Conversational AI in 2026: What (We Think) Still Matters

2025 was a year of rapid and sometimes overwhelming change in conversational AI. New platforms emerged. Tooling promised faster builds. Generative AI and large language models reshaped expectations. And suddenly, agents were declared the future of everything.

But for teams actually responsible for building and maintaining conversational assistants, the reality looked different.

We are still building assistants. Customers still expect good conversational experiences. And AI still needs human judgment to work well in the real world.

That is why we hosted the webinar Conversational AI in 2026: What (We Think) Still Matters. In this session, CDI’s consultancy experts came together for an honest conversation about what is really working, what is not, and where teams should focus as they plan for the year ahead.

Conversational AI is no longer experimental. For many organizations, it is a core part of customer experience, operations, and digital strategy. At the same time, the pace of change has made it harder to separate meaningful progress from hype.

Despite advances in generative AI and LLMs, many teams continue to face familiar challenges. Assistants struggle in real usage. Systems are hard to maintain and improve. Ownership across design, engineering, and strategy remains unclear. And expected business value does not always materialize.

This webinar was created to focus on the ground reality of conversational AI today and to help teams make better decisions as they move into 2026.

In this one hour session, CDI’s consultancy team explored the practical realities of building and running conversational AI systems at scale.

The conversation covered how teams can build and hire for strong conversational AI capabilities and why cross functional collaboration remains essential. The panel discussed how to design assistants that can survive real world usage rather than just perform well in demos. They also explored how to optimize systems after launch by learning from live conversations and continuously improving performance.

The webinar addressed the growing interest in multi agent and agent based systems, focusing on when this approach makes sense and when it introduces unnecessary complexity. It also examined how conversational AI can be better aligned with business goals so that it delivers measurable value rather than just engagement metrics.

Finally, the panel shared perspectives on rethinking voice and IVR in the age of generative AI and what teams should reconsider as user expectations continue to evolve.

One of the strongest themes throughout the session was that the fundamentals of conversational AI have not changed.

Strong conversation design, clear strategy, realistic expectations, and ongoing human involvement remain critical. New tools and models can support this work, but they do not replace the need for thoughtful design, responsible decision making, and a deep understanding of users.

Teams that continue to invest in these foundations will be far better positioned to succeed than those chasing every new trend.

This webinar features a panel from CDI’s consultancy team, bringing together diverse perspectives from professionals who work closely with organizations designing, building, and improving conversational AI systems.

Cindy Cardol, Rachel Whitehorn, Willem Don, Jasper Klimbie, and Gokce Kuscu share hands on experience across conversation design, strategy, and implementation. Together, they offer practical insights grounded in real world projects and the day to day challenges of conversational AI work.

Create your free CDI account to access webinars, learning resources, and expert insights for people building conversational AI in the real world.

At the Conversation Design Institute, we support teams and individuals in designing conversational AI that works in the real world. Through training, consulting, and research, we help professionals navigate the fast changing conversational AI landscape with clarity and confidence.

Explore more webinars and insights on our blog and stay connected as we continue the conversation into 2026.