[2026 Customer Success Japan Market Trends & Reality Survey (3)] Customer Success Becomes a 'Business OS', Over 80% of Executives Realize Its Necessity; Key to Success is the 'Depth' of AI Utilization
A new survey by Virtualex shows that over 80% of executives feel the necessity of customer success. The depth of AI utilization divides the results, with organizations using it for advanced purposes reaching an 82% effectiveness rate, creating a 60-point gap with non-adopters.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 7, 2026 at 00:30
- 🔍 Collected: April 6, 2026 at 16:00
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 21, 2026 at 00:31 (344h 31m after Collected)
Virtualex Consulting Inc., a Virtualex Group company (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President: Hayato Maruyama), has conducted the 'Customer Success Japan Market Trends & Reality Survey' and has compiled the third set of results for 2026, following the second installment. This survey reveals the progression of customer success becoming a management foundation and the reality that the depth of AI utilization separates the outcomes.
■ Highlights of the Third Installment
Executive Perception Shifts from 'Trend' to 'Practical Investment'
Among executives/board members engaged in customer success at their own companies, 78.4% (an 8.1 percentage point increase from the previous year) feel its necessity. Furthermore, among those directly involved in the initiatives, the figure reaches 82.5%, showing a stronger sense of necessity compared to general employees (78.5%).
'Reversal of Effectiveness Perception' Across Industries Becomes Prominent
While the sense of effectiveness in pioneering IT and digital-related industries stagnated at 60.1% (a 3.0 percentage point decrease from the previous year), non-IT fields such as the service industry (68.1%) and construction/real estate/distribution (65.8%) showed significant growth. This suggests a shift in the leading role from the conventional subscription-based model to a 'customer retention strategy' across all industries.
'Depth of AI Utilization' Becomes a Clear Dividing Point for Success
The sense of effectiveness in organizations that utilize AI for advanced analysis and prediction reaches 82.0%, while a significant performance gap of about 60 percentage points exists with the group that has not yet introduced or is considering it (about 22%). Also, the sense of effectiveness for the group that limits use to 'partial utilization' such as chatbots (61.2%) matches the overall average, highlighting a 'standardization trap' where limited introduction no longer provides differentiation.
■Changes in Awareness of the Necessity of Customer Success
In this survey, when 794 people who answered that they are 'engaged in customer success at their own company' were asked about their change in awareness of the necessity of customer success over the past year, 78.5% answered that they 'came to feel the necessity'. This is a 2.8 percentage point increase from the previous year's 75.7%. Among them, when focusing on executives/board members and above, 78.4%, an 8.1 percentage point increase from the previous year's 70.3%, answered that they feel the necessity.