The CX Vendor AI Moat Is Rented, Not Built
- Tim Banting
- 4 days ago
- 8 min read
CX software vendors are quietly handing over the core parts of their platforms, the very stuff that used to lock customers in, to third parties. They are renting the AI engines from external providers, relying on outside networks to deliver messages, and now outsourcing the billing side, too.
That leaves them with a much narrower pitch. They are basically left competing on how smoothly they can run someone else's tech and whether they can keep the customer happy enough to stay. Leading a sales pitch with "we have AI" just doesn't work anymore when any rival down the street can buy the exact same model off the shelf and say the same thing tomorrow.
Three moves in a few weeks show it, and they all point the same way.
8x8 plugging OpenAI’s latest voice model into its AI Studio platform is a sensible move, but let’s be clear about what’s actually happening here. The heavy lifting comes straight from OpenAI, which means every major competitor in the contact centre space can (and will), grab the exact same engine in a matter of days.
Where 8x8 actually adds value is in the plumbing around the edges. They handle the boring but critical bits—tying the AI into existing phone networks, setting up clean call routing, and making sure transcription works straight out of the box. That stuff matters, mainly because most voice bots still fall over on the basics, like dropping transfers or sending callers down the wrong path.
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