Artificial intelligence (AI) has revolutionized how businesses understand their customers. Through AI, companies can now gather and analyze large amounts of data to gain valuable insights into consumer behavior. However, effectively acting upon those insights is what sets businesses apart and gives them a competitive advantage. Sona Abaryan, partner and global real and luxury sector lead at Ekimetrics, a tech-enabled data science consultancy, pointed out that just having data and insights available doesn't automatically make a company data-driven. In order to truly transform their decision-making processes and make a real impact, companies need to evolve their organizational structure, incentives, and decision-making processes. Customer centricity plays a crucial role in business success today. It goes far beyond personalizing emails or online catalogs. The current trend of relying on software-as-a-service (SaaS) approaches to personalization has resulted in a leveling out of impact and a need to find other ways to gain a competitive edge.

Brands that take a holistic approach to customer centricity, incorporating it into all aspects of their operations, from marketing to product design and financial forecasting, are finding success in reaching their target consumers. To optimize data insights and improve customer lifetime value, businesses need to focus on acquiring the right customers and understanding their potential early on. This requires capturing data throughout the customer journey and leveraging customer insights to inform business strategies. AI can also help measure the effectiveness of brand marketing and return on investment (ROI). However, the challenge lies in attributing the impact of brand marketing initiatives and budget allocation decisions. It is essential to have a holistic approach to measuring performance and aligning it with brand equity and strategic customer goals. For executives looking to implement AI-driven insights into their businesses, it is crucial to educate CFOs on incremental ROI and consider multiple key performance indicators (KPIs). This ensures a well-rounded understanding of the value and impact of AI-driven insights. Making informed budget trade-offs and maintaining a consistent language of performance across the organization is also important for effective decision-making. Overall, AI-enabled data insights have the potential to transform businesses and drive long-term success by placing the customer at the heart of decision-making.