, executive commitment, and practical implementation. However, one obstacle remains: a lack of internal expertise. The study also shows that collaborating with external partners can be an obvious solution to accelerate this progress, and that concrete results are already visible. There remains a need for greater structure, particularly when it comes to measuring return on investment (ROI), which is often too unsystematic today,” says Jean Meneveau, managing partner at Colombus Consulting.
The lead held by AI pioneers could continue to widen
The barometer also highlights a potential reinforcing effect. Companies that already use AI want to deploy new applications significantly faster than those still in the early stages. 60% of companies that already have AI solutions plan to deploy new applications over the next six months. Among companies that are interested but do not yet use AI, this figure is only 26%. The majority of these companies expect to implement AI within one to two years. This could further widen the gap with companies that are already lagging behind today. This is particularly true for companies with 50 to 250 employees, 55% of which are not currently undertaking any AI projects. The longer they wait to deploy their first applications, the harder it may be for them to catch up with other companies in terms of experience and skills. “Our survey highlights a risk: the gap could widen far beyond the realm of technology alone. Companies that are already using AI today are simultaneously gaining experience and developing skills that will be difficult to catch up on later. For companies that are still hesitating, the key is to gain initial experience, even on a small scale. However, speed should not be confused with haste: governance, skills, and employee support must be developed in tandem,” says Grégoire Perrin, vice president of callnet.ch.
Marked Differences Across Sectors
The use of AI also varies considerably from one sector to another. The public sector (67%), the telecommunications sector (57%), and manufacturing (50%) have the highest adoption rates. The way AI is implemented also varies by sector. Banks and insurance companies, as well as the public sector, are initially using AI primarily in direct customer interactions. E-commerce companies and professional service providers, on the other hand, focus more on internal and support processes. There is therefore no single path to AI adoption in customer service. Details on the barometer.
