No Empathy, No Loyalty: AI’s Biggest Challenge in Customer Service

A new global study reveals that AI’s lack of empathy is the biggest challenge facing customer support teams, highlighting the need for more human-centred AI design.

AI’s lack of empathy has emerged as the top challenge facing customer support in 2025, according to new global research from Wipro’s experience innovation company, Designit.

Blending humans and AI in customer support presents unique challenges for businesses, with organisations seeking solutions that balance efficiency with empathy. 

However, Designit’s global research shows that many are falling short, with over half (56%) of professionals across the design, creative and tech industries identifying “AI with no empathy” as the biggest obstacle to integrating humans and AI. 

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Other challenges included misrouted queries (32%), slow human backup (8%), and inaccessible data (4%).

With rising expectations for customer support that is both fast and empathetic, Designit’s research underscores the importance of a human-centred approach to designing AI systems from the outset. An approach that doesn’t just rely on data and demographics.

Rather than relying on static personas, forward-looking businesses are beginning to explore design frameworks that reflect people’s changing motivations, emotional states and decision-making contexts. Aka ‘Mindset Archetypes’. 

This more nuanced approach helps AI respond in ways that feel relevant, personalised and emotionally attuned – key factors in building trust and long-term loyalty.

Anna Milani, Senior Service/Experience Designer and User Researcher at Designit, said, “Empathy is the missing link in AI-driven customer support, but the answer isn’t more data. It’s rethinking how AI is designed.”

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“AI designed to understand traditional personas is only useful for telling you who a customer is, not why they’re making decisions in the moment or how they might feel in a particular context. Designing with Mindset Archetypes goes beyond demographics, focusing on motivations, values, and the triggers that influence behaviour. 

Milani added, “Two customers may look identical on paper, but have completely different priorities, emotional states, or decision-making patterns.” 

“By embedding this ‘mindset’ thinking into AI systems from the outset, businesses can create experiences that adapt to shifting human needs, feel genuinely empathetic, build stronger trust and loyalty – and ultimately overcome this challenge of blending humans and AI in customer support.”

Designit brings expertise across customer experience and digital transformation, having partnered with businesses such as JFKIAT Terminal 4 and Santander to create innovative, human-centred experiences that bridge the gap between technology and empathy.

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