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Personal AI use is collapsing the customer decision-making process into a single conversation, and most brands aren\u2019t ready for it. The window of influence that once spanned dozens of touchpoints is shrinking to seconds.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s more, AI is now selling to AI. Brands themselves are using the technology to market to consumer AI intermediaries before they can ultimately sell to the people behind them. So,\u202fwhat can brands do today to effectively influence customer decisions in this new era?\u202f<\/p>\n
How\u202fAI is changing the game\u202f\u202f\u202f<\/p>\n
AI tools are transforming the way people make decisions. A lengthy pre-purchase research phase spanning multiple websites and platforms can now be replaced by a single interaction with\u202fan AI assistant. An assistant who understands the individual\u2019s unique constraints and remembers their preferences.\u202f\u202f<\/p>\n
A strong 45% of consumers already say AI-generated recommendations matter more than advertising in shaping their perceptions, according to\u00a0Omnicom\u2019s Future of Brand Influence\u00a0report. A strong 70% say they can become an expert in any product or service category just by using generative AI.\u202f\u202f<\/p>\n
Funnel-based planning frameworks that treat awareness, consideration, and decision-making as separate stages are becoming irrelevant as AI enables customers to experience all three simultaneously. Purchasing decisions can be made in seconds, leaving brands with minimal opportunity to connect authentically, build trust, and feel relevant in the customer\u2019s environment.\u202f\u202f<\/p>\n
AI must persuade AI<\/p>\n
Then there\u2019s the big question of\u202fwho\u2019s\u202fmaking\u202fthe decisions. AI assistants are booking hotel rooms, making medical appointments, recommending purchases, and renewing (and canceling) subscriptions on the customer\u2019s behalf, based on what they\u2019ve learned about individual needs and preferences.<\/p>\n
Brands must convince these AI intermediaries before they can influence the people using them. And, with\u202fthe majority of\u202fbrands now actively using AI to influence customer actions (according to our \u202f2026 CX Trends report), algorithms are\u202factually doing\u202fthe thinking on both sides of the customer experience. AI must persuade AI.\u202f\u202f\u202f\u202f\u202f\u202f\u202f\u202f\u202f\u202f<\/p>\n
Leading as AI rewrites the rules\u202f<\/p>\n
To succeed in this new age, brands must exert their influence across environments that\u202foperate\u202fwith extraordinary scale, speed, and intelligence. But things like outdated organizational structures, siloed systems, poor-quality\u202fdata, and questionable data sourcing are getting in the way.\u202f\u202f<\/p>\n
Brands will need to consider which organizational changes are required to facilitate customer experiences shaped by AI. What\u2019s the internal governance structure for AI? Is an AI steering committee required? What role will the CMO and other key stakeholders play in shaping AI strategy?\u202f\u202f\u202f\u202f\u202f\u202f<\/p>\n
In addition, brands will need a proactive approach to AI-readiness, building a solid foundation based on four key pillars:\u202f\u202f<\/p>\n
Pillar one: Trustworthy data\u202f<\/p>\n
Brands are drowning in valuable first-party data. But it\u2019s scattered across teams, channels, and systems. Changing that is simple.<\/p>\n
The answer is to unify first-party data across the organization into a single data foundation. First-party insights can be enriched with high-quality second- and third-party data from ethical sources, including demographic, behavioral, and transactional data, to gain a 360-degree view of the customer.\u202f Fueling\u202fAI solutions with complete data ensures algorithms have all the information they need to make the best\u202fdecisions and\u202freduces the risk of AI errors.\u00a0 \u202f<\/p>\n
Pillar two: Data hygiene\u202f\u202f<\/p>\n
Customer lives aren\u2019t static. People move, get married (or divorced), change jobs, have kids, and take up new hobbies. Their data must keep up.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
A considered approach to data management, including ongoing data hygiene practices to regularly cleanse,\u202fvalidate, and update customer information, ensures AI is always using the most\u202faccurate\u202fand up-to-date information. Clean, connected data is a vital ingredient for AI-powered influence.\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
Pillar three: Identity\u202f\u202f<\/p>\n
When a customer switches from mobile to laptop to in-store, most brands lose the thread entirely. Here\u2019s how to fix that.<\/p>\n
A robust solution that resolves identity across environments to recognize customers wherever they interact is vital for connecting data signals and powering AI. Using market-leading, interoperable identifiers to enable a unified view of the customer empowers AI to understand individual customer journeys and influence them through cohesive, personalized experiences.\u202f\u202f<\/p>\n
Pillar four: Privacy and consent\u202f\u202f<\/p>\n
People are more aware than ever of the data they generate as they browse, shop, and socialize, and they want to control how that data is used. So brands must deliver.<\/p>\n
Data governance and respect for customer privacy aren\u2019t just regulatory and ethical imperatives; they\u2019re essential to building customer trust. Brands need to establish clear and\u202f transparent data privacy practices that support a lawful basis for data collection and give customers full control over their data before it is used by AI.\u202f\u202f<\/p>\n
Turning influence into wins\u202f\u202f<\/p>\n
As AI use accelerates, the entire ecosystem in which brands\u202foperate\u202fis being reshaped. Today, brands can be present anywhere \u2014 across any screen or any platform. But if they aren\u2019t\u202fshowing up in the environment that matters, in the moment that matters, and influencing both customers and their AI intermediaries with relevant, personalized experiences, they might as well be nowhere at all. A connected and permissioned data foundation fuels the trust, relevance, and consistency brands need to succeed.<\/p>\n
In the age of AI influence, invisibility isn\u2019t a branding problem; it\u2019s an existential one.<\/p>\n
The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of\u00a0Fortune.<\/p>\n
#sells #brands #win #data #identity<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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