Five9 survey: 92% of consumers give an AI agent fewer than 10 minutes before escalating to a human
In a survey commissioned by Five9, which also sells AI agents, just 46% of consumers rated their most recent AI or chatbot experience positively, the lowest of any channel in the survey.
What's happening
According to CMSWire, a survey commissioned by Five9 found that 92% of consumers give an AI agent fewer than 10 minutes before escalating to a human. When a clear path to a human is available, 55% of consumers have moderate or high trust in AI; without that path, the figure drops to 26%.
Behind the number
Hanover Research conducted the survey online in April 2026 among 3,000 consumers; the results were published by Five9, which sells cloud contact center software that includes AI agents.
Whose desk it lands on
The contact center leader. Is the path from the AI agent to a human visible to customers and easy to use in the first few minutes?
Our view
The CX Brief's interpretation, not a claim made by the source.
The survey's most useful finding is not how long customers will wait but what their trust depends on: 55% of consumers trust AI when a clear path to a human exists, and the figure falls to 26% when it doesn't. Keeping the route to a live agent visible looks less like a trade-off that shortens the time customers give AI than like the condition that makes that time possible.
