Net Promoter Score (NPS) has been a cornerstone of Voice of the Customer (VoC) programs for decades.
As I wrote in Listen or Die in 2017, NPS is simple, powerful, and universally understood—a trusted measure of how well you’re building loyalty among your customers.
Fast forward to 2025, and while AI has revolutionized how we collect and analyze customer feedback, one truth remains: NPS isn’t going anywhere.
Instead, AI enhances what we can learn from NPS and how we can act on it.
But even with AI, the human touch is more critical than ever to make those insights meaningful. Let’s revisit the essentials of NPS and explore how AI and humans together make it more impactful.
The Basics of NPS: Promoters, Passives, and Detractors
NPS is calculated from a single question:
“How likely are you to recommend [company] to a friend, colleague, or family member on a scale of 0 to 10?”
The responses fall into three categories:
- Promoters (Scores of 9 or 10): These are your loyal advocates—the customers who love your brand and actively recommend it. They are the lifeblood of your growth, driving referrals and repeat business.
- Passives (Scores of 7 or 8): Passives are satisfied but unenthusiastic. They aren’t going out of their way to promote your business, and they might leave if a competitor offers something better.
- Detractors (Scores of 0 to 6): These are your dissatisfied customers—the ones who could actively discourage others from doing business with you. Detractors are a risk to your reputation and revenue.
The formula for NPS is simple:
NPS = (% of Promoters) - (% of Detractors)
For example, if 60% of your customers are promoters and 20% are detractors, your NPS is 40. That single number provides a quick snapshot of how well you’re meeting customer needs.
Why NPS Works: Simplicity and Universality
NPS thrives because it’s simple, easy to calculate, and universally recognized. Executives love it because it delivers a clear, easy-to-understand measure of customer loyalty. And because it’s widely used, you can benchmark your score against competitors to see how you stack up.
However, NPS isn’t perfect. It tells you what customers think, but not always why they think it.
That’s where AI comes in to provide depth and speed—and where humans bring the empathy and strategy that AI can’t replicate.
How AI Enhances NPS
AI doesn’t replace NPS—it amplifies its value but requires a human touch to reach its potential. Here’s how:
1. Adding Context to the Score
NPS provides the metric, but the open-ended comments often hold the real gold. As discussed in a previous blog post, AI-powered text analytics processes these responses at scale, identifying themes and sentiments that explain promoter or detractor behavior.
Example:
A SaaS company notices its NPS drop. AI analysis of detractor comments in real-time reveals recurring complaints about onboarding difficulties. The company uses this to improve its onboarding process, boosting satisfaction and increasing NPS over time.
The Human Touch:
AI identifies the themes, but humans interpret what they mean for the business. It’s up to people to redesign the onboarding process in a way that balances operational needs with customer expectations.
2. Identifying Key Drivers in Real-Time
AI correlates NPS with other data in real-time—such as purchase attributes or support interactions—to uncover the drivers of customer loyalty.
Example:
An e-commerce platform uses AI to analyze promoter behavior. The system finds that promoters frequently highlight fast delivery as a key factor. This insight leads the company to prioritize logistics improvements.
The Human Touch:
AI uncovers the drivers, but humans decide how to act. Should the company invest in faster shipping, improve inventory management, or both? These decisions require a strategic, human perspective.
3. Predicting Loyalty Changes
While NPS is a lagging metric, AI turns it into a predictive tool by combining it with behavioral data. AI models can forecast which customers are at risk of becoming detractors and which passives could be converted into promoters.
Example:
A financial services firm uses AI to flag high-risk detractors. The system predicts churn among customers citing frustration with support. The firm proactively reaches out, addressing concerns and retaining key accounts.
The Human Touch:
AI highlights the at-risk customers, but it’s the personal follow-up—a phone call, a thoughtful email—that turns the tide. AI identifies the opportunity; humans build the relationship.
The Collaborative Future of NPS
NPS remains an essential metric, and AI has unlocked its full potential by providing richer context, actionable insights, and predictive capabilities.
But AI is just a tool—it’s the human element that brings it to life.
AI can process data, but it’s people who interpret the insights, make strategic decisions, and connect with customers on an emotional level.
Together, humans and AI form a powerful team that can transform NPS from a score into a driver of lasting customer loyalty.
The Bottom Line
NPS is here to stay, and for good reason.
Its simplicity and universal appeal make it an indispensable tool for measuring customer loyalty.
But in today’s AI-driven world, it’s no longer just about the number. By combining AI’s analytical power with the empathy and creativity of humans, you can unlock the full potential of NPS.
Here’s the takeaway: Embrace NPS as a foundational metric. And use AI to dig deeper, act faster, and identify opportunities for improvement.
Then let your team bring those insights to life, building stronger relationships and delivering exceptional customer experiences.
