Speakers
Charles Studt
CMO at delight.ai
LeighAnne Manwiller
Product Marketing Manager
Consumers want everything AI promises, from 24/7 access to instant resolution to experiences that feel effortlessly personal. But the moment something goes wrong, the blame doesn’t land on the AI that failed them. It lands on the brand that deployed it.
71% of consumers have already interacted with AI in customer service. 83% hold the brand accountable when it fails, not the AI vendor. 64% expect AI to outperform a human rep. The era of AI accountability is here, and most brands don’t yet know where they stand.
In March 2026, delight.ai surveyed U.S. consumers across five industries to find out. The result is the Delight AI Index, a benchmark that measures consumer sentiment about AI in customer service across five pillars. The overall U.S. score is 51. That’s a tipping point, not a win.
Join Charles Studt, CMO of delight.ai, and LeighAnne Manwiller, Product Marketing Manager, for a deeper dive into the data first revealed at Delight Spark 2026. You’ll see exactly where consumer trust in AI customer service stands today, where the competitive gaps are, and which segments of your audience will determine how far your AI strategy can actually go.
What you’ll learn
- The five pillars of the Delight AI Index — Trust & Confidence, Resolution Effectiveness, Brand Alignment, Comfort with Autonomy, and Emotional Resonance, plus where U.S. consumer sentiment scored on each
- The trust paradox redefining brand accountability in the AI era — why 83% of consumers blame your brand (not your AI vendor) when something goes wrong
- Industry benchmarks for Retail, Travel, Tech & Media, Healthcare, and Financial Services — and the human-preference patterns that reveal where AI is working and where it isn’t
- The biggest competitive differentiator in AI service today — what 70% of consumers say would genuinely delight them
- How generational and gender differences should shape your AI strategy — why women, who use customer service most, will determine the ceiling on AI autonomy
Walk away with a clear view of where your industry stands, plus the playbook to elevate your Delight AI Score from baseline to benchmark long before your competitors do.
