Most CX AI deployments are designed to cut costs
That's exactly why they fail.
Gartner predicts "Over 40% of agentic AI projects will be cancelled by end of 2027 - due to escalating costs, unclear business value, and inadequate risk controls."
And we know why.
Because we've seen it before. When you start with cost reduction, you optimise for the wrong outcome. You automate a broken process faster. You frustrate customers more efficiently. And you lose the one thing that actually drives long-term value: their trust.
When you start with the customer experience — with what resolution actually looks like — everything else follows. Costs fall. Efficiency rises. And AI does what it was always capable of.
We are esito
CX AI transformation consultancy & integrator. We diagnose, design and deliver automated outcomes.
AI is the fastest thing to ever hit a slow process, or a bad strategy
"By 2029, agentic AI will resolve 80% of common customer service issues." - Gartner
The question isn't if you do it. It's how you do it.
Thirty years. Multiple industries. Millions of customers
We weren't watching from the sidelines.
LARGE UK APPLIANCE RETAILER
CX Integrator for 12 years. Scale up to IPO
TOP 3 UK UTILITY COMPANY
10 Years. 50,000 customers to 4 million. CX Integration
UK INSURANCE POWERHOUSE
CX Strategy from market entry to dominance
Customers still wait on hold.
128X Fall in Level 1 AI cost per token in 2025 alone
- Artificial Analysis 2025
Over 30 years in the UK's most demanding CX environments. These are not case studies. They are operational outcomes — evidenced, measured, and repeatable.
£1.5bn Direct-to-Consumer Electrical Retailer
25,000 inbound calls per week. Delivery, installation, damage, returns — each one time-critical and emotionally loaded.
40% reduction in call volume
Top 3 UK Energy Provider
Complex billing, regulatory pressure, customers expecting instant resolution across every channel.
Customer to Agent Ratio 1,700 → 2,500
UK leading Insurance Group
Premium service at volume, velocity, and the brutal unit economics of insurance CX.
32% NPS ↑ 30% cost ↓ Customer to Agent Ratio 2,500 → 4,600
Major UK Financial Services Recoveries Business
Third of customers want to resolve their debt but feel too embarrassed to make contact.
£300k recovered per £25k spent
UK NHS
Proactive AI driving the highest-stakes CX environment in the country — where every contact matters and every outcome has human consequences.
40% increase in programme participation
We move at the speed of a disruptor with the governance of an enterprise.
We are not a startup guessing at this problem. We have been in the contact centres, in the boardrooms, and in the project debriefs. We have deployed multichannel, social and all the platform inbetween; webchat, co-browsing, video chat, virtual assistants, voice self-service, speech analytics, RPA, Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger, and proactive outreach platforms. Some worked. Some didn't. Most underdelivered - not because the technology was wrong, but because the capability to implement, adopt, and continuously improve it wasn't there.
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We understand everything.
Advise
Independent. Tech-agnostic. Honest.
No platform allegiances. No vendor relationships that shape what we tell you. An honest view of what will work in your specific environment — and what won't. We've been burned by the wrong technology enough times to know the difference.
Build
Expert-led implementation.
The technical depth to deliver what we design. Best-in-breed technology selection based on your requirements, not our partnerships. Implementation led by people who have worked in operations — not just built systems.
Run
We stay. And we stay accountable.
Ongoing performance management, continuous improvement, and future-proofing. The project doesn't end at go-live. The results do not drift. The same people. Deep knowledge. Real accountability.
The LLM era gave the world better-sounding AI agents, and the concept of 'out of hours' disappeared. It didn't fix the back-office bottlenecks. Customers were still waiting for a resolution. The next wave is different - and the economics are irreversible.
Capability
Generative AI
Outcome AI
Does
Answer Questions
Takes Action
Scope
Front-end conversations
End-to-end resolution
Dependency
Needs a human behind it
Orchestrates the whole journey
When obstacles appear
Stops. Fixed paths break it
Finds a way round. Outcome-focussed
Outcome
24/7 and better conversations
Resolved problems
"By 2029, agentic AI will (be able to) autonomously resolve 80% of common customer service issues." - Gartner
78% of organisations say they use AI - McKinsey's State of AI 2025
Less than 5% are resolving outcomes with it - Gartner
The gap between those numbers is where esito works.
From first conversation to sustained advantage.
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DISCOVER
We listen before we form a view. 2-3 day structured immersion into your operation. (A stand alone activity)
Deliverable: Discovery Summary
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DIAGNOSE
We find what everyone else has missed. Forensic analysis of your data, processes, and failure demand.
Deliverable: Diagnostic Report
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BLUEPRINT
We design your future, not just your next step. Outcome architecture.
Deliverable: Blueprint Document
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DEPLOYMENT PLAN
We build the plan that pays for itself. Phased roadmap, tech selection, governance.
Deliverable: Sequence, Timelines, Dependencies
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DEPLOY
We implement with precision. Expert-led delivery built around your objectives.
Deliverable: Objectives achieved, evidenced
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PERFORM
We keep the results there. Continuous improvement, measurement, close support.
Deliverable: Performance dashboard
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EVOLVE
We ensure you stay ahead of what comes next. Future-proofing, continuous innovation review.
Deliverable: Regularly Updated Technology Roadmap