Sherwen warns AI readiness needs customer adoption

Sherwen Studios has urged businesses to assess customer adoption as part of AI readiness, warning that technical preparedness alone can leave a gap between deployment and use.

It said companies introducing customer-facing AI should test whether people understand a tool's purpose, trust the experience it creates and see a clear reason to use it. Strong data, governance and systems may make it possible to launch an AI project, but they do not guarantee customer engagement.

The comments accompany findings from Sherwen's latest customer experience report, based on independent research among a nationally representative sample of 2,000 UK consumers aged 18 and over on shopping habits. Although the research focuses on retail, Sherwen said the results point to wider issues for any business putting AI directly in front of customers.

Among the findings, 23% of consumers said they were happy for retailers to use their data if they could control or opt out of it, while 17% said they would accept such use only if the purpose was clearly explained. At the same time, 27% said they did not want retailers using their data for personalisation.

Attitudes to trust also varied by use case. The research found that 17% would not trust AI using their browsing behaviour for personalisation, while 15% said the same about AI using their purchase history.

Human contact remained an important factor in confidence. Some 36% of respondents said speaking to a human would increase their trust in a retailer, while 19% said clear information about how their data is used would improve trust.

Views on chatbots showed a similar split. The survey found that 23% would feel comfortable using AI chatbots for simple questions, refunds and complaints, yet 13% said they would not trust those same tools.

Adoption gap

Sherwen said the results suggest businesses should not treat customer readiness as a simple yes-or-no question. Instead, each AI or automation use should be judged on its own terms, because acceptance can vary by context, data use and whether people can still access human reassurance.

It also urged businesses to think carefully before scaling AI tools across customer journeys, pointing to basic questions such as whether a product solves a genuine customer problem, whether the value is obvious and whether users understand the level of control they retain.

The argument reflects a broader market debate about how companies measure AI progress. Many organisations have focused on infrastructure, data quality, internal skills and governance as they build AI strategies, but consumer-facing uses raise a separate commercial question: whether customers will actually adopt the tools put in front of them.

The retail findings illustrate that tension. A customer may accept an AI chatbot for routine support but reject the use of browsing history for personalisation, suggesting trust does not transfer automatically from one application to another.

Matt Sherwen set out that distinction in his comments on the research.

"AI readiness is often treated as an internal technical question. Businesses look at whether they have the right technology, data, skills and governance in place. Those foundations matter, but customer-facing AI introduces another consideration: Are the people expected to use it actually ready for the experience that technology is creating?" said Matt Sherwen, Managing Director, Sherwen Studios.

He said deployment without user confidence risks limiting the value of AI investment.

"There is little value in successfully deploying an AI solution if the intended user does not understand why it's there, does not trust the experience or cannot see a reason to use it. That's why customer readiness needs to be considered alongside technical readiness," Sherwen said.

Retail focus

Sherwen's report examines connected retail, delivery, loyalty, personalisation and artificial intelligence, and looks at where shopping journeys still feel fragmented to consumers. The consultancy said the work highlights a practical issue for companies that have already invested in digital systems but may not have made those changes visible or meaningful to customers.

The business works with brands including Peacocks, ScS, Booker, Londis, Premier and Budgens. It has also developed an AI Readiness Assessment for leadership teams, covering leadership and strategy, data readiness, technology and tools, skills and talent, culture and experimentation, and governance and ethics.

The consumer figures reinforce Sherwen's central claim that the commercial return on AI will depend not only on whether businesses can install and scale systems, but on whether customers accept their use in specific moments. In the survey, 36% said speaking to a human would increase their trust in a retailer.