Gladly recognized for Best Use of AI in Customer Service and Best AI-Driven Customer Experience in the inaugural year of the AI category
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Gladly, the customer experience platform purpose-built for loyalty, today announced it has won two Gold Stevie® Awards in the 2026 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Gladly was recognized for Best Use of AI in Customer Service and Best AI-Driven Customer Experience, earning top honors in a year that introduced AI categories for the first time.
The awards recognize Gladly’s differentiated approach to customer experience AI—designed to deliver operational efficiency and stronger customer relationships. Unlike deflection-first automation, Gladly’s platform keeps humans in the loop, unifies every conversation across channels, and uses full customer context to power AI interactions that feel personal, trustworthy, and continuous.
Judges praised Gladly for its people-first design and measurable business impact. One judge described the platform as “outstanding people-first AI that truly enhances experience and loyalty,” while another noted that Gladly “shows how AI can improve customer experience without losing the human touch.”
A third judge highlighted Gladly’s architectural differentiation, calling its unified conversation model “a strong differentiator that allows AI and agents to work with full customer context across all channels.” Another added that Gladly represents “a welcome shift in focus that values customers over tickets.”
Across Gladly customers, AI-assisted service has delivered meaningful outcomes without eroding trust or satisfaction. Brands including Crate & Barrel, Ulta, Tumi, and more have used Gladly to resolve and assist a significant share of customer conversations digitally—while preserving continuity, brand voice, and human connection. Judges noted that Gladly’s approach not only improves efficiency, but also strengthens loyalty and drives measurable business impact.
The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service are among the world’s top honors for customer service, contact center, sales, and business development excellence. More than 2,100 nominations from organizations across 41 countries were evaluated in the 2026 competition by 150 industry professionals serving on specialized judging committees. Winners were determined based on average scores across criteria including innovation, impact, and measurable results.
Winners will be celebrated at the 20th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service gala on March 5, 2026, in New York City.
About Gladly:
Gladly is the customer experience AI platform purpose-built to engage customers instead of deflecting them and to drive the devotion that creates lasting business value. Designed around people, not tickets, Gladly unifies every conversation across channels into a single lifelong thread, giving AI and humans full context to resolve issues efficiently while strengthening customer relationships. Learn more at gladly.ai
SOURCE Gladly