Contact centers are evolving from reactive, cost-sensitive organizations into customer engagement hubs with growing capabilities enabled by AI and other advances, according to new research from global AI-centered technology research and advisory firm Information Services Group. The 2026 ISG Buyers Guides for Contact Centers find that contact center software, originally built for efficient routing and interaction management, now orchestrates workflows throughout the customer journey and uses data to improve operational and business decisions. Platforms increasingly incorporate advanced analytics, automation and self-service features. With the integration of AI, they are beginning to perform quality management, summarize interactions and use automated agents to assist human operators.
ISG research finds AI expands strategic role of contact centers
Contact centers evolving from cost centers to customer engagement hubs
44 software providers assessed across eight Buyers Guides
NiCE top Overall Leader in seven of eight Buyers Guides
UJET top Overall Leader in Contact Centers Emerging Providers
Most new deployments use contact center as-a-service platforms
"Contact centers have become central to customer service strategies," said Keith Dawson, director of research, customer experience, ISG. "Enterprises see them not as cost centers, but as engines for improving business outcomes such as customer experience and employee engagement."
Contact centers have steadily migrated from enterprise premises to the cloud over the past two decades, and most new deployments use contact center as-a-service platforms, the research finds. The growth of CCaaS has accelerated innovation, spawning a wide range of enhancements, including stronger data management and closer connectivity with enterprise applications. At the same time, many enterprises have moved operations to distributed workforces, a trend that expanded dramatically with the COVID-19 pandemic.
These developments have led to the introduction of new forms of automation and widespread implementation of AI for virtual agents, real-time agent guidance, workflow automation and other functions. AI has demonstrated a wide range of benefits, including improved self-service capabilities and stronger governance over data, decision-making and treatment of customers. As a result, organizations are now rethinking how contact center work should be distributed between automated systems and human agents.
Buyers of contact center platforms now focus less on mature capabilities such as routing and workforce scheduling and more on how the software could improve business outcomes. When enterprises evaluate products, they should consider the provider's ability to meet customer experience objectives, increase agent productivity and integrate with enterprise systems, including customer relationship management and enterprise resource planning, ISG says.
"Innovations emerging today will change the face of contact center operations," Dawson said. "It is vitally important for companies to determine how well platforms will support both current processes and future, AI-enabled operations that may be significantly different."
For the 2026 ISG Buyers Guides for Contact Centers, ISG produced eight Buyers Guides: Contact Centers, Contact Centers Emerging Providers, Healthcare Contact Centers, Insurance Contact Centers, Retail Contact Centers, AI Self-Service, Customer Interaction Analytics and Workforce Engagement Management. A total of 44 software providers were assessed.
NiCE was the top Overall Leader in seven of the eight Buyers Guides. In the Contact Centers and Workforce Engagement Management guides, NiCE was followed by Verint and Genesys. In the guides for healthcare, insurance and retail contact centers, it was followed by Salesforce and Genesys. In AI Self-Service and Customer Interaction Analytics, NiCE was followed by Verint and Salesforce. In the Buyers Guide for Contact Centers Emerging Providers, UJET was the top overall leader, followed by Exotel and Bright Pattern.
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.
About ISG
ISG is a global AI-centered technology research and advisory firm. A trusted partner to more than 900 clients, including 75 of the world's top 100 enterprises, ISG is a long-time leader in technology and business services that is now at the forefront of leveraging AI to help organizations achieve operational excellence and faster growth. The firm, founded in 2006, is known for its proprietary market data and research, in-depth knowledge and governance of provider ecosystems, and the expertise of its 1,500 professionals worldwide working together to help clients maximize the value of their technology investments.
