Only 19% of customer education programmes meet maturity benchmark
Half of customer education teams describe their programmes as mature, but new research finds only 19% meet operational maturity criteria.
Customer education programmes have gained executive attention and strategic status, but most lack the structures needed to demonstrate business impact, according to a new benchmarking study.
The State of Customer Education 2026 surveyed 500 organisations and found a significant gap between how programmes assess their own maturity and the operational foundations they have actually built. The study examined organisations running customer education programmes alongside businesses that sell training as a product.
Most programmes fail the maturity test
- 51% describe their programmes as mature and continuously optimised
- 19% meet the report's operational maturity criteria
- Nearly half of self-described mature programmes have one or no maturity pillars in place
The report found a significant gap between how programmes assess their maturity and the structures they have put in place.
While just over half of respondents describe their customer education programmes as mature, only 19% meet the report's definition of operational maturity. That benchmark requires a formally accountable executive sponsor, a dedicated budget, continuously refreshed content and proactive engagement across the customer lifecycle.
'The most useful question a leader can ask is not whether their programme is mature,' said Leslie Kelley, chief growth officer at Absorb Software. 'It is whether they can connect the work to an outcome the business already counts.'
Among organisations that consider themselves mature, only 29% meet all four criteria. Nearly half operate with one or none of the required foundations.
Many programmes have earned recognition within their organisations but have not yet built the structures needed to sustain that status.
Retention is the priority, but spending says otherwise
- 57% cite retention as their primary objective
- 42% concentrate learning investment on onboarding
- 12% focus on expansion and renewal stages
Retention was identified as the leading objective for customer education teams, ahead of customer loyalty and brand loyalty.
However, the report found little evidence that programme investment reflects that priority. More than four in ten organisations concentrate education efforts on onboarding, while relatively few focus on expansion, renewal and later lifecycle stages where churn risk is often greatest.
The findings suggest many programmes remain focused on customer acquisition and onboarding despite identifying retention as their primary objective.
Executive attention has arrived, but sponsorship has not
- 44% are viewed as strategic growth levers
- 78% receive leadership review at least quarterly
- One third have no executive sponsor
- 18% have both a dedicated budget and accountable sponsor
Customer education has won greater recognition from senior leadership.
The study found that 44% of programmes are now viewed as strategic growth levers and 78% receive regular leadership review. However, the report suggests that recognition has arrived faster than organisational support.
Executive attention has not translated into formal support structures. A third of programmes report having no executive sponsor and many rely on informal advocates rather than leaders with direct accountability for outcomes.
Only 18% of respondents report having both a dedicated budget and a formally accountable sponsor. Those organisations significantly outperform programmes with neither across measures including strategic positioning, learner engagement and confidence in demonstrating return on investment.
Confidence in ROI exceeds measurement capability
- 52% are very confident they can demonstrate ROI
- 31% still lack analytics capability
- 20% report disconnected systems
- 21% have not defined success measures
The report identifies a disconnect between confidence and measurement capability.
More than half of respondents say they are very confident they can demonstrate return on investment from customer education. However, many of those same organisations report fundamental barriers to measurement.
These include missing analytics capability, disconnected systems and the absence of agreed success measures.
The report argues that the challenge is no longer securing leadership belief in customer education but proving its impact through business metrics that executives already track.
Disconnected systems remain one of the biggest obstacles to demonstrating value, preventing organisations from linking learning activity to retention, adoption and commercial outcomes.
AI remains largely experimental
- 29% report significant or fundamental change from AI
- 71% report little or no change
- Adoption is concentrated in content creation activities
Despite widespread discussion of AI across workplace learning, the report suggests customer education programmes remain at an early stage of adoption.
Fewer than three in ten respondents report significant or fundamental change resulting from AI. Most activity is concentrated in content drafting, video creation and tutorial development.
Higher-value applications, including personalised learning pathways, adaptive content and measurement infrastructure, remain relatively uncommon.
The report suggests AI adoption is likely to accelerate once programmes have established stronger measurement, sponsorship and operational foundations.
The State of Customer Education 2026 was commissioned by Absorb Software and conducted by Lighthouse Research & Advisory. The research combines survey responses from 502 organisations with interviews conducted during the first quarter of 2026.