AI Appreciation Day: What gives marketers in APAC the competitive edge?

In this article, we speak to brand, technology, retail, marketing and data leaders across the APAC region about some of the emerging trends, challenges and opportunities AI opens – and why it’s time more marketers embrace innovation to remain competitive.

Research shows marketers already experimenting with AI and GenAI

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 Arktic Fox in collaboration with recruitment firm Six Degrees Executive reveals 59% of brands are now 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, the report showed. Nearly half (49%) of brands are experimenting with using AI for insights generation, with 19% scaling up. Despite this trend, only 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.” 

Customer loyalty, personalisation and data usage

Further research from The Australian Loyalty Association (ALA) highlights the growing tension between brand’s personalisation expectations and customer comfort with data use:

• 46% of members expect brands to know their preferences—suggesting a gap between expectation and delivery.
• 58% are happy to share their data in exchange for more relevant offers.
• 53% remain concerned about the volume of data loyalty programs hold on them.
• 75% prefer communication via email, with only 35% open to texts—and just 68% wanting SMS used for urgent updates only.

ALA Founder and Director Sarah Richardson says AI is undoubtedly a powerful agent of change in the loyalty ecosystem as it evolves to accelerate processes and customer experience outcomes, strengthen personalisation and shape wider strategic decision-making. 

“As AI tools become more sophisticated, the pressure is on loyalty leaders to stay informed about technology advancements to maintain their competitive edge. The 2025 event is set to provide loyalty professionals with practical guidance and fresh thinking during a pivotal moment for the industry, to better adapt to shifting consumer behaviours and cultivate lasting customer loyalty.”

So topical is the issue, that the ALA recently announced the future of retail AI, personalisation and customer loyalty will be the major topics of industry discussion and debate at its upcoming 2025 Asia Pacific Loyalty Conference from 29–31 July 2025 at QT Resort, Gold Coast.

Fixing fragmented customer data issues

Customer data issues like fragmentation, poor quality and identity confusion have really hindered business and marketing performance over the years. According to Billy Loizou, APAC area vice president at Amperity, AI is now changing the equation by making sense of the data that already exists and unifying it accurately. 

“One of its biggest impacts we see lies in identity resolution. Instead of relying on rigid rules, AI can detect patterns across billions of records to unify customer profiles with far greater speed and accuracy. It reduces manual effort while improving precision,” he explains. 

“AI also improves data quality by learning from the data itself, flagging inconsistencies, filling gaps and adapting to behavioural changes. This leads to more trustworthy, actionable datasets over time.”

Amperity recently launched its Identity Resolution Agent and Chuck Data, two AI-powered innovations designed to help enterprises unify customer records at scale and accelerate time-to-insight.

The Identity Resolution Agent uses machine learning to dynamically match and merge fragmented customer data, while Chuck Data is an AI assistant that lives in the terminal and enables data engineers to build customer tables, resolve identities and tag PII using natural language prompts – without manual coding or orchestration.

“Where data lives in disconnected systems, AI acts as a bridge, linking touchpoints across channels that traditional systems couldn’t connect. It enables real-time personalisation by matching signals in the moment, not days later,” Billy adds.

Unlocking deeper customer data in advertising

Another great example of gen AI deepening the impact of customer data insights and discovery for business is the latest innovations from Nexxen, a global, flexible advertising technology platform with deep expertise in data and advanced TV.

They recently announced their newest advancement, nexAI: the introduction of generative artificial intelligence (“AI”) to the Nexxen Data Platform, including a UI assistant within its proprietary insights tool Nexxen Discovery. With this advancement, nexAI enables clients to quickly turn complex consumer data into clear, actionable audience profiles and campaign planning for seamless activation.

“The Nexxen Data Platform has always been powered by advanced machine learning to help our clients navigate the fragmented media landscape. With the introduction of generative AI and the nexAI Discovery assistant, we’re taking that foundation to the next level — turning complex datasets into clear, strategic guidance in an instant,” said Karim Rayes, chief product officer at Nexxen. “This is about removing friction from the entire workflow, enabling advertisers and agencies to move from insights to activation faster, smarter and with greater confidence.” 

Helping marketers step off the ‘technical treadmill’ 

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.

In fact, Microsoft reports that its AI assistant Copilot has accelerated consumer purchase journeys by approximately 30%, while partnerships like OpenAI and Shopify’s integration of purchasing within ChatGPT conversations hint at commerce experiences embedded directly in conversational flows. 

“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 e-commerce.

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 moving traditional SEO to generative engine optimisation (GEO)

Ask ChatGPT about the best car brands for families, and you’ll get a curated list. Search for laptop recommendations, and the AI serves up specific models with reasoning. But notice which brands make those lists and which don’t.

This represents more than a technological preference. The rapid transition from traditional search engines to AI-powered language models represents a complete restructuring of the discovery layer between brands and customers. And many businesses haven’t noticed they’re already losing.

According to Marty Hungerford, chief innovation officer at BRX, this trend has given rise to what is being called ‘generative engine optimisation (GEO’), the new discipline of optimising content for AI-powered responses rather than traditional search rankings.

“The shift from traditional search engines to AI-powered language models represents a complete reshaping of how consumers discover, evaluate, and engage with brands. Those that fail to recognise and respond to this shift risk becoming invisible at the moment of decision,” Hungerford explains. 

“Brands that are not surfaced in LLM-generated responses will see a significant decline in visibility, resulting in downstream impacts on customer acquisition, brand relevance, and market competitiveness. Those that delay will not merely fall behind, they risk being excluded from the AI-powered discovery layer entirely.”

“Meanwhile brands that embrace this reality early by adapting content, enhancing structured data, and embedding themselves in trusted digital ecosystems, will establish a lasting competitive edge.”

Given the complexity and rapid evolution of AI systems, Hungerford notes partnering with specialists who understand this landscape can accelerate your progress. BRX helps brands navigate GEO with AI-native strategies that deliver measurable improvements in AI visibility and engagement.

“The brands that recognise this shift early and master GEO won’t just maintain their market position; they’ll capture market share from competitors who remain focused on traditional search optimisation. In a world where AI increasingly mediates brand discovery, being invisible to artificial intelligence means being invisible to customers,” Hungerford says.

Measuring real marketing returns

According to executives at retail technology platform Eagle Eye, the AI landscape has reached an important moment where retail marketers can finally start measuring real returns on AI investments rather than just discussing potential. 

This progress points toward more sophisticated personalisation capabilities. Cédric Chéreau, managing director at Eagle AI, believes AI will transform customer interactions. 

“AI is just getting started. Real one-to-one offers, using shopper individual behaviors, personal potential, delivered at the right moment with the adapted image through the preferred channel will completely change the way customers interact with retailers,” he says.

Aaron Crowe, regional director for Asia at Eagle Eye, also has great perspectives on the trajectory of AI in retail, including where he doesn’t see it going. 

“AI augments, not replaces, human expertise; speeding data analysis while preserving human judgment and local market insights,” he says

On the ethical handling of customer data, Crowe emphasises the importance of proper protocols. 

“Obtain explicit customer consent; anonymise or pseudonymise personal data; enforce role‑based access controls and conduct regular privacy audits,” he adds. 

For dynamic pricing strategies, Crowe notes how AI can optimise multiple factors simultaneously. 

“AI ingests real‑time variables—inventory, competitors, weather, sentiment—to adjust prices and tailor personalised coupons and messaging, balancing revenue, margins, and customer satisfaction,” he says.

But this transformation is also prompting deeper reflection on how AI will reshape professional roles. Jonathan Reeve, vice president for APAC at Eagle Eye, has been considering this personally. 

“I’ve been thinking about AI advancement a lot lately as we watch AI and automation start to reshape our working lives,” he says. “Like many others, I’ve invested years developing particular skills and expertise.”

It’s not easy to imagine large parts of my work being automated, but I recognise I need to start asking: What problem do I solve for people? Could that problem be solved differently? And how might I evolve to stay relevant and valuable? It’s challenging, but it also gives us a chance to step back, reimagine, and maybe evolve to improve our prospects.”