AI-Enabled Value Creation In B2B Customer Journey Management : A Qualitative Case Study
Peltoniemi, Sakari (2026)
2026
Tietojohtamisen DI-ohjelma - Master's Programme in Information and Knowledge Management
Johtamisen ja talouden tiedekunta - Faculty of Management and Business
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2026-04-27
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202604274318
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202604274318
Tiivistelmä
As B2B firms increasingly deliver services through digital platforms, managing customer journeys has grown substantially more complex. Yet firms that can effectively manage this complexity stand to gain significant competitive advantages. AI introduces new possibilities for addressing this complexity, but how AI applications create concrete customer value within B2B customer journey management remains poorly understood. This study examines how AI can be applied in customer journey management to create value for customers in a B2B industrial service context.
The research was conducted as a qualitative case study at a large industrial technology company providing lifecycle services for its core products. The company has developed digital service platforms to support customers during the service phase, yet adoption has remained limited, with customers continuing to rely on traditional contact channels. This gap between the expected and actual use of digital services forms the practical motivation for the study. Data was collected through eleven semi-structured interviews with personnel across service, sales, and digital development roles, complemented by internal organizational data, and analyzed using thematic analysis. The study is grounded in service-dominant logic, B2B customer journey management literature, and research on AI-enabled services.
The empirical investigation begins by mapping the current state of the service-phase customer journey. The findings reveal recurring challenges rooted in fragmented contact channels, process inefficiencies, and the limited ability of digital platforms to surface reliable and relevant information, consistently pushing customers toward traditional contact methods and preventing the digital environment from fulfilling its intended role.
The study then sets out to understand where customers perceive value and where it fails to emerge. The findings show customers perceive value from digital services primarily when they enable fast and convenient interactions, provide access to relevant resources and information, and deliver interpreted and actionable data that supports operational decision-making. The most fundamental barriers to realizing this value are an insufficient understanding of customer needs and unreliable data, which can prevent digital services from reaching the right users and addressing the right situations. Building on this the study sets to identify how AI can most meaningfully contribute to customer journey management.
Four AI application areas emerged from the results, each targeting a different layer of the customer journey from internal process automation and improved information access to AI-generated content and proactive customer engagement. The findings show that AI can contribute to value creation through multiple customer journey management activities both directly through customer-facing applications and indirectly by improving the internal processes that shape the customer experience. Notably, human interactions and relationships remained central to the service-phase journey, and AI was most often seen to support and enhance these interactions rather than replace them.
The study contributes to the understanding of how AI, value creation, and B2B customer journey management connect in practice. By examining the phenomenon from the customer perspective, the study brings valuable insight into how AI-enabled customer journey management can support value creation in B2B service contexts.
The research was conducted as a qualitative case study at a large industrial technology company providing lifecycle services for its core products. The company has developed digital service platforms to support customers during the service phase, yet adoption has remained limited, with customers continuing to rely on traditional contact channels. This gap between the expected and actual use of digital services forms the practical motivation for the study. Data was collected through eleven semi-structured interviews with personnel across service, sales, and digital development roles, complemented by internal organizational data, and analyzed using thematic analysis. The study is grounded in service-dominant logic, B2B customer journey management literature, and research on AI-enabled services.
The empirical investigation begins by mapping the current state of the service-phase customer journey. The findings reveal recurring challenges rooted in fragmented contact channels, process inefficiencies, and the limited ability of digital platforms to surface reliable and relevant information, consistently pushing customers toward traditional contact methods and preventing the digital environment from fulfilling its intended role.
The study then sets out to understand where customers perceive value and where it fails to emerge. The findings show customers perceive value from digital services primarily when they enable fast and convenient interactions, provide access to relevant resources and information, and deliver interpreted and actionable data that supports operational decision-making. The most fundamental barriers to realizing this value are an insufficient understanding of customer needs and unreliable data, which can prevent digital services from reaching the right users and addressing the right situations. Building on this the study sets to identify how AI can most meaningfully contribute to customer journey management.
Four AI application areas emerged from the results, each targeting a different layer of the customer journey from internal process automation and improved information access to AI-generated content and proactive customer engagement. The findings show that AI can contribute to value creation through multiple customer journey management activities both directly through customer-facing applications and indirectly by improving the internal processes that shape the customer experience. Notably, human interactions and relationships remained central to the service-phase journey, and AI was most often seen to support and enhance these interactions rather than replace them.
The study contributes to the understanding of how AI, value creation, and B2B customer journey management connect in practice. By examining the phenomenon from the customer perspective, the study brings valuable insight into how AI-enabled customer journey management can support value creation in B2B service contexts.