Customers in the UAE collectively lose more than 83 million hours every year dealing with inefficient customer service systems, according to new research by ServiceNow. The study highlights how gaps between AI investments and actual service delivery continue to frustrate consumers.
The report, The CX Shift: Customer Expectations in the AI Era, conducted in partnership with ThoughtLab, surveyed 34,000 executives, service professionals and consumers globally, including 1,335 respondents from the UAE.
The findings show that UAE consumers spend an average of 10.8 hours annually resolving customer service problems such as long waiting times, repeated verification processes and slow digital systems. This is equivalent to more than one full working day per person.
Productivity losses and slow resolution times
The research also found that across the EMEA region, customer complaints typically take between three and four days to resolve. In sectors such as manufacturing, resolution times can extend to almost a full working week. Even in the technology sector, only 18% of customer issues are resolved within an hour.
Customer dissatisfaction also remains significant. About 41% of UAE consumers rated customer service experiences as average or below expectations, while 45% said they would consider switching companies after just one poor service interaction.
“Consumers across EMEA are losing entire working days to service experiences that should take minutes. The root cause isn’t a lack of AI investment — it’s that most CRM systems were built to record interactions, not resolve them. That’s the shift we’re driving: CRM as a system of action, not a system of record,” said Shakira Talbot, Group Vice President, CRM EMEA at ServiceNow.
AI improving speed but not empathy
The study indicates that while AI is improving efficiency, it has not fully addressed customer expectations around empathy. Around 62% of UAE consumers said AI has improved service delivery, with 49% citing improvements in speed and convenience and 60% highlighting better 24/7 support.
However, 55% of respondents identified lack of empathy as a major frustration. While 89% prefer phone support, about 80% first attempt self-service options. Nearly half (47%) said chatbots often fail to properly understand their queries.
“Customers want to feel heard and resolved, not just routed. But that can’t happen when AI and human agents operate in different systems with different views of the customer. The organisations getting this right are the ones connecting their entire operation — front office to back office — on a single platform. That’s when CRM stops being a digital filing cabinet and starts being a revenue engine,” added Talbot.
Fragmented systems slowing service agents
The report also found that customer service agents face operational inefficiencies. On average, UAE service representatives spend only 44% of their working time directly addressing customer issues, with the rest consumed by administrative work and navigating multiple systems.
About 73% of agents reported needing to access three to five different platforms to resolve a single customer case, while 51% cited inconsistent customer data as a major operational challenge.
Leadership priorities not aligned with customers
The study also highlighted a disconnect between executive priorities and customer expectations. While 55% of UAE customers identified lack of empathy as a key issue, only 24% of executives considered it a priority. Similarly, while 50% of customers were frustrated by being transferred between departments, only 36% of executives recognised it as a major concern.
Need for integrated AI strategies
According to the report, fragmented technology systems remain a key barrier to better service delivery. Only 46% of UAE organisations have integrated customer data into a unified system, while just 19% have implemented enterprise-wide AI strategies.
The research concludes that organisations must focus on integrating AI with unified data systems and workflows to improve service outcomes, enable employees to focus on customer relationships and reduce service delays.
