Survey finds trust, safety & security key for CX in 2025

A new global survey by TELUS Digital and Ryan Strategic Advisory has revealed priorities and challenges facing enterprises in trust, safety and security for customer experience strategies over the coming year.

The research, involving interviews with over 800 customer experience (CX) decision-makers from Western Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific, highlights the growing importance of earning customer trust as a central differentiator for businesses.

According to the report, titled "Safety in numbers", organisations plan to increase investment in key areas such as ID verification (68%), fraud detection (66%), know your customer (KYC) processes (60%) and content moderation (48%) over the next twelve months. This trend is driven by compliance demands, financial losses from fraud, and advances in technology.

"Trust, safety and security have always been top of mind for CX leaders, but our latest survey shows they've become essential to delivering great customer experience," said Peter Ryan, President and Principal Analyst at Ryan Strategic Advisory. "At the same time, leaders are facing pressure to tighten budgets while keeping pace with evolving compliance standards. These challenges are making it harder to access the technical talent needed to deliver and maintain effective solutions. CX providers are well positioned to ease those pressures by offering the expertise, people and technology to scale trust, safety and security operations as needed."

The survey found that 33% of CX leaders prioritised ID verification due to compliance, while 23% connected it to incidents of fraud. For fraud detection, 29% cited fraud costs as the key driver, and 20% pointed to negative customer feedback. KYC processes were prioritised by 34% because of compliance, with 24% citing fraud-related costs. Content moderation was prompted by new technologies (23%) and compliance (22%).

Despite the increased use of technology such as automation and artificial intelligence, human expertise remains fundamental in delivering trust, safety and security services. The survey showed that 79% of organisations involve human input in ID verification, either through hybrid models (61%) combining human and technology-based processes or human-led services (18%). Only 22% reported technology-only solutions for ID verification.

Similarly, 61% of enterprises use human input for KYC services: 49% through combined human and technological review and 12% through human-led services alone. For content moderation, 65% of organisations mix human and technology efforts (44% hybrid, 21% human-led), while 34% rely on technology only. Fraud detection involves humans in 56% of cases (40% hybrid, 16% human-led), with 44% using solely technological approaches. These figures indicate that while automation is on the rise, fully technology-driven models remain a minority, underscoring the lasting value of human oversight in managing digital risk.

The study also identified significant barriers to achieving robust digital defences. Compliance with government and industry regulations was viewed as the most significant challenge by 44% of respondents. Shortages of technical talent were cited by 39%, while 34% mentioned internal threats such as employee error or malicious intent. The complexity of fraud prevention was also mentioned by 34%. Maintaining cost-effective operations was the most common operational challenge at 27%, followed by technical complexity (21%), integration with current systems (20%), lack of internal expertise (16%), and understanding or complying with regulations (10%).

Ljubiša Velikić, Vice President, Trust & Safety at TELUS Digital, stated: "Even as enterprises face mounting economic challenges, maintaining a safe and secure environment for their customers remains a top priority, as the risks of not doing so are simply too high. As organizations work to strengthen their approach to trust, safety and security, they need partners with deep expertise who also understand the complexities of implementing and scaling these solutions. It's increasingly clear that flexibility, experience, and the ability to manage end-to-end delivery are essential to helping enterprises stay resilient in a constantly evolving risk landscape."

The urgency to reinforce digital resilience is growing, especially with increasing digital threats and tightening regulations. Companies are seeking ways to secure customer interactions while balancing compliance, risk mitigation, and operational efficiency.

The survey methodology involved telephone interviews in several languages with 819 executives responsible for contact centre strategies, representing a revenue range from USD $10 million to USD $5 billion. This research provides insights into how enterprises plan to address trust, safety and security challenges in customer experience throughout 2025, with a blended approach of human expertise and advanced technology remaining central to effective digital risk management.