We’re living in a hyper-connected reality. Everything is fast, instantaneous and real-time. Long before artificial intelligence (AI) became a household name, forward-thinking organisations were already adapting to meet the demands of modern connectivity – both within their workplaces and across consumer-facing products, services and campaigns. 

But when AI became mainstream, it didn’t just enhance our already hyper-connected world; the technology transformed it entirely. 

Take, for instance, the seismic shift in workplace productivity. New age generative AI tools have done more than automate the mundane – they’ve changed how workers interact with each other and with the consumer.

For example, a marketing team, once bogged down by tasks like drafting lengthy emails, sifting through complex data or summarising notes from client meetings, is now liberated with more time and space to focus on the creative and strategic elements of a campaign. 

However, productivity alone isn’t the AI endgame. With the right deployment, AI has the potential to unlock immense value through refreshed, immersive and highly personalised customer experiences (CX). Let’s explore how. 

Staying relevant with AI

Brands across various sectors have been experimenting with AI to a certain extent, but many are still struggling with maximising its value across the organisation. Why? Because of good old data.

Data is the vital force that powers AI algorithms – enabling them to learn, adapt and make informed decisions. This is why the effectiveness of AI depends heavily on the quality and quantity of the data it processes. However, for many businesses, vast volumes of data tend to be sprawled across disparate sources that need to be aggregated and organised.  

Today, the democratisation of AI, coupled with the power of cloud computing and advanced analytics, is making it easier to apply AI-driven use cases at scale across any enterprise. It would be remiss of brands and businesses to not capitalise on this opportunity, and leverage the power of AI at a minimum, to create capacity to focus on driving improved customer experiences. 

AI’s ability to make sense of the chaos of complex data sets and deliver actionable insights is drastically changing the way brands and businesses stay connected to their customers. Today, brands can leverage AI to generate personalised marketing strategies, automate customer service through chatbots and virtual agents and gather deeper, more meaningful insights into consumer behaviours.

Hyper-personalisation at scale 

We’re seeing a tremendous appetite for personalisation. Our customers want to realise their true potential and be there for their consumers in the moments that matter. This is why the concept of ‘hyper-personalisation’ has swiftly been climbing up the ranks of business priorities. This is especially true as businesses continue to operate in a highly competitive environment where customer loyalty is fleeting.

Hyper-personalisation takes the concept of customisation to an entirely new level, where every interaction feels uniquely tailored to the individual. 

Take, for instance, member-based services where customers are signed up and paying a regular premium. For their ongoing investment, such customers expect a hyper-personalised experience. In other words, based on their name, address, family history, shopping behaviours and other related data, how can the brand help members maximise their benefits and proactively personalise to their needs and wants? 

This could be several things such as recommending a program best suited for them, cost-saving options, tailored services addressing their specific needs, special promotional offers, partner discounts, family packages and more. 

Today, hyper-personalised services are no longer reserved for a handful of VIP customers – this level of customer experience is now accessible to every customer, every time. In fact, most customers are increasingly turning away from brands that send generic communications that clearly aren’t relevant to individualised consumer needs. 

Modernising CX foundations 

There’s no doubt the idea of embedding AI into business operations, workplace and marketing/sales activities is an exciting one. But this won’t be possible without the right mix of technology, data, people and frameworks that can ensure successful implementation and long-term success. 

Consider a business eager to harness AI to enhance its customer experience. While AI has already been used to deliver personalised recommendations in the past, it now offers even more powerful insights by identifying correlations across customer data subsets, significantly reducing the time spent on data analysis. 

Having said that, for AI to drive real value and results, businesses need a strong tech foundation, ensuring they have the capacity to manage and analyse vast amounts of data. This infrastructure will also be crucial to securely managing large volumes of data spread across multiple sources and platforms which AI solutions will train themselves on to provide insights. 

But technology and data alone aren’t enough. A robust tech and data strategy must be coupled with a responsible AI framework. As AI continues to reshape industries, businesses must ensure that their adoption of AI is guided by the highest standards of data governance, security, and ethics. 

Finally, let’s not forget the human element – your people. People are a crucial element of driving great CX for your brand. They are the ones who will bring AI to life within your organisation, translating data into meaningful customer interactions.

Whether they’re part of a marketing team, in-store or part of a call centre team, all employees need to be upskilled on how to harness AI technology (such as prompt creation) so they can retrieve better results that truly simplify their workload as well as create the capacity to service customers better. 

The reality is that AI is here to stay and the appetite for AI-led experiences is only building. This is why Australian businesses have been experimenting with AI use cases and leading the world in AI adoption.

However, to successfully implement AI at scale, organisations need to ensure a strong data foundation and governance mechanisms. I’m excited to see how businesses continue to innovate and strengthen the business case for AI-led experiences. 

Joan O’Reilly is the Australian Avanade X experiences business group lead. Reilly is an expert in digital strategy – designing consumer-centric solutions and delivering on those designs to realise clients’ and consumers’ needs across a wide range of technologies.

Also, read an extensive guide on the future of AI in marketing.