This year’s World AI Appreciation Day, we’re not only recognising how this technology is changing the way humans live, but celebrating the organisations and people using it to reimagine how businesses operate, connect and thrive.
Whether it’s building customer loyalty programs, transforming customer experience and ecommerce, or innovative ways to understand the law, we speak to leading experts in their fields, who see AI emerging as a partner rather than a replacement.
Research shows clear shift towards AI and Gen AI
Generative AI is dominating discourse across marketing events, social media and the press.
Tools like ChatGPT, now generating over one billion searches daily, are rapidly becoming part of consumers’ and professionals’ everyday lives and have created the biggest upheaval in search and experience delivery that we have seen in decades.
A recent Digital, Marketing & eComm in Focus 2025 report, produced by digital, data and eCommerce advisory & consultancy Arktic Fox in collaboration with recruitment firm Six Degrees Executive, reflect this groundswell of AI utilisation intent and adoption, with data suggesting solid experimentation and some brands starting to scale AI use cases.
The report reveals that 59% of brands are experimenting with or scaling efforts around generative AI and AI more broadly to drive personalisation efforts. Half of brands are experimenting with GenAI for content generation, and almost a quarter (24%) are scaling up efforts here. Nearly half (49%) of brands are experimenting with using AI for insights generation, with 19% scaling up.
The opportunity for growth in the AI space also remains considerable. Currently, more advanced levels of AI adoption are typically confined to larger companies. Just 13% of leaders believe their organisation is advanced in leveraging predictive analytics, with these mostly being brands with revenues in excess of $100 million.
“But while adoption is growing, most brands still face barriers to unlocking AI’s full potential,” says Teresa Sperti, Founder and Director at Arktic Fox. “Only 14% have a mature, unified customer view, despite it being a key investment area. Without strong data foundations, efforts to use AI for personalisation and experience delivery will fall short.
“Based on what we are observing in market, AI utilisation is still being driven by efficiency based plays and whilst some brands are scaling their efforts more sophisticated use of AI | genAI for experience delivery is still an opportunity for most.”
Who needs to prioritise AI?
According to Joyce Gordon, head of AI at Amperity, both C-suite executives and individual contributors should prioritise learning AI. She explains that executive leadership must ensure employees have appropriate tools and understand usage limitations, particularly regarding sensitive data like PII.
“Meanwhile, frontline employees possess the detailed knowledge of specific use cases necessary for effective AI implementation. This collaborative approach creates a framework where leadership provides direction while employees contribute practical applications,” she says.
For marketing technology professionals looking to implement AI-driven personalisation, Gordon suggests three key considerations.
“First, establish clear guidelines around AI usage, particularly regarding sensitive customer data. Second, identify specific use cases where AI can deliver measurable value rather than implementing technology for its own sake. Third, ensure proper data infrastructure exists before attempting advanced AI applications. Finally, create a balanced governance approach that combines executive direction with practitioner expertise,” she explains.
Ethical considerations and data handling
When it comes to ethical issues, Sarah Jarvis, Communications and Propositions Director at Eagle Eye, identifies three areas that businesses need to focus on to ensure responsible AI implementation.
“Bias and fairness: ensuring AI systems do not perpetuate or exacerbate social, cultural or economic biases,” she says. “Next is transparency and accountability: making AI decisions explainable and ensuring that there is clear accountability for outcomes driven by AI systems; and third is privacy and data protection: safeguarding personal and sensitive data from misuse, breaches or exploitation.”
Jarvis emphasises privacy as particularly relevant to their retail personalisation business. She also highlights the social impact of AI acceleration, noting that workforce adaptation will be necessary.
“In our business (personalisation in retail) it is key to respect the choice of customers, making sure retailers collect the opt-ins and respect them. GDPR in Europe is the model to follow,” she explains. “With AI acceleration, many employees will have to adapt,” she says. “They need training; they need to be eager to learn. They need to understand that AI will code better and faster than any developers in the world.”
So, how can businesses adopt ethical considerations into the way they manage customer data? Jarvis offers practical steps that retailers can implement to ensure responsible data handling.
“Obtain explicit customer consent, anonymise or pseudonymise personal data, enforce role-based access controls and conduct regular privacy audits,” she says. “Businesses can ensure ethical use of AI in customer data handling by limiting data usage strictly to what is necessary for improving customer experience and operational efficiency; ensuring robust data security measures are in place to protect customer information; and communicating openly with customers about how their data is being used.”
AI, Intellectual Property and the law
Intellectual Property laws are pushed to their limits by AI and data-driven innovation, some experts are saying reform is what’s really needed.
Aparna Watal, a leading trade marks expert and partner at Halfords IP, welcomes debate around the re-examination of the assumptions that underpin the IP system, especially in light of how rapidly technology is reshaping the creative and commercial landscape.
“We need to start designing sustainable ways of working, and we have a golden opportunity to do that now,” she says. “With AI tools coming in, if used responsibly, they can reduce the grunt work and make legal practice more human again, not less. But that shift has to be intentional and ethical.”
“Technology, and AI in particular, is shaking up the legal world in a big way. I see it as a huge and positive opportunity. Done right, tech can free lawyers from the mundane tasks so they can focus on the meaningful. I see tech amplifying good lawyering, not replacing it. Our real value is and will always be in judgment, creativity, and empathy – the things that you can’t download (not yet, anyway!).”
Helping business leaders step off the “technical treadmill” with AI assistants
According to Sangeeta Mudnal, Chief Technology Officer of pioneering GenAI platform Glu, AI-powered assistants from Google, Meta, and Perplexity are redefining how consumers engage with brands, creating an entirely new canvas for creative expression. These developments aren’t merely technical innovations but rather a fundamental reimagining of the creative producer’s role.
“As AI assistants increasingly mediate the relationship between brands and consumers, we’re witnessing a profound shift in how creative work is conceptualised, produced, optimised, and delivered,” Mudnal says. With the rapid rise of these industry trends platforms like Glu.ai are now showcasing a deep commitment to customer-centric innovation, while being dedicated to helping e-commerce merchants seamlessly adapt and thrive in this new era of AI-facilitated ecommerce.
As an example, Glu,ai’s AI-powered platforms helps organise digital assets with automatic tagging, generate tailored content suggestions, and automates time-consuming tasks like bulk cropping and resizing, creating the operational efficiency you need to experiment with emerging AI channels.
“Starting with a solution like Glu.au means building the creative muscles and operational frameworks quickly and at scale. While other creative producers are still struggling with platform-specific formatting and technical SEO optimisation, you’ll be crafting distinctive brand voices that flourish in conversation,” Mudnal explains.
AI and innovation set to transform the customer experience
Sarah Richardson, Founder and Director of The Australian Loyalty Association (ALA), agrees AI assistants and Agentic AI will be most transformative, particularly to the loyalty landscape.
“Having an agent that can answer all your queries with relation to your membership as well as past purchase information helps brands to get on the front foot with customer expectations,” she says. “Emerging technologies like voice assistants and visual search are also creating new pathways into loyalty ecosystems, so there’s plenty of innovation that AI will bring!”
But while the promise of AI sounds appealing, Richardson highlights the challenge lies in the implementation. This is because AI-driven loyalty programs only work if the customer data is unified. When AI is fed fragmented, inaccurate or biased data, it can steer brands down a wrong (and costly) direction.
“Over-automation is another pitfall. When technology replaces, rather than supports, human interaction, brands may inadvertently lose the emotional connection that loyalty relies on,” she says.
“Most importantly, brands must prioritise transparency and privacy. Our research consistently shows that customers are willing to share their data if they understand how it’s being used and see clear value in return. Brands that communicate openly build stronger, more lasting trust.”
“The recent Qantas cyber attack reminded us all that even the most high-profile loyalty programs are at reputational risk if privacy is not handled responsibly and with urgency.”
The ALA is set to shine a spotlight on AI and innovation in customer loyalty at its upcoming 2025 Asia Pacific Loyalty Conference in late July on the Gold Coast.
“We are privileged to have the top-tier leaders sharing with our attendees the psychological science of loyalty, how AI can turn your customers into advocates, and using attributes in real time to facilitate true personalisation,” Richardson says. “We are excited to see how this event solidifies the knowledge for leaders to effectively implement AI and strategies into their loyalty programs.”
Norths Collective, who will be at the event, offers a classic example of how AI can personalise the member experience in truly impactful ways. Their approach was about creating a deeper, more relevant connection with each guest. By leveraging AI across their venues, they’ve been able to tailor interactions and communications in ways that have significantly boosted member engagement and loyalty.
Starbucks, who will also be speaking at the upcoming conference, is widely recognised for its use of AI to drive hyper-personalisation. Their ability to analyse purchase behaviour and lifestyle preferences allows them to deliver a dose of timely, tailored offers that feel surprisingly human for such a large-scale, global operation.
“In the near future, I expect to see AI empowering brands to understand their customers on a much more personal level. Programs will become fully adaptive, changing in real time based on customer behaviour, engagement patterns and contextual data,” she concludes. “Perhaps most critically, customers will increasingly look to brands to use AI responsibly. Ethical AI, which refers to transparent, fair and sustainable, will be a competitive edge for brands over the long term.”