How are you using AI to enhance your customer experience?

Broadly, AI can help in three areas: Interface, insights, and infrastructure. And all of them are to do with enhancing – not eliminating – the human touch.

Let’s look at that with an analogy of the old-style deli owner, who knew everybody who came into their shop. I knew somebody like that, way back when I was a kid.

1. Interface

I would sometimes go to the deli after school, and the owner knew me. He remembered what I liked, asked me how school was, and sometimes suggested something new. It felt personal and warm – and it was also good business. He ran his business well by knowing his customers, managing his stock, and responding to what was happening around him.

Now, AI can help us do the same – on a bigger scale. You can use AI first at the customer interface – through your website, contact centre, app, and in person.

If you think I’m talking about chatbots, you’re right. It’s the fastest way to add AI. The earliest chatbots were very basic – only able to respond with simple scripts. But they are now much better, and can hold reasonable conversations with people – both with written text and voice.

AI chatbots also help human customer service agents. A customer might be speaking to a person, and behind the scenes, that person uses AI to pull up the customer history, past issues they have faced, business policies to help the customer, and so on.

2. Insights

The deli owner from my youth wasn’t just able to recognise me and talk to me when I walked into the deli. Based on what he knew about me, he could also recommend things that I might be interested in in the future.

In the same way, AI helps you understand your customers by analysing their past behaviour – and the behaviour of others just like them. It draws on everything from individual purchase history to wider behavioural trends, letting you personalise messages, offers, and interactions.

We know this when interacting with platforms like Amazon, Netflix, and Spotify – who have been doing this for years. The result is more precise targeting and better recommendations. Instead of making generic offers, AI uses real data to be more relevant, more helpful, and more likely to connect in a meaningful way.

3. Infrastructure

A business is only as good as its back-end infrastructure. This isn’t as visible to customers, but it still affects them. For example, the deli owner knew to stock up on ice cream in summer and hot pies in winter!

AI can do the same – and in even more sophisticated ways. It can help manage inventory by forecasting demand, adjusting stock levels, or even suggesting product placement based on customer flow. It can also help you adapt to external factors like seasons, weather, or local events.

You can also apply AI to workforce management – like rostering staff based on expected foot traffic, customer demand, or past patterns. Or use it to optimise delivery routes, monitor supply chains, or improve internal systems. A better infrastructure supports a better customer experience.

How are you managing these three areas with AI?

If you’re getting started with AI, explore opportunities in each of these three aareas. You don’t need to do everything at once. But even starting in one of these areas can make a big difference.

For more, download my free report, "AI-Powered Customer Experience":

https://swiy.co/go-human-touch-ai-brain

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You might be doing future planning to understand how the world is changing – that’s good. You might even be adjusting your plans based on what you learn – even better! But are you also changing HOW you plan? Many leaders miss this change, and it can make a huge difference to the quality of your plans. Things like AI, hybrid work, and generational diversity in your teams all bring new tools and insights to the planning process. When you use them to update your process, your future strategy becomes much more powerful.

https://swiy.co/go-the-process-is-the-point

I’m preparing to deliver my Future Scenarios program soon for the leadership team of a organisation, and it’s the fourth year in a row I’ve been working with them.

Of course, the outcome of the program will have changed, because 2022 was so different from 2025. But the process has changed as well.

What has changed in that time that could influence the planning process?

Here are a few things ...

* COVID restrictions meant participants weren’t out interacting with the world as much

* Hybrid work now means particpipants spend more time in their local communities

* Some Gen Z employees are now moving into management roles

* We have more generations in the workplace

* Online meetings have become more common

And then, of course, there’s the growth of AI.

Over the last three years, we have used AI differently in this program:

* Three years ago, in early 2022, we talked about the potential growth of AI as a significant external pressure, but we didn’t have ChatGPT and generative AI to use during the program itself.

* In 2023, we had seen the growth of generative AI, but this organisation was fairly restrictive in allowing their people to use it. So I could show them how to use it, and do some AI education, but they couldn’t directly use it in the program.

* Last year — the third year we ran it — they all had access to AI, so I asked them to do some pre-work using AI, and they could use that as a starting point for their future planning.

They year, I’ll ask them to go even deeper and further with the pre-work – because AI has come a long way, even in the last twelve months. Now they can do deep research into their area of responsibilities to understand the future challenges and opportunties they are facing. With AI doing a lot of the heavy lifting for them even before they arrive, they can dedicate more time in the two-day program to make it even more practical, useful, and customised for their needs.

So how has YOUR future planning changing?

Are you taking advantage of these tools that are available now?

Are you leveraging the unique perspective and insights of your team – with up to five generations in your workplace?

Are you using the hybrid work opportunity to bring in external perspectives?

It’s not only that the future has changed — and will continue to change — but the way you THINK about the future should change as well.

I’ll be talking more about this in my online presentation “Seeing Into the Future”, where I will share some of the tools we futurists use — and how those tools are evolving. It’s free, public, and open to everyone — so please register, and invite others in your team and network as well.

Register for the virtual masterclass:

https://swiy.co/go-the-process-is-the-point

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If you want to know where to look to understand the future, don’t forget the people already in your team. Everybody brings unique perspectives and lived experiences that could shape smarter decisions and sharper strategies. The best leaders listen to external voices, but also actively include their team in learning about, shaping, and creating the future.

https://swiy.co/go-yes-theres-an-i-in-team

I had an interesting conversation recently with a client I’ve worked with for many years, and we were re-engaging working together with him and his senior leadership team, to help them understand the future. We’ve done this work in the past, but the world keeps changing (so inconvenient, ha ha)!

During our conversation, he asked me:

“Gihan, it’s really good to be working with you again. But where ELSE should we turn to learn about the future?”

It’s a great question! Because understanding the future doesn’t always mean going outside. Don’t get me wrong – I’m very happy to be working with him. But it takes more than one meeting, conference, or strategic leadership off-site.

You need to be continuously learning about the future.

And one of the best sources – which you have at hand already – is engaging your team.

I told him about another client, who again had engaged me to work with her leadership team. I ran two sessions for them to discuss their future initiatives, and I was so impressed with the way she participated in those sessions.

She wasn’t just "the hot-shot CEO" who had brought in the futurist to work with her team. Instead, she went all in herself and participated fully – just like everybody else in the room. She did the pre-work, engaged in all the discussions, didn’t talk over others, and took part in all activities.

This is exactly what a leader should do.

Many leaders and managers think they know more than the people they lead. Oh, sure, they might defer to their role expertise, but don’t forget their broader expertise.

We used to say “There’s no ‘I’ in team”, but that’s exactly wrong now. There IS an “I” in team – in fact, it’s all there is.

Everybody in your team brings different perspectives and different lived experiences. And it’s that individuality, unique, and diverse perspectives that help you understand the future. They see, hear, feel, notice, and care about different things. And in a complex, inter-connected world, they all bring new, valuable insights for you.

So listen to your team, enable them to share their ideas and perspsectives, and use their contributions to create the future.

For more, join my online presentation “Seeing Into The Future”, where I will share more of the things that futurists do to help you understand more about the future. And – spoiler alert – one of those things is listening to the people in your team.

Register for the virtual masterclass:

https://swiy.co/go-yes-theres-an-i-in-team

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When you’re facing an uncertain future, it helps to know what’s around the corner and over the horizon. That’s the skill of foresight, where you spot the trends, signals, and shifts that could reshape your world. Before asking “Is this an opportunity or a threat?”, first figure out what’s actually changing - and then evalute that to make strategic choices.

https://swiy.co/go-foresight-first

When you see change coming, do you view it as an opportunity, a threat – or maybe a bit of both?

I’ll be speaking soon at a conference for an association whose members are cultural organisations – think museums and art galleries – and we’ll consider what lies ahead in that sector. One significant shift is the growth of tech that lets people immersive themselves in experiencex without visiting these places.

Take virtual reality (VR), for example. You can strap on a headset and (virtually) visit the Louvre, walk with dinosaurs, explore outer space, or fight alongside Anzacs. All without leaving the comfort of your home, school, or local library.

How can a museum or art gallery compete with those experiences?

Well, of course VR can’t fully replicate the physical experience. Being there in person is richer, more immersive, and more visceral. But for many people, especially those limited by geography or budget, the virtual experience is “good enough” – and sometimes, even more informative. With VR, you can access deep context, background stories, and interactive insights that may not be available on-site.

So is VR a threat or an opportunity for these organisations?

The answer, of course, is that it could be either – or both. It seems like a threat, but there’s also the opportunity to integrate digital and physical experiences. For example, a museum website might have a VR "teaser" that’s more effective than words or pictures. And then add a VR option when visitors arrive. And perhaps an online follow-up after they leave.

But before you can assess whether something like VR is an opportunity or a threat, you first need to notice it!

If you didn’t even think about VR as a possible external influence, you can’t make these sort of decisions.

That’s a critical step leaders often overlook.

It’s easy to react to what’s already obvious. But go further to scan the horizon and look for other signals that aren’t as obvious.

This is the skill of foresight, and it’s an important first step in being future-ready.

Whether you’re doing formal strategic planning session or just looking informally at what’s next, take some time to understand what’s changing in – and outside – your world.

That’s why leadership teams bring me in before they begin strategic planning – not to build the plan itself, but to help them understand what’s coming. When they know the most important external pressures and influences, they can then incorporate them into their plan and make smarter decisions about priorities and actions.

If you want to know more about developing this skill of foresight, join my coming free public online presentation. I’ll share some of the tools I and other futurists use to help you see what’s coming and prepare for it.

Oh, and of course, if you’d like me to work with your leadership team, let’s chat!

Register for the virtual masterclass:

https://swiy.co/go-foresight-first

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If you're a leader, you should be thinking about what's next in your industry, but are you also scanning the horizon to see what’s happening outside it? The best leaders think deep, wide, and far to understand what will affect them now and in the future.

https://swiy.co/go-deep-wide-and-far

In October, I’m speaking at the Bus Industry Confederation’s annual conference, and a few weeks ago I had the briefing call with the association’s CEO and the conference organiser. I was so pleased by the way they are thinking about the future of the industry — and what they would like me to contribute.

This association represents owners and operators of buses and coaches, and others involved in that industry, from all around Australia.

This is a specific part of the overall transport business. But what does it look like from their customer’s (passenger’s) point of view?

For us, a bus might be just one of the ways to get from A to B. That journey might involve a combination of buses, trains, ferries, and trams — and that’s just public transport. Add ride-sharing services, e-bikes, and private cars into the mix as well.

For a passenger, it would be ideal to have a single, simpless, seamless way to plan and take that journey. No juggling fares, no separate payments, no dealing with different organisations with different pricing, ticketing, and rules.

That’s what this association sees as the future – not just the future of buses, but the future of transport more broadly. Some people call this “mobility as a service”: the full end-to-end experience of getting from A to B.

That’s what impressed me. They are not only looking at their own sector, but the broader picture.

As leaders, that’s an important part of our future planning as well.

As a futurist, I’m often asked to help leaders look ahead — to see what’s coming. But we should also look more broadly — at what’s happening around your industry. The world is more interconnected than ever, and disruptors and influencers often come from outside your own domain.

In fact, I think we need to use three perspectives:

* Deep: What’s happening inside your industry now?

* Wide: what’s happening outside that will impact your sector?

* Far: What’s coming in the future?

So, I’m really looking forward to speaking at this conference — for two reasons.

First, I’m looking forward to sharing these ideas. For many of my conference clients, I now research and prepare a detailed report about their industry, outlining key trends and external influences. In my keynote presentation, I share some highlights, and then delegates can download the report for the detail.

The other reason I’m looking forward to it is I’m delivering the opening keynote on the final day of the event — the morning after the gala dinner! So part of my job is to bring the energy back in the room and prepare the audience for the rest of the day. Some speakers don’t like that spot in the program, but I do!

If you’re a leader interested in learning how to see the future through those three lenses — deep, wide, and far — I’m running an online presentation soon about this topic. It’s free, public, and open to all, and it’s designed for leaders to learn how to know what’s coming in the future, not just for your organisation but for your entire sector.

I’d love to have you join, and feel free to share with others in your team as well.

https://swiy.co/go-deep-wide-and-far

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About sixty years ago, MIT Professor Joseph Weizenbaum built a chatbot, named ELIZA, that could act like a psychotherapist. It was programmed to look for key words and phrases typed by a person and reflect their words back to them in its responses. Despite its simplicity, many people were so taken by it they started treating it like a real doctor. On one occasion, Weizenbaum’s secretary asked him to leave the room so she could have a private conversation with ELIZA!

My first experience with them was more than thirty years ago, when studying AI at university and we had ELIZA on our university computers. I remember once, one of my uni friends, who intensely disliked one of our lecturers, spent hours on ELIZA taking out his anger and frustration in fake conversations with it (her?). Little did he know all the ELIZA conversations where saved on the university servers! He spent the next few days frantically running around looking for an IT person to delete those chats.

Oh, how we laughed!

Anyway ...

Sixty years on from the first ELIZA, chatbots have come a long way. And if you want to use AI to enhance your customer experience, a chatbot is one of the fastest ways to do it.

You still need to do it with appropriate guardrails to make sure it works correctly. But in terms of technology, it’s one of the easiest things to do.

And, surprisingly, many people actually like talking to chatbots.

Or maybe not so surprisingly, if the alternative is waiting on hold for hours or being passed around to different people and having to start from scratch each time.

Ideally, many happy customers don’t want to engage with you at all – because it’s usually because they have a problem, complaint, or issue they can’t resolve any other way. But if they do, many prefer using a chatbot.

A chatbot, if it’s deployed well, can handle initial enquiries, answer common questions, and solve routine issues – instantly and around the clock.

Unlike ELIZA sixty years ago, which was pre-programmed with a set of responses, the AI-based chatbots now are much more powerful. They are better at interpreting the customer’s problem, and even assessing the sentiment and urgency behind the question. And of course, if they can’t respond appropriately, they know to escalate that to a person in the call centre.

For more complex issues, sure, they might prefer speaking with a person. But even in these cases, customer service agents might use chatbots themselves to improve their responses.

For example, Telstra uses two chatbots in its call centres for their customer service agents.

One, called “One Sentence Summary”, quickly gives the agent a summary about the customer, based on their history, products, and past interactinos.

The other, called “Ask Telstra”, lets an agent quickly search the internal Telstra knowledge database so they can respond more quickly to the customer.

So, whether it’s customer-facing or agent-assisting, a chatbot is one of the best things you can do to enhance your customer experience.

I’ll be talking about this – and more – in my online presentation, coming up soon, about AI for customer experience. We’ll explore these and other CX tools, and also look at some of the guardrails you need to put in place for good governance.

It’s free, public, and open to all, so register here and invite others in your team as well.

Register for the virtual masterclass:

https://swiy.co/go-dont-fear-the-bot

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You want to do the best for our customers, but sometimes you’re restricted by internal factors, like time, budget, geographical location, IR rules, staff availability, scheduling rosters, and floor space. You can’t fix all of these problems, but you might be surprised just how much you can address using AI. Done right, AI can shift customer experience from system-driven to truly customer-centered, creating value that simply wasn’t possible before, and giving you a competitive edge.

https://swiy.co/go-ai-boosts-cx-innovation

I was recently speaking at a conference on the Gold Coast, staying overnight at a hotel before my closing keynote presentation the next day. The hotel check-in time was 2pm, but I only arrived at 8pm. But they didn’t give me a later check-out to make up for those six hours I “missed out”, even though I told them in advance I would be arriving late.

Of course, this is how hotels work everywhere. They have a fixed check-in time and a fixed check-out time, regardless of when you arrive or leave. You might be lucky and get an early check-in or a late check-out. But apart from that flexibility, you’re only entitled to the hotel’s hours.

Wouldn’t it be great if I could have told the hotel my later arrival time (which I did), and they would have extended the check-out time to still give me the same overall time?

I’m not the first person to ask this question, and in fact some hotels have experimented with this in the past. You get, say, 20 hours, starting from time you arrive, as long as you nominate that time in advance (so they can manage occupancy, cleaning, and so on).

This is called the “day-based” or “rolling stay” model, but it’s far from common - and mostly used by a few boutique hotels or some special hotels (like airport hotels). And it’s not hard to see why: It’s a huge logistical challenge. You need to manage every room’s occupancy and availability individually, coordinate cleaning staff schedules, manage reception staff numbers, and much, much more.

But it’s not impossible.

Especially with AI.

In fact, this is a perfect job for AI.

AI can easily take all of these things into account. It can assign available rooms, coordinate staff rosters, and manage complex logistics at scale. It can even use past behaviour of customers to predict their likely future bookings, or predict occupancy based on seasons or weather predictions.

Of course, even if AI can create the schedules, there are still challenges implementing that schedule - for example, scheduling staff. But the point is that something which was previously “impossible” not at least becomes plausible.

I don’t expect many hotels to start adopting this model anytime soon. But that’s because the industry as a whole is quite happy to preserve the status quo and force this imperfect experience on their customers.

And this is just one example of applying AI to go beyond just making your existing processes more efficient, but to create new opportunities.

Stop thinking:

“That’s the way we’ve always done it.”

“That’s the way everybody else does it.”

and start thinking:

“How could we use AI to do it differently?”

If you did, you could create a huge competitive advantage for your business.

For more ideas like this, join my online presentation next week about using AI for better customer experience. It’s free, public, and open to all.

Register for the virtual masterclass:

https://swiy.co/go-ai-boosts-cx-innovation

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AI is all around us - and we see it in everyday life in our supermarkets. Large retailers like Coles and Woolies have been building AI into their operations for years, and show what's possible when you apply AI to enhance the customer experience. If you're exploring AI for your own organisation, use these examples to learn how to deliver faster, smarter, and yes, even a more human service.

https://swiy.co/go-cx-reimagined

Customer experience - or CX - matters. In fact, according to Salesforce, an astounding 80% of customers say the experience they have working with a business is just as important as the products and services they buy. So your CX makes a huge difference to whether they buy – and, just as importantly, whether they’ll buy again.

And many businesses now are using AI to improve their customer experience.

You might not be doing it in your own business, but you probably experience it yourself in your life.

Take supermarket shopping, where the big retailers like Coles, Woolworths, and Aldi have been using AI for years.

For instance, if you shop at Coles or Woolies and use your FlyBuys card or Everyday Rewards card, you scan the card to earn points, discounts, and other rewards. In return, these companies collect vast amounts of data about you, your behaviour, and your habits. They then use AI to process this data to send you personalised emails tailored to that behaviour - and even your likely future behaviour.

This is one simple example of AI enhancing the customer experience. The AI itself is complex, but the outcome is simple.

Another example is with self-service checkouts, where overhead cameras watch you putting items on the scale, identify the products, and use AI to assist in the next steps. For example, it can detect fruit or vegetables, which don’t have barcodes, and automatically suggest that first when asking you to tell the checkout what it is. It can also detect potential fraud if a customer tries to record it as a cheaper product!

Another example, which is less well-known because it’s not immediately visible to customers, is the way Coles uses cameras at the deli counters.

Coles research shows that when people are waiting to be served at the deli counter, they will wait on average 30-40 seconds before being impatient and giving up - which means less income for Coles. So they use cameras and AI to watch the deli counter, detect when customers are approaching, and alert a team member so they can serve that customer promptly.

These are just a few examples of AI being used to enhance the supermarket customer’s experience.

What about YOU? How are you using AI in your business to enhance the experience with your customers, clients, or patients?

If you would like to know more about AI and CX, join my online presentation soon. I’ll share the latest research, give you more examples of businesses doing it already, and alert you to the traps and pitfalls to avoid when you’re applying AI to your customer experience. It’s a free, public, online presentation, so register here and invite others in your team and your network as well.

Register for the virtual masterclass:

https://swiy.co/go-cx-reimagined

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Even if you have invested in good customer service and worked on building a smooth customer experience, there’s a new layer you can’t ignore: customer intention. AI lets you predict what your customers might want - even before they tell you - based on their behaviour, habits, and even the behaviour of other customers like them. Using this data to improve your customer experience makes you more relevant and boosts loyalty. If you're not exploring this now, your competitors probably are, so you risk losing your customers to somebody else who did something smarter.

https://swiy.co/go-from-service-to-intention

Many years ago, long before the recent boom in AI awareness and adoption, Target – the USA retail chain – made news about the way it used AI.

An angry man turned up at his local Target store, and demanded to speak to the manager because Target had sent his teenage daughter a catalogue full of baby products for new parents. The man yelled at the manager, “Are you trying to get my daughter pregnant?”

It turned out she WAS pregnant – but she hadn’t told her parents yet!

Target’s internal systems had guessed, based on changes to her buying habits, that she might be pregnant, and therefore a good candidate for baby product marketing. It wasn’t because she was buying nappies or baby clothes. Rather, changes in her eating habits triggered the algorithm. These were subtle clues that, when taken as a whole, created a likely profile.

This was an early – and very public – example of AI in retail. Even in a much simpler form than we have now, the AI was able to predict a customer’s future behaviour based on changes to her past behaviour and habits.

That power is now available to all businesses – at a much larger and more sophisticated scale – with today’s AI.

The customer experience has changed.

For decades, the gold standard was superior customer service: what happened in every customer touchpoint.

Then we broadened our view to look at the customer experience, taking account of every stage of the buying process, and how customers feel and interact with a brand over time.

Now, thanks to the predictive power of AI and data analytics, we’re moving into the era of customer intention. The key question becomes: What are our customers likely to want in the future? And how can we tailor our marketing, messaging, and services for them?

This matters because it cuts through the clutter. It makes life easier for your customers when you’re showing them only what matters to them. And it’s better for your business because you’re putting all your effort into those things that do matter to them.

Do YOU know what your customers will want?

And if you don’t know, how are you planning to find out?

Make no mistake; your competitors are already using these tools. If you don’t act now, your customers could easily become their customers.

If you would like to explore this further, I’m running an online presentation soon. It’s free and open to everyone. We will look at this whole journey – from customer service to customer experience, and now to customer intention. Feel free to register, and invite others in your team or network. I’m sure you’ll find it valuable.

I’ll see you in the future.

Register for the virtual masterclass:

https://swiy.co/go-from-service-to-intention

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If you suspect or detect job candidates using AI in your recruitment process, do you see that as a red flag or a green light? If you reject them, you're pushing away exactly the kind of forward-thinking, problem-solving people you actually want on your team. More and more job seekers are using AI to explore careers, find opportunities, tailor their CVs, and even prepare for interviews. These are the people who will drive innovation from the inside.

https://swiy.co/go-ai-savvy-employees

I recently delivered the closing keynote presentation at the AHRI (Australian Human Resources Institute) conference in Perth, talking about leading through disruption and the future of work. One of the biggest topics throughout the day was (surprise!) AI. I was pleased to see so many HR professionals seeing AI in a positive and optimistic way, as a powerful tool they can use in their professional roles.

In contrast, there are many negative stories about recruiters and employers using AI, especially when they suspect or detect candidates using AI to help them in the recruitment process. Things like using AI to draft their cover letters, adjust their CVs to match the position, and even using it as a "coach" during online interviews.

Some employers and recruiters take a dim view of these candidates. But that’s a mistake. You WANT people who are open to AI, excited and enthusiastic about it, and using it to solve real problems. They are exactly the sort of employee you want in your organisation.

In fact, if you see somebody using, say, an AI coach in an online interview, that might be not their first use of AI in the process. It might be the first time YOU see them using AI, but smart and savvy employees are now using AI at many stages of their career development.

For example, they might have already used:

* LinkedIn Career Explorer or JobGether Career Coach to plan their future careers

* Lightcast AI to analyse and review the current labour market

* Jobscan and Adzuna to do AI searches for their preferred jobs

* Work180 to check whether future employers match their personal values

* Rezi Resume Builder to build and adapt their CV

* CoverDoc AI to draft their job application response

* Yoodli AI to coach them before an interview

These – and other – AI-based tools can help candidates on their journey, even before they engage with you.

Aren’t those the sort of people you want in your organisation?

If you want to be a talent magnet and attract the best people, you want people with AI skills. If you reject them, you’re shooting yourself in the foot.

And this is not just about AI. It’s about finding, attracting, and building an employee value proposition that reflects what you offer.

For more, join my free public online presentation about being a talent magnet. I’m looking at the future of work, what employees want, and how you can attract the best people.

It’s free, public, and open to all, so register now.

Register for the virtual masterclass:

https://swiy.co/go-ai-savvy-employees

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