If there’s one thing I love talking about, it’s the future of customer communications and 2026 is shaping up to be a big year. Not because of a shiny new channel or another technology buzzword, but because companies are finally aligning all the pieces needed to deliver genuinely connected, engaging, and relevant touchpoints.
The customers we’re designing for in 2026 expect communication to feel less like paperwork and more like a conversation. They want interactions that anticipate their needs and guide their actions or even decisions. And I’m excited because our industry is finally ready to deliver on that promise.
Moving Beyond Better Documents to Better Experiences
For decades, the focus in regulated communications has been on the document itself. Make it cleaner, accurate, compliant. While those things still matter, the customer of 2026 expects more. They expect every regulated touchpoint to feel like part of a broader journey, not a disconnected obligation.
This is where the shift from CCM to CXM really accelerates. And the companies that will be winning are the ones that treat regulated communications and those documents as connected experiences rather than static outputs. It will be about using data to shape content in real time and integrating messaging across print, email, SMS, apps, and portals without forcing the customer to repeat themselves. They’re listening to customers, not just sending updates.
At OSG, we see this happening every day as clients use OSG JourneyConnect® to move beyond a flat document, to a connected and seamless experience giving customers the information they need, helping them to self-serve and providing simple steps for the actions they need to take. Add to this, predefined journeys to deliver the right message in the right channel at the right moment.
Intelligent Experience Management (IXM) Is the Next Leap
We’ve spoken about IXM for the last year, but looking ahead to 2026, we’re going to see the need for more dynamic experiences be it with forms or documents, evolving further from CXM. IXM adds the layer of intelligence that customers have come to expect everywhere else in their digital world, including:
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Dynamic forms
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Intelligent actions based on forms filled
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Content based on real-time behavior
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Predictive analytics to spot intent
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Automation of next best actions
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Closing the loop instantly when a customer completes a task
We’re already infusing these capabilities into OSG JourneyConnect Orion®, our AI engine that helps power interactive documents, message orchestration, and content optimization. The regulated communications ecosystem is becoming smarter, more adaptive, and more automated. That’s a huge win for engagement and an even bigger win for operational efficiency.
Agentic AI is About to Reshape CCM
Another big shift coming in 2026 is the rise of Agentic AI, which is where AI starts taking action on behalf of the customer. And it means we need to rethink how we design regulated communications.
Customers will soon rely on their personal AI agents to handle everyday tasks. Think about simple conversational prompts like: “Thanks for the bill. Please go pay it for me like last month”, or: “Oh, and next month don’t send an email, send a text. Remember that preference.”
This signals the end of the old having to login into a portal paradigm. The agent becomes the interface, not the website.
But for an agent to act, our communications need to be structured so they’re not only human friendly but machine actionable. An AI agent must be able to interpret the bill, understand the amount due, know what actions are allowed, and carry them out securely. That requires clear metadata, accessible design, and journeys built with automation in mind.
And let’s not forget the enterprise side. Agentic AI will no doubt transform how organizations manage the entire content lifecycle. We will see agents carrying out tasks on behalf of marketing, compliance, and business teams. Updating regulated content, validating compliance changes, optimizing messaging, and deploying approved updates across channels without manual intervention.
The companies that get ahead of this shift will be the ones whose communications don’t just inform customers but empower their agents to act for them. That’s the next real frontier in CXM and where CCM begins to evolve into something far more intuitive and intelligent.
Print Still Matters. It Just Needs to Work Harder
Even with accelerated digital adoption, print continues to play a major role in many industries but print in 2026 won’t be the print of the past.
We’re talking about print that acts as a gateway, rather than a dead end. Think scannable, personalized, data-driven print that leads customers into digital experience, or even integrated payment options. It will be about print pieces that feel just as orchestrated as digital messages.
When print and digital are coordinated within a journey, customer behavior changes, engagement rises and time to resolution drops, while companies gain a clearer picture of how the entire experience is performing.
Industry Spotlight: Why Insurance is Poised for the Biggest Shift
The impact of future-fit communications will be felt most strongly across insurance industries including healthcare, P&C, and life insurance, where communications are frequent, regulated, and often tied to emotionally charged moments.
Bills, EOBs, policy documents, claims updates, and renewal notices are critical touchpoints, yet they are often complex and disconnected. As we enter 2026, there is a major opportunity to turn these moments into connected journeys that help customers understand what’s happening, what’s required, and what comes next.
Intelligent experience management enables communications to adapt based on customer behavior, life events, or claim status. Agentic AI further simplifies the experience by allowing actions like payments, preference updates, or follow-ups to be handled conversationally without forcing customers into portals or call centers.
The Real Trend to Watch: Timing
If I had to pick one theme that will define 2026, it’s timing. Not speed for the sake of speed, but precision.
Customers don’t want more messages, they want messages that arrive when they’re most relevant based on behavior preferences and actions. I’m thinking of orchestrated journeys that adjust triggered notifications when something in a customer’s life or account changes. Touch-points that feel like real help.
This is where the market is heading fast, and it’s one of the reasons I get so excited about the evolution of communications tech. Every improvement we make to data, orchestration, and interactivity helps our clients get closer to communicating with customers in a way that feels personal, timely, and human.
Why the Future Looks Bright
2026 is the year communications need to catch up with customer expectations and as a product leader, I can’t tell you how energizing it is to see companies committing to better interactions, smarter technology, and more thoughtful design.
Every step forward whether it’s modernizing templates, automating a workflow, adding interactivity, or introducing a predefined journey, moves you closer to a world where every customer touchpoint feels intuitive and supportive.
We’re not just modernizing documents, we’re transforming the entire experience around them and I can’t wait to see how far we’ll go in 2026.
