Artificial Intelligence is fundamentally reshaping how companies and customers interact along the entire Customer Journey. Unlike earlier digital technologies that focused mainly on automation or improved targeting, modern AI systems – from machine learning to generative AI –  influence how, when, and why customers engage with brands. AI now enables highly personalized, context-sensitive, and increasingly autonomous experiences at scale. While this creates new opportunities for better service, seamless journeys, and value creation, it also raises important questions around transparency, fairness, autonomy, and customer trust.

At the same time, academic knowledge about AI in marketing remains fragmented, as much research examines isolated applications but rarely considers how these tools interact across the full set of customer touchpoints. This project aims to close this gap by taking a holistic view of AI’s role along the entire Customer Journey.

This project aims to create a better understanding of the role of AI in the customer experience. Building on customer experience and service research, it introduces a structured framework that identifies:

• Sweet spots: touchpoints where AI clearly enhances both customer satisfaction and business value
• Hot spots: areas where AI is powerful but carries risks (e.g., perceived intrusiveness, fairness concerns)
• White spots: underexplored opportunities where AI could create value but is not yet widely used

By mapping where AI adds value, where it creates friction, and where untapped potential exists, the project provides a strategic lens for companies navigating AI-driven transformation. Academically, it contributes a unified perspective on AI in the Customer Journey by integrating diverse research streams into one coherent framework.

This project is a collaboration between the Institute for Marketing and Customer Insight at the University St. Gallen (IMC-HSG; https://imc.unisg.ch/) and the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions (NIM).