Latest news with #DuncanEgan
Mint
20-07-2025
- Business
- Mint
Human-centered AI is empowering the future of marketing
Duncan Egan Forget one-size-fits-all—Today's consumers crave hyper-personalized experiences, and AI isn't just a trend—it's the engine driving this revolution in marketing. Far from replacing human ingenuity, AI acts as a powerful force multiplier. Duncan Egan is the vice president of enterprise marketing, Asia Pacific and Japan, Adobe. Gift this article Personalization is no longer a luxury, it's a necessity. Today's consumers don't just want products—they want meaningful, relevant experiences that feel authentic and human. As digital channels multiply and data grows exponentially, the pressure on brands to deliver these tailored interactions continues to rise. For marketing teams, this presents a critical challenge—creating fresh, compelling content across an increasing number of channels and customer segments. To remain relevant, brands must move beyond basic segmentation and deliver hyper-personalized experiences that resonate on a deeper level. Personalization is no longer a luxury, it's a necessity. Today's consumers don't just want products—they want meaningful, relevant experiences that feel authentic and human. As digital channels multiply and data grows exponentially, the pressure on brands to deliver these tailored interactions continues to rise. For marketing teams, this presents a critical challenge—creating fresh, compelling content across an increasing number of channels and customer segments. To remain relevant, brands must move beyond basic segmentation and deliver hyper-personalized experiences that resonate on a deeper level. AI-driven personalization is key to meeting this demand at scale. By leveraging AI, marketing teams can tailor messaging, content, product recommendations and offers based on individual preferences, behaviours and past interactions. This not only enhances the customer experience but also transforms every touchpoint into an opportunity to build loyalty and drive growth. According to our latest AI and Digital Trends report, 86% of marketing leaders believe Generative AI will rapidly boost content speed and volume. The shift is no longer about if AI will reshape marketing, but how we can leverage it responsibly to elevate creativity, forge deeper customer connections, and accelerate business growth. Distinctive take on human-centred AI It's clear why AI is topping marketers' agendas for 2025; however, this isn't about technology replacing people. In fact, 69% of leaders plan to increase their investment in talent alongside AI adoption. When it comes to enhancing marketing, we believe in AI being a force multiplier and not a substitute for human creativity. Also Read | Deep research with AI is days' worth of work in minutes The approach lies in human-centred AI, as it ensures that marketing and creativity remain deeply personal, authentic, and impactful. When AI works alongside marketing teams, it unlocks new levels of relevance and resonance in customer experiences, ultimately driving stronger satisfaction and business impact. Now's the time for marketing leaders to shift from experimentation to real enablement, empowering teams to leverage the technology where it matters the most. For example, Adobe's own marketing teams need to create assets rapidly and test high-performing content variants, boosting engagement while staying true to brand voice. At MAX, our global creativity conference, we leveraged AI to experiment with design treatments, resulting in a 57% lift in engagement for one specific variation. The takeaway? It's not about replacing creative teams—it's about enabling them to move faster and with greater impact. The hurdles to AI adoption in marketing Today's marketing teams are under pressure. Consumers expect hyper-personalized, seamless interactions across every channel, but traditional content creation methods are struggling to keep up. There are three biggest challenges that the marketing leaders are facing when it comes to AI adoption. 1. Prioritizing AI use cases: Companies often struggle to identify which use cases will yield the highest value. Some fear it may produce generic or even unhelpful experiences that dilute brand authenticity, but an intentional and focused implementation can actually enhance creativity and strategic impact. 2. Closing the gap between ideation and impact: AI use should not be limited to just content ideation. The real value comes from embedding AI across the full marketing lifecycle including data analysis, content creation, and orchestration eventually turning ideas into measurable outcomes. 3. Finding ethical, enterprise-grade AI:The AI technology that marketers use must be responsible, secure, and enterprise-ready. As marketers scale AI, they must prioritize security, fairness, and brand safety in every use case, wherein, trust and transparency should be non-negotiable. What's ahead: Welcome to the age of agentic AI The next evolution in marketing lies in agentic AI—intelligent systems that don't just assist, but act. These AI agents can autonomously manage complex, multichannel workflows, helping brands streamline execution and deliver personalized experiences at scale. More than just tools, AI agents are intelligent operators. They interpret goals, create plans, take action, and work independently or alongside humans. With skills like planning, reasoning, and memory-based decision-making, these agents are transforming how marketing gets done. Today, 65% of marketers are already using AI agents for tasks like asset tagging, task assignment, and content review. Modern marketers are putting AI to work to increase efficiency and deliver concierge-like experiences defined by speed and relevance. This shift is also accelerating the transformation from Customer Experience Management to Customer Experience Orchestration. While customer experience remains central, AI and agents are making it more dynamic—and more complex. Orchestrating how these agents interact across systems, vendors and customer touchpoints is becoming essential. As experiences grow more fluid, so must the systems that deliver them. The future of marketing lies in seamlessly blending data, creativity and AI to orchestrate smarter, more scalable and deeply personalized customer journeys. As AI continues to transform the marketing landscape, one truth stands firm—AI is not a substitute for human creativity, it's a catalyst for it. When thoughtfully integrated, AI empowers marketers to work smarter, move faster, and think bigger. By amplifying both creativity and productivity, human-centered AI ensures that marketing remains deeply personal and impactful. The future belongs to teams that embrace AI not as a shortcut, but as a creative partner—one that elevates what's possible and keeps the human touch at the heart of every experience. Duncan Egan is vice president of enterprise marketing, Asia Pacific and Japan, Adobe. Topics You May Be Interested In
Techday NZ
22-05-2025
- Business
- Techday NZ
AI adoption soars as data & personalisation top priorities
Adobe has released its 2025 AI and Digital Trends report for Australia and New Zealand, finding accelerated adoption of artificial intelligence across brands in the region along with persistent challenges in data management and personalisation. According to the report, based on a survey of 262 executives and 945 consumers across Australia and New Zealand, the proportion of brands formally deploying and evaluating generative AI solutions has risen from 14% in 2024 to 29% in 2025, marking the fastest rate of growth in Asia Pacific. The findings show that 12% of executives already have generative AI solutions delivering consistent and measurable return on investment, which is in line with global averages. Additionally, 24% of brands indicated they are running pilot programmes with generative AI as they explore the technology's potential. Surveyed senior leaders report notable benefits gained from AI-driven personalisation, with 45% saying it has improved customer engagement. Despite this, the consumer perspective reveals a gap: only 35% of respondents feel that they receive personalised recommendations and offers, compared to 62% who express a desire for such personalisation. The report highlights that 53% of executives are experiencing increased pressure to enhance customer engagement and conversion, as changing consumer expectations for personalisation continue to climb. Adobe's findings further indicate that brands in the region are targeting personalisation as the top business priority for 2025, ahead of efforts to unify data and expand AI usage more broadly. Despite growing adoption, data management issues remain an obstacle. Four in five (82%) executives stated that siloed data across online and offline sources hinders their ability to deliver real-time personalisation. As a result, customer data management has become a top technology investment area for the next 12 to 24 months. Evaluating the effectiveness of these investments will largely depend on their ability to ensure strong data protection and privacy practices. The research found that 59% of brands see governance, compliance, and data privacy as the largest barriers to scaling AI, a figure higher among those just beginning their AI journey. Duncan Egan, Vice President of Enterprise Marketing, Adobe APAC and Japan, commented on the findings: "Local brands have significantly advanced their AI initiatives in the past year, building on a responsible foundation of AI guardrails and data governance essential for scaling. With two in three brands planning to invest in data integration and real-time insights over the next couple of years, it's clear the focus is shifting towards connecting data to help deliver timely, consistent, and relevant customer experiences." Looking ahead, brands see the potential for personalisation not only to improve customer relationships but also to drive broader business growth. Unifying data and leveraging AI are highlighted as ongoing priorities to achieve these goals. Egan also addressed the complex environment for marketing teams: "As AI is rapidly adopted and marketing teams are expected to acquire new skills and supervise higher volumes of content, it can feel overwhelming. This makes agentic AI appealing, given its potential to automate customer engagement and lighten internal workloads. However, new agentic AI applications won't be effective unless they're built on connected data." He added: "These tools, coupled with cross-team collaboration, will ensure businesses can overcome their most significant challenges and continue to unlock AI's full power to achieve personalisation at scale and more importantly, business growth." The 2025 Adobe AI and Digital Trends Australia and New Zealand report underscores the importance for organisations to prioritise data integration, governance, and privacy as they accelerate digital transformation and seek to align with rising consumer expectations in the region.
