AICXS

AI in Customer Experience Standard

The world’s first international standard for responsible AI deployment in customer experience. Global best practices in AI governance, ethics and customer-facing AI have been researched, reviewed and codified into a definitive framework.

10

SECTIONS

AI

GOVERNANCE MODEL

Ethics

FRAMEWORK

40+

COUNTRIES

What is AICXS?

The AI in Customer Experience Standard (AICXS) is the first international standard addressing the responsible use of artificial intelligence in customer experience. As organisations rapidly adopt AI — from chatbots and virtual assistants to predictive analytics and generative AI — AICXS provides the governance, ethical and operational framework to ensure AI enhances rather than diminishes the customer experience.

Born from extensive research into AI deployment best practices, AICXS helps organisations balance innovation with responsibility, ensuring AI serves customers transparently, fairly and effectively.

The 10 Sections of the Standard

The complete structure of the AICXS:01 standard — ten sections covering 1,000 points of assessable evidence across the responsible deployment of AI in customer experience.

Validated by the CX Excellence Index · Aligned with the EU AI Act, UK GDPR and emerging AI governance frameworks

AI Strategy Alignment & Governance

A coherent, well-governed, customer-centric strategy for deploying AI across the customer experience ecosystem.

  • Formal AI-CX strategy aligned to business and CX goals
  • Documented ethical code or framework guiding deployment
  • Named executive sponsor; regular board-level review
  • Cross-functional collaboration across AI-CX delivery
  • Strategic KPIs linked to AI performance in customer journeys
  • Annual strategy review and roadmap for responsible AI scaling

Data and Privacy Compliance

AI systems handling customer data comply with privacy regulations, ethical principles, and internal data governance standards.

  • Full compliance with regional data protection laws
  • Verifiable consent for customer data used in AI
  • Data minimisation policy applied to AI model development
  • Third-party data providers reviewed for compliance
  • Active data retention and deletion enforcement
  • Customer data access and deletion request handling

Ethical Governance

AI systems used in CX are guided by strong ethical principles, with clear governance structures overseeing responsible decision-making.

  • Documented ethics framework applied to AI-CX usage
  • Ethics or risk committee oversight of AI deployment
  • Ethical review of new AI use cases before launch
  • Whistleblowing channel for AI ethical concerns
  • Suppliers and partners required to follow ethical AI guidelines
  • Mitigation plans for ethically-risky AI projects

Customer Impact Assessment

The organisation understands, assesses, and manages the impact of AI on customer experiences across all channels and touchpoints.

  • Documented impact assessment for each AI-CX application
  • Customers informed when AI is part of their journey
  • Vulnerable and digitally-excluded groups considered in design
  • Customer escalation to human agent always available
  • Customer feedback captured after AI-touched interactions
  • Customer journey mapping integral to AI design

Bias, Fairness and Inclusion

AI systems are designed to avoid discrimination, reflect diverse perspectives, and serve all customer groups equitably.

  • Pre-launch bias testing on all AI models
  • Fairness indicators embedded in AI design and review
  • Inclusive test data sets covering underrepresented groups
  • Documented bias identification and correction process
  • Right of customer appeal against automated decisions
  • Accessibility reviewed across language, disability and age

Transparency and Communication

Customers are clearly informed when interacting with AI, understand its role in their experience, and retain the choice of human alternatives.

  • Clear disclosure when customers interact with AI
  • Privacy notices reference AI-based processing
  • Frontline staff trained to explain AI decisions to customers
  • Customers can request more information about AI in their journey
  • Communication standards aligned with regulatory guidance
  • Comprehension testing of AI-related customer messaging

Employee Enablement

Employees are equipped, supported and empowered to work alongside AI systems and contribute to their effective, ethical use.

  • Regular AI ethics and risk training for staff
  • Cross-functional AI learning groups and communities of practice
  • Frontline support training for AI-affected customer interactions
  • Employee feedback channels on AI systems
  • Change management for new AI rollouts
  • AI awareness included in onboarding for new staff

Performance Monitoring

AI systems are regularly evaluated for effectiveness, accuracy and contribution to customer experience through robust performance metrics.

  • CX-outcome KPIs in place for all AI systems
  • Real-time and batch performance review against benchmarks
  • Dashboards visualising AI performance over time
  • Technical and experiential performance indicators captured
  • Third-party AI tools monitored to the same standards
  • Documented corrective actions for performance issues

CX-AI Innovation and Agility

The organisation pursues innovative AI solutions that enhance customer experience while maintaining agility, ethical integrity and customer relevance.

  • AI use cases selected for clear customer value
  • Pilots tested with real customer feedback before launch
  • Lessons from failed experiments captured and shared
  • Sandbox environment for safe CX-AI exploration
  • Innovation aligned to customer journey pain points
  • Cross-functional input on new AI-enabled experiences

Stakeholder Feedback Loops

Continuous feedback from customers, employees and stakeholders is collected, analysed and used to refine AI systems and CX outcomes.

  • Structured feedback mechanisms for AI-affected customers
  • Employee insights on AI tool functionality and risks
  • Vulnerable customer feedback considered separately
  • Documented improvements to AI systems based on feedback
  • Post-incident reviews for AI-related service failures
  • Surveys and NPS updated to reflect AI-driven experiences

AICXS:01 is the International AI Customer Experience Standard. Assessed organisations are scored against all 10 sections using the QERE methodology (Question · Explanation · Reasoning · Evidence) and rated on the ICXI 5-level CX Maturity Model.

Key Requirements

Essential mandates for AICXS compliance

Every AI-customer interaction must be transparent

Customers must have the right to human escalation

AI decisions affecting customers must be explainable

Bias testing must be conducted regularly

Customer data used for AI must have clear consent

AI must augment, not replace, the human experience

Certification Pathway

Your journey to AICXS certification

01

Assess

Evaluate your AI-in-CX maturity across all 6 pillars

02

Implement

Apply AICXS governance and ethics frameworks

03

Measure

Audit AI systems against transparency and fairness criteria

04

Certify

Achieve formal certification to AICXS

05

Evolve

Continuous AI governance improvement

Implement the Standard

Begin your journey to cerfication below, select either the Standard or our Online Assessment depending on where you are in your customer experience journey.

Any questions please contact us here