Balancing AI automation with authentic engagement in the GCC

Khaleej Times

26-06-2025

In a region where tradition and modernity are constantly colliding, and personal relationships, hospitality, and cultural nuance shape everyday interactions, the rise of AI in brand communication is prompting a moment of reckoning. As automation becomes the norm across the GCC, many consumers are beginning to feel a disconnect; interactions are faster, yes, but often colder, more generic, and lacking the emotional depth that defines the region's customer expectations.
While AI offers clear advantages with efficiency, scale, and speed; GCC brands now face a critical question: how can they embrace this technology without losing the authenticity that builds loyalty and trust?
To unpack this challenge, Khaleej Times spoke with Sharif Kotb, AVP Sales GCC at Braze, who shared how GCC brands can strike the right balance between innovation and authenticity. From insights rooted in local data to real-world examples of brands doing it right, Kotb outlined how GCC marketers can find the balance and blend innovation with empathy to keep the human element front and center.
Excerpts from the interview:
Question:
As brands in the GCC region increasingly adopt AI technologies, what specific factors does Braze recommend to ensure that customer communications remain authentic and culturally relevant?
Answer:
As part of our 2025 GCC Customer Engagement Review, 74 percent of surveyed GCC marketers said they were 'extremely or very concerned' about their messaging missing the mark and not resonating, which can impact their ability to forge connections and brand loyalty. Therefore, we looked at the three key factors that typically determine whether content is emotionally resonant with any given audience. It's important to prioritise the following factors for any AI initiative:
Authenticity: Genuine communication of brand values and beliefs fosters trust and connection with consumers, making them feel that the brand is relatable and true to itself.
Storytelling: Compelling narratives that evoke emotions - such as joy, empathy, or nostalgia - capture attention and create memorable experiences, allowing consumers to connect personally with the brand.
Personalisation: Tailoring messages to individual preferences and behaviors enhances relevance, making consumers feel valued and understood, which deepens emotional connections.
Question:
What innovative approaches can GCC brands implement to effectively leverage AI in their customer engagement efforts while still preserving the personal touch that is essential in the region?
Answer:
To amplify emotional resonance, GCC brands are unleashing a vibrant mix of content and technology-driven strategies. They're not just playing it safe; they're infusing humour, pop culture references, current events, and social causes into their messaging, outpacing the global average (41 percent vs 36 percent).
Across the GCC region, brands are embracing local flavours that resonate with their audiences. They're also leveraging AI to fine-tune the message's tone, ensuring it aligns with individual preferences. Ultimately, it's about forging emotional connections that keep customers coming back for more.
Data-informed personalisation is a key tactic in the region, with GCC brands more likely than the global average to personalise web and app content (via tools like Content Cards) and utilise first-party data to tailor paid ads.
Question:
How can data help GCC brands strike the right balance between automation and authentic human interaction in their marketing strategies?
Answer:
99 percent of surveyed global marketing executives say plans to use advanced personalisation have been impacted by data privacy concerns, which is crucial to creating authentic human-like interactions.
Consent is key, and in-product channels like Content Cards or in-app messages help to build trust and support personalisation. By leveraging features like responsive buttons and surveys, brands can use explicit customer preferences to inform personalisation efforts, supporting increased transparency.
Braze encourages a customer-centric approach: Brands can employ a robust first-party data strategy, continually learning from their customers, to create engaging cross-channel customer experiences, while saving time through automating journey creation and orchestration, routine copywriting tasks, content refinement, and image creation, among other efficiencies.
Question:
Can you provide examples of GCC brands that have successfully integrated AI into their customer engagement strategies without compromising their unique voice and authenticity?
Answer:
Majid Al Futtaim Holding, a Braze customer, is a great example of automation being leveraged to support migration and campaign efforts. The team was able to migrate all of Majid Al Futtaim's different brands and communications to a new customer engagement platform on Braze—something that's particularly challenging with such a large organisation.
Moving to Braze made it easier to support the strong personalisation, automation, and ongoing innovation that make sustainable engagement possible. They were able to accelerate the launch of over one hundred automated campaigns by the end of 2022. They executed over one thousand unique communications on Braze during their first year using the platform. They also successfully sent communications to over 5.5 million recipients with strong open and click rates.
'The new email design system has grown and flourished, allowing us to reduce the amount spent per setup of campaigns while maintaining the excellence in our look and feel,' said Sereen Hindawi, senior manager, Customer Engagement at Majid Al Futtaim.
Question:
How does Braze intend to assist GCC brands in navigating the complexities of merging traditional values with innovative technologies in their customer engagement strategies?
Answer:
To help brands figure out AI, we created The Flamework Framework. This methodology helps brands to evaluate and implement new ideas, no matter where they're at with AI. The approach works on three levels: Match, Spark, and Flame.
Match: This first phase involves implementing simple, automated features. One feature that's popular at Braze is AI Item Recommendations. This feature uses AI to analyse customer data and surface relevant items to those who they are most likely to resonate with.
Spark: This phase is all about adding data components on top of AI overlays. At Braze, brands are combining AI Item Recommendations with zero-party data to forge tailored, meaningful interactions between brands and customers.
Flame: This final phase represents big ideas - the exciting ones that speak directly to customer needs in a creative way, and differentiate the brand from competitors. Beyond personalisation, this step is about creating memorable experiences that convert customers and build long-term loyalty.
As the GCC region continues to position itself at the forefront of digital innovation, the real opportunity lies not just in adopting the latest tools but in using them with intention. Technology can power efficiency, but it's the human element that drives connection, trust, and loyalty.
The brands that will lead in this new era are those that recognise AI as an enabler for meaningful engagement, not a replacement. By staying rooted in cultural understanding and emotional intelligence, GCC marketers have a chance to craft experiences that feel not just smart, but personal. In the end, it's not about choosing between automation and authenticity, it's about making space for both.