Hype or hope: can you teach empathy?

“Empathy is both the foundation of meaningful relationships, and part of a company’s competitive edge,” says Conny Kalcher, Group Chief Customer Officer at Zurich. The results of a survey commissioned by Zurich support that assertion. The survey, published in September 2025, found that among consumers across 11 countries who participated, more than half – 61 percent – said they’d be willing to pay more to companies that delivered on empathy. And even though 84 percent thought empathy was important, only 63 percent of the more than 11,560 people who took part in the survey thought companies successfully delivered it. Clearly, based on these results, companies that know how to relate empathetically – to customers and their employees – should have a better chance at success.

Addressing the empathy gap

“Cracking the empathy code presents a powerful competitive advantage,” says Professor Jamil Zaki, director of the Stanford Social Neuroscience Lab, who collaborated with Zurich on its empathy survey.

As the author of two books and numerous academic studies on empathy, Zaki regularly talks to companies about empathy. Publicly, businesses say they want to enhance empathy. But privately, it’s common to shy away from talking about feelings. Even so, according to Zaki, nearly every one of us craves connection.

Still, businesses might need some coaxing. “I can't tell you how many times somebody has told me that business is about making money, and you need to be ruthless and competitive,” says Zaki, before adding, “well, I'm sorry to tell these people that this stereotype has been eaten alive by decades of science. Anything that we can do to make people feel as though they are truly connected is not a nice-to-have. It's an imperative for any successful business.”

If empathy is so important, how do we get it right?

Of course, there are people, and businesses, that hate the whole idea of talking about feelings. Yet even among the most rugged, hardboiled corporations, people do care about human interactions. This was clear when Zaki was invited to deliver a talk about empathy to a crew of Canadian construction workers. The audience consisted of mostly men, many clad in rugged outdoor work clothes, who seemed like they’re prefer to carry a load of reinforcing bars up six flights of scaffolding on a frozen winter morning rather than open up about their feelings. It could have been an awkward encounter if he hadn’t come prepared.

Prior to the talk, Zaki had circulated an anonymous questionnaire among these same workers that showed that privately, empathy was important to them. His talk was a success. “Maybe they didn’t want to talk openly about it. But even so, empathy mattered to them, just like everyone else,” he recalls.

Beyond Uncanny Valley: AIs and empathy

What stands out, is that despite the increasing prevalence of AI and chatbots, according to the survey, a human connection really matters. Survey respondents valued direct human interaction much higher at 92 percent than around-the-clock availability at 62 percent. This is likely to hold true as long as human beings remain the dominant customer base.

Where humans are concerned, academics believe we connect with each other emotionally in different ways. One is by understanding what other people feel, which AIs are very good at. “AIs are terrific at understanding what you’re feeling,” says Zaki. But AIs cannot really share what people feel, nor can they care, and ‘want’ people to feel better.

And introducing friendly AIs to replace cold, uncaring and bored customer service reps could backfire on companies that try. Not least, because “when people don't know whether they're receiving a response from a human being or a chatbot, chatbots are rated more empathic than people,” says Zaki. “But if you reveal that an empathic message is coming from a chatbot, people no longer think it's more empathic. They now find it less empathic.”

Achieving genuine results

AIs alone are unlikely to make customers more loyal. “When you truly want to apply technology as a differentiating factor, the question of what it means to be human needs to be a top priority. And empathy is a hugely important answer to that,” according to Aleksandar Vidovic, CEO of Zurich Customer Active Management, a unit within Zurich that provides data-driven solutions aimed at making insurance faster, simpler and more user-friendly.

For example, Zurich has used large language models to develop an application that rewrites complex insurance documents to make them more understandable to real humans. “What is becoming clearer is that the latest advancements in technology enable a relatively level playing field. Everyone is using AI technology now, so the relevance of differentiating is becoming one of the key challenges to unlock growth,” says Vidovic. One way to differentiate is through personal service, including the kind delivered by old-fashioned human beings.

Blending empathy and technology

According to Kalcher, successful companies won’t choose between technology and a human approach, but find ways to make the most of both. “For leaders navigating this new landscape, the path forward is not a choice between technology and humanity, but a strategic blend of the two,” she says. The future will belong to brands that know how to use AI to make their people smarter, more connected, and more empathetic. In doing so, she adds, “humanity becomes our competitive advantage.”

Measuring empathy’s impact

Nearly half of those who responded to Zurich’s survey – 45 percent – believed empathy couldn’t be taught to employees. But research and experience suggest otherwise. Empathy, like other commercial skills, can be learned.

Empathy training “breaks down silos, aligns people’s priorities, and helps to build a culture in which customers and employees feel understood. It can be taught, practiced, and mastered,” according to Alexia Nguyen Kourri, Zurich Head of Customer Capability Building.

With over 65,000 employees in more than 200 countries and territories, Zurich introduced Group-wide empathy training in 2023. In some markets, Zurich has also introduced more intense ‘master classes’ based on an extensive, on-the-ground assessments of the local culture and business. The sessions are brought to life by role-playing through trained actors.

While it’s hard to directly measure the benefits, in one of Zurich’s UK businesses, after intense empathy sessions, a Zurich manager decided to take a radical step. He and his team temporarily stopped using call metrics and instead focused solely on customer interactions. After taking this step, the business’s customer transactional net promoter score (a customer loyalty measure) rose significantly, according to the manager involved.

However, empathy training that involves simply giving employees a script to read can do more harm than good. Businesses must learn to steer clear of “impulsive or one-size-fits-all” approaches. That means treating customers how they would like to be treated. “That’s different from treating customers how you want to be treated. It starts with self-awareness, and stepping out of your comfort zone,” says Nguyen Kourri. “People can learn to be more empathic,” she adds. “Empathy is more of a skill than a trait, and it can be strengthened through practice.”

Five tips to help companies deliver more empathy:

1. Do your homework. Take the time and put in the thought and research needed to get it right.
2. Deliver bad news honestly, and if possible, in person. Never underestimate the importance of human contact. Be direct even if you can’t always meet everyone’s expectations.
3. Really listen. And listen some more. Customers express themselves in different ways, and they can be the best source of information on how to improve when it comes to delivering what your brand is promising.
4. Don’t assume customers are all the same. Understand how each individual wants to be treated, and follow up accordingly. Don’t assume everyone is the same.
5. Show skeptics the math. Approach people (there are many) who think of empathy as touchy-feely nonsense with the facts – business case studies show genuine empathy can have a positive impact on corporations’ performance.