Contact Centers Adapting to AI and Industries, ISG Says

The evolution of AI in contact centers and enterprise operations is disrupting customer processes and may change the outcomes of software investments, according to new research from global AI-centered technology research and advisory firm Information Services Group (ISG).

Contact centers have seen more innovation in the past three years than at any other time in their history. By 2027, more than three-quarters of them will include multiple GenAI applications in their service processes.

The ISG Buyers Guides for Contact Centers, produced by ISG Software Research, provide the rankings and ratings of 40 software providers across four software categories and three vertical industries, assessing products that support automated and intelligent contact centers. The research finds that many enterprises are overhauling contact centers that have remained largely unchanged for decades. Using new tools derived from conversational and generative AI, they are expanding opportunities for customers to have intelligent self-service interactions while enabling agents to more effectively engage with customers.

“Contact centers have seen more innovation in the past three years than at any other time in their history,” said Keith Dawson, director of research, Customer Experience, ISG Software Research. “By 2027, more than three-quarters of them will include multiple GenAI applications in their service processes.”

The transformation of contact centers is being fueled by AI, cloud technology and new market entrants, the research finds. Beyond the core functions of routing and workforce management, platforms are defined by analytics, automation, conversational AI and integration with customer relationship management (CRM) and customer experience (CX) systems. However, enterprises first and foremost are looking for ease of use, interoperability, clear ROI, and proven AI results from contact center software, ISG research finds. To succeed, platforms must combine rock-solid reliability with advanced AI-driven features that improve efficiency and elevate the customer experience.

Most current software configurations are deployed in the cloud in the form of contact center as a service (CCaaS), the research finds. They have turned the routing engine at the heart of contact center infrastructure into a commodity. As a result, enterprises have been able to build contact center systems based on whichever component is most important to them, but the cost and maintenance requirements are significant, and contact center suites with platforms and tools are readily available .

Enterprises are now most often sourcing contact center technology from as few providers as possible and prefer suites for simplicity of administration, the research finds. Most companies evaluating products have not bought contact center systems since before the pandemic and are facing a world of new capabilities with AI that did not exist five years ago. ISG advises buyers to focus on customer experience. Customer interactions require not just routing and self-service but the foundation for agents and knowledge to guide engagements toward mutually beneficial resolutions and outcomes.

For its 2025 Buyers Guides for Contact Centers, ISG evaluated software providers across four software categories — Contact Centers, Agent Management, Customer Interaction Analytics and Intelligent Self-Service — and three vertical industries: Contact Centers for Healthcare, Contact Centers for Insurance and Contact Centers for Retail. ISG produced a separate Buyers Guide for each category and industry. A total of 40 providers were assessed: 8×8, Aircall, Alvaria, Aspect, Avaya, AWS, Calabrio, CallMiner, Cisco, Content Guru, Dialpad, Eleveo, Emplifi, Enghouse Interactive, evaluagent, Exotel, Five9, Genesys, GoTo, Intradiem, LivePerson, Microsoft, Mitel, net2phone, Nextiva, NiCE, Odigo, RingCentral, Salesforce, Sinch, Sprinklr, Talkdesk, Twilio, UJET, Verint, Vonage, XTIUM, Zendesk, Zoho and Zoom.

ISG Software Research rates software providers in seven evaluation categories. Five are related to product experience, covering the software’s overall capabilities and the adaptability, manageability, reliability and usability underlying them. Two are related to customer experience: validation and total cost of ownership and return on investment (TCO/ROI). Providers ranked in the top three for each evaluation category are named as Leaders. Within each platform category, those with the most Leader rankings are named as Overall Leaders.

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The Overall Leaders of the 2025 Buyers Guides for Contact Centers were the following:

Contact Centers: NiCE was the top Overall Leader, followed by Verint and Genesys. NiCE was designated a Leader in seven evaluation categories, Verint in six and Genesys in three. All three Overall Leaders were rated Exemplary, along with Content Guru, Dialpad, Five9, RingCentral, Salesforce, Sprinklr, Talkdesk, Zendesk and Zoho. Avaya, AWS and Cisco, Microsoft, Nextiva, UJET and Vonage were rated Innovative.

Agent Management: NiCE was the top Overall Leader, followed by Verint and Genesys. NiCE was designated a Leader in seven evaluation categories, Verint in six and Genesys in three. All three Overall Leaders were rated Exemplary, along with Calabrio, Content Guru, Five9, Microsoft, RingCentral and Talkdesk. UJET was rated Innovative.

Customer Interaction Analytics: NiCE was the top Overall Leader, followed by Verint and Genesys. NiCE was designated a Leader in seven evaluation categories, Verint in six and Genesys in three. All three Overall Leaders were rated Exemplary, along with Calabrio, Content Guru, Dialpad, Five9, RingCentral, Salesforce, Sprinklr, Talkdesk, Twilio, Zendesk and Zoho. Avaya, AWS, CallMiner, Cisco, Microsoft, Nextiva, UJET and Vonage were rated Innovative.

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Intelligent Self-Service: NiCE was the top Overall Leader, followed by Verint and a tie between Genesys and Talkdesk. NiCE was designated a Leader in seven evaluation categories, Verint in six and Genesys and Talkdesk in three and one, respectively. All four Overall Leaders were rated Exemplary, along with Content Guru, Dialpad, Five9, RingCentral, Salesforce, Sprinklr, Twilio, Zendesk, Zoho and Zoom. AWS, Cisco, LivePerson, Microsoft, Nextiva, UJET and Vonage were rated Innovative.

Contact Centers for Healthcare: NiCE was the top Overall Leader, followed by Genesys and Talkdesk. NiCE was designated a Leader in seven evaluation categories, Genesys in six and Talkdesk in one. All three Overall Leaders were rated Exemplary, along with Dialpad, Five9, RingCentral, Salesforce and Zendesk. Avaya, Cisco and Vonage were rated Innovative.

Contact Centers for Insurance: NiCE was the top Overall Leader, followed by Verint and Five9. NiCE was designated a Leader in seven evaluation categories, Verint in six and Five9 in one. NiCE and Verint were rated Exemplary, along with Content Guru, Genesys, and Salesforce. Five9 and Talkdesk were rated Innovative.

Contact Centers for Retail: NiCE was the top Overall Leader, followed by Verint and Genesys. NiCE was designated a Leader in seven evaluation categories, Verint in six and Genesys in three. All three Overall Leaders were rated Exemplary, along with Content Guru, RingCentral, Salesforce, Sprinklr, Talkdesk and Zendesk. Five9 was rated Innovative.

“Enterprises now face more contact center choices than ever, and their options have become more complicated,” said Mark Smith, partner and chief software analyst, ISG Software Research. “This software research provides the industry’s most complete independent rankings and ratings of contact center providers and reveals why AI and customer experience should be priorities for new technology investments.”

The ISG Buyers Guides for Contact Centers are the distillation of more than a year of market and product research efforts. The research is not sponsored nor influenced by software providers and is conducted solely to help enterprises optimize their business and IT software investments.