AI transforms customer journeys with personalised experiences

AU Financial Review

a day ago

At the coalface of this evolution is Sundeep Parsa, vice president of Adobe Experience Cloud, who has been integrating AI into the firm's suite of marketing and creative applications.
'When we say orchestration, we mean intelligence with some autonomy,' Parsa says. This marks a shift from simple automation to more intelligent, adaptive interactions that enhance every stage of the customer journey.
From automation to intelligent marketing
AI-powered tools are enabling Australian businesses to significantly enhance customer engagement. Kenny Griffiths, managing director at digital marketing leader Monks APAC, says that AI's transformative power is already reshaping how marketing and creative teams operate.
'One of the big challenges is the fragmentation of tools and use cases,' Griffiths says.
'At Monks, we've now mapped out a full lifecycle of processes, from insights and strategy to creation, adaptation, delivery, and performance.'
This approach helps businesses overcome challenges like data validation, compliance, and integrating AI across various touchpoints, areas where AI-powered tools are making a substantial impact.
In Griffiths' experience, AI is enabling marketing teams to evolve beyond traditional advertising models.
'Marketing goes beyond just ad campaigns into pretty much anything that produces high-volume, quality data and involves decision-making that has been influenced, including ad spend and segmentation,' he says.
'The impact of AI tools has been incredibly disruptive to marketing departments.'
This disruption is evident in the results. For example, Griffiths notes a significant case study where AI-driven content generation led to impressive results for a global fashion retailer: 'We have one public case study of an apparel company (Forever 21) - they recorded a 66 per cent increase in ROI and a 72 per cent uplift in CTR.'
Griffiths also touches on the balance between AI and maintaining brand authenticity. 'Authenticity is key,' he says. 'We are still at a stage where all experiences need to be compliant with brand guidelines. Within AI, we can now add compliance checks throughout the production workflow.'
Griffiths sees potential for even more transformative applications. 'The future of AI in customer experience is incredibly exciting. We're looking at real-time story generation. If this can be data-driven, there's a real opportunity for brands to create one-to-one conversations.'
The evolution of AI-powered solutions has also led to changes in how businesses measure success. Griffiths highlights how AI tools have led to efficiency gains across the board.
'Once you have something in motion, we can scale it, but it takes weeks and months to get something to market,'' he says.
'By introducing a simple chat-style interface, we make it easy for anyone to ask questions. This is how we achieve disintermediation and greater agility.'
On balancing automation with human oversight, Griffiths says: 'Ultimately, a human will be required to sign off campaigns, but catching and addressing issues early makes the overall process more efficient.'
As AI tools continue to evolve, Griffiths emphasises the importance of understanding customer intent in real-time. 'If you combine conversation intent with behavioural intent, the unlock is massive for brands,' he says, illustrating the potential for brands to predict and meet customer needs before they even express them.
Griffiths also notes that privacy and data security will continue to be major challenges for businesses leveraging AI.
'Respecting privacy, consumer privacy, has to be a top priority,' he says. 'With consumers becoming increasingly conscious of how their data is used, organisations must ensure they are transparent in their AI practices, fostering trust and confidence.'
Griffiths acknowledges that while the AI revolution is underway, there are still hurdles to overcome.
'Change is hard, and I don't think anybody should say we figured it out,' he says. 'You're still doing the mundane tasks that can slow everything down, but AI will streamline that.'
As AI continues to mature, businesses are discovering the power of generative AI to streamline content creation and automate repetitive tasks. 'Once you have something in motion, we can scale it, but it takes weeks and months to get something to market,' Parsa says.
'By introducing a simple chat-style interface, we make it easy for anyone to ask questions. This is how we achieve disintermediation and greater agility.'
Anticipating customer needs in real time
For organisations seeking to optimise customer journeys, the focus has shifted from simply providing personalised content to understanding and anticipating customer needs in real time.
Personalisation has become a critical component of the customer journey, especially in industries like retail, banking, and hospitality. 'Everything needs to be plus hyper-personalised across multiple channels,' Parsa says.
'That's a skill problem in how you actually deliver and execute on the need for personalisation.' As AI tools continue to evolve, businesses are finding new ways to refine these personalised interactions, ensuring they meet individual customer needs more effectively.
However, with these advancements come new challenges, particularly around privacy, data security, and ethical AI use.
'Respecting privacy, consumer privacy, has to be a top priority,' says Parsa.
With consumers becoming increasingly conscious of how their data is used, organisations must ensure they are transparent in their AI practices, fostering trust and confidence in the technologies driving customer interactions.
As AI allows businesses to gather and analyse vast amounts of data, brands are better positioned to anticipate customer preferences and provide more relevant recommendations.
'You know exactly which hotels I prefer. Just give me the answer,' Parsa says, illustrating the power of AI-driven personalisation. Customers expect relevant and timely interactions, and AI enables brands to meet those demands, offering customised solutions without overwhelming the customer with choices.
This shift towards AI-powered customer engagement is not just about automating processes but also about enhancing creativity. With AI taking over repetitive tasks, human teams can focus on strategic, value-added activities.
'Most of the upfront planning is informed by all of the engagement data history that's locked up in our applications,' Parsa says. By using AI to analyse customer behaviour and preferences, businesses can gain real-time insights, allowing them to make faster decisions and improve the overall customer experience.
As AI continues to mature, the potential for AI-driven personalisation to transform customer journeys is enormous.
The ability to integrate AI into every touchpoint along the journey - from initial interaction to final conversion - will help businesses stay competitive and deliver greater value to customers.
This transformation is already underway in Australia, with local businesses leading the charge in adopting AI to optimise their customer journeys.
From automating content creation to predicting customer preferences, AI is allowing Australian companies to deliver more personalised, relevant experiences than ever before.
The next step will be ensuring that these innovations are used responsibly, with a focus on transparency, privacy, and ethical AI practices.
The future of AI in customer engagement is bright, and the potential for businesses to create truly seamless, personalised journeys is enormous.
As Parsa says: 'If you combine that conversation intent with behavioural intent, the unlock is massive for brands.'
AI is no longer just a tool for automation - it is a key driver of business growth, enabling companies to create customer experiences that are as intelligent as they are personalised.