Twilio Report Reveals Ethical Use of AI Will Be a Competitive Business Advantage

Rhea-AI Summary

Twilio's latest State of Personalization Report reveals the increasing importance of ethical AI in business. According to the report, 89% of business leaders believe ethical AI use can be a competitive edge, while 54% are addressing data privacy concerns. The report highlights the shift from reactive to predictive personalization, driven by AI, to meet sophisticated consumer demands, especially from Gen Z. Additionally, 85% of companies plan to adjust their marketing strategies for Gen Z, and 73% agree AI will reshape personalization strategies. Emotional intelligence and advanced metrics are also emphasized in the report.

Positive

• 89% of business leaders believe ethical AI use provides a competitive advantage.
• 54% of business leaders are actively addressing data privacy and ethical AI concerns.
• 85% of companies plan to adjust marketing strategies to meet Gen Z preferences.
• 73% of business leaders agree that AI will change personalization and marketing strategies.
• Predictive personalization is expected to become industry standard, with 86% of leaders supporting the shift.
• 80% of marketers are adopting sophisticated metrics to gauge personalization effectiveness.
• 58% of business leaders see AI chatbots as the most impactful AI technology over the next 5 years.
• By 2025, 59% of businesses expect daily AI usage.

Negative

• There are no significant financial metrics or concrete business outcomes reported in the PR.
• Potential over-reliance on AI could lead to privacy risks and ethical concerns if not managed properly.
• No specific financial figures or projections are provided to quantify the impact of AI investments.

Consumer demands shift business leaders' focus to predictive, emotionally intelligent and customized engagements

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Twilio (NYSE: TWLO), the customer engagement platform that drives real-time, personalized experiences for today’s leading brands, today released its annual State of Personalization Report, which highlights perspectives and predictions from business leaders across twelve countries and a diverse range of industries. The report, now in its fifth year, underscores how evolving consumer demands are driving business leaders to focus on delivering predictive, emotionally intelligent, and highly personalized customer experiences. AI is central to this shift, with businesses utilizing more dynamic models and metrics, enhancing interoperability between tools such as Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) and data warehouses, and prioritizing data privacy and the ethical use of AI.

With AI becoming ubiquitous across industries, Twilio’s research shows that 89 percent of respondents believe ethical use of AI can be a competitive business advantage, and over half (54 percent) of business leaders said they are addressing consumer concerns around data privacy and ethical considerations in AI by implementing robust privacy controls. Twilio’s recent State of Customer Engagement Report found that almost half (49 percent) of respondents said they would trust brands more if they openly disclose the use of customer data and AI-powered interactions. With a careful balance of innovation, transparency, data privacy, and ethical best practices, organizations can maintain consumer trust as they leverage AI to deliver better customer experiences.

"Personalization is table stakes in the world of marketing. Today's consumer not only expects brands to understand them, but they want brands to anticipate their needs and AI is making that a reality," said Robin Grochol, VP Product Management at Twilio. "In our latest State of Personalization Report, we found the majority of business leaders are making the shift from reactive to predictive personalization to help them deliver on increasingly sophisticated and dynamic consumer demands.”

Gen Z’s preference for more personalization has fundamentally changed brands’ marketing

The report also found Gen Z (18-27 year olds) are setting the trends that will shape the future of engagement. A generation of digital natives that grew up immersed in tech, Gen Z hold massive buying power and are breaking the traditional marketing funnel with their unique preferences, including higher expectations for authenticity, transparency, and engagement on their terms. It’s clear that businesses are receiving the message, as 85 percent of companies currently plan to adjust or optimize their marketing strategy to accommodate the unique needs and preferences of Gen Z consumers.

Predictive personalization, emotional intelligence, and other key trends are transforming personalization

In alignment with the demands of the Gen Z consumer, 86 percent of business leaders expect a significant shift from reactive to predictive personalization across the industry. Brands are pivoting to anticipate what’s next from consumers, using AI/ML to craft experiences tailored to individual needs and preferences. This proactive approach allows brands to actively engage customers with the right messages at the right time.

Artificial intelligence equips businesses with the ability to process massive amounts of data in real-time, providing the needed insights to craft dynamic engagement with customers. This is fundamentally changing the way brands can and will interact with customers. As part of this shift, 82 percent of leaders emphasize the importance of embedding emotional intelligence, or the ability to respond to human emotions, into AI systems. Additionally, 80 percent of marketers plan to adopt more sophisticated metrics (customer lifetime value, emotional engagement, and brand affinity) to measure the effectiveness of personalization beyond traditional engagement and conversion rates.

From marketing to customer service, the report found AI will become the silent partner helping companies address consumer expectations and harness data-driven insights to deliver targeted personalization. Additional findings include:

• 73 percent of business leaders agree that AI will change personalization and marketing strategies.
• 58 percent of business leaders believe that AI chatbots will be the most impactful AI-driven personalization technology over the next 5 years.
• By 2025, 59 percent of businesses surveyed expect their teams to be using AI daily.
• 72% of companies are using a customer data platform (CDP) for personalization while 48% are using a data warehouse. A CDP’s strength in handling real-time, customer data meshes seamlessly with the robust, scalable environment of a data warehouse providing a dynamic approach to personalization.

Learn more about AI’s impact on personalization and read the full report, here

Methodology:

Twilio Segment conducted this research from April 8 to May 5, 2024 using an online survey prepared by Method Research and distributed by RepData. The survey targeted 521 adults (age 18+) who are employed full time as B2B and B2C company directors or above in title. All respondents are from companies with more than 500 employees and are familiar with a company’s customer experience, marketing tech, or customer data strategies. The sample was split between 12 countries: US, UK, Australia, Brazil, Colombia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Singapore and Spain.

About Twilio

Today's leading companies trust Twilio's Customer Engagement Platform (CEP) to build direct, personalized relationships with their customers everywhere in the world. Twilio enables companies to use communications and data to add intelligence and security to every step of the customer journey, from sales to marketing to growth, customer service and many more engagement use cases in a flexible, programmatic way. Across 180 countries, millions of developers and hundreds of thousands of businesses use Twilio to create magical experiences for their customers. For more information about Twilio (NYSE: TWLO), visit: www.twilio.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240618234586/en/

press@twilio.com

Source: Twilio

FAQ

How does Twilio's State of Personalization Report define the role of AI?

Twilio's report highlights AI's role in driving predictive and emotionally intelligent customer experiences, with 89% of leaders believing ethical AI use offers a competitive edge.

What percentage of business leaders are addressing data privacy for AI?

According to Twilio's report, 54% of business leaders are implementing robust privacy controls to address consumer concerns around data privacy and AI.

What trends are emerging according to Twilio's State of Personalization Report?

The report identifies a shift towards predictive personalization, emotional intelligence in AI, and the adoption of advanced metrics to measure personalization effectiveness.

How is Gen Z influencing marketing strategies as per Twilio's report?

Twilio's report states that 85% of companies plan to adjust their marketing strategies to accommodate the preferences of Gen Z, which include higher expectations for authenticity and transparency.

What impact do business leaders foresee AI chatbots having in the next five years?

Twilio's report indicates that 58% of business leaders believe AI chatbots will be the most impactful AI-driven personalization technology in the next five years.

What is the expected daily usage of AI by businesses by 2025 as per Twilio's report?

Twilio's report reveals that 59% of businesses expect their teams to be using AI daily by 2025.