The Future of Loyalty and AI: Experts reveal all
Experts from the Asia Pacific Loyalty Conference reveal what’s next for personalised, real-time customer engagement in the Age of AI
If you asked local loyalty experts what they think the current trajectory of the loyalty industry in Asia Pacific (and the world) was, you would hear terms like delivering ‘the magic of joyalty’, avoiding ‘a sea of sameness’, making promotions fun through gamification and of course, leveraging the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and real-time data.
These statements and themes all speak to the current state and future of loyalty in the region. They were of particular prevalence during the recently held 2025 Asia Pacific Loyalty Conference, run by the Australian Loyalty Association. At the event, loyalty companies, brands, retailers, customers and more met for learnings, discussions and networking around the current state of and future of the loyalty industry.
Topics like the impact of AI, customer connections, personalisation and more were covered in presentations and panel sessions with experts. Several loyalty professionals provided their perspectives on the major trends they’re seeing in AI and loyalty, personalisation, the omnichannel experience – and what their vision for the future of loyalty looks like.
Personalisation and AI
No conversation about building better connections with customers would be complete without discussing personalisation, a subject that is core to the modern loyalty offering. Personalisation has evolved considerably, often now being referred to as ‘hyperpersonalisation’ in the context of true, one-to-one offers and tailored loyalty programs, potentially powered by AI.
The future of personalisation is exciting but comes with obvious challenges, understanding customers at a 1-to-1 level is no small feat. However, experts are confident that this space will only get better as technology advances.
For Chris Johnston, Sydney-based Director for Regional Partnerships for customer engagement platform Braze, data is the fundamental piece of the puzzle that can prove challenging to wrangle and utilise.
“The challenge is making sure you’ve got all the data in real-time available to understand customers and what their needs might be,” he said.
“Then it’s the ability to connect that customer no matter what channel they’re on, or where they are in their journey in engaging with your brand, to deliver moments of relevance to them. It’s also about going beyond messages for segments to true one-to-one, so every individual gets their own unique experience.”
Johnston points out that in his opinion, Foxtel is one brand doing this really well.
“We’ve just released a great case study where [Foxtel are] working with OfferFit, which has recently been acquired by Braze; it’s a decisioning engine. Through a combination of OfferFit and all those decisions and cross-channel delivery means they have something like three million-plus potential messages and versions that go to each individual customer at any point in the journey,” he said.
“They’re using that to get people to keep engaging with their platform once they’ve subscribed. They are a fantastic example of where personalisation needs to get to.”’
What Makes Great Personalised Experiences in the Age of AI
Susan Walsh, former Director of Operations (Loyalty) for loyalty consulting firm Loyalty & Reward Co, highlighted three factors required for great personalisation experiences.
“The first has to be relevance. If the communications, offer or reward are not relevant to the individual – then why would they be interested,” she said.
“The second, that special feeling you want the customer to feel; they are loved back by the brand, they are appreciated, they aren’t another number in the customer database. Emotions play a huge part.
“And third, using the data provided for good. Customers provide it with the expectation it will be used, show that in the comms. Show offers on their favourite burrito or lipstick.”
Walsh also pointed out a favourite current AI-meets-personalisation use case.
“I am still in love with this one: Spotify’s use of AI to create personalised playlists like Discover Weekly and Release Radar, factoring in listening habits, liked songs, and time spent on genres,” she said. “The experience is smooth and perfect for Spotify.”
Jonathan Reeve, ANZ Regional Sales Director for AI-powered loyalty platform provider Eagle Eye, echoes the sentiment about hyperpersonalisation and AI, specifically noting how AI can take on the “heavy lifting” of data analysis to make this level of personalisation affordable for most businesses.
“What AI can enable you to do is to do the heavy lifting of all the analysis to come up with truly hyperpersonalised offers, where the product is personalised to you, the reward is personalised to you and also what you need to do to get the reward is personalised to you,” Reeve said.
Nik Laming, Founder and CEO of outsourcing and consulting firm Loyalty ConnectOS, said he could see the influence of AI “all over” the industry, from the ability to deliver hyperpersonalisation to speeding up campaign execution. He notes that while AI could potentially be a “double-edged sword” for his resourcing business, he is generally optimistic about its impact.
“I think generally it’s not really a concern, it’s exciting,” he said.
Karl Deitz, Head of Customer Strategy for SMS and MMS messaging platform Tall Bob, confirms that hyperpersonalisation is a major trend in mobile messaging, with brands now going deeper into smaller, more targeted segments. This approach of sending “less but better” messages leads to higher conversion rates because the communication is more relevant and personal.
“It’s going deeper and deeper into the history of buying patterns,” he said, explaining that hyperpersonalisation goes well beyond just a first name, factoring in things like recent product purchases or behaviour from the last year.”
The Future of Loyalty Is?
What do loyalty experts think of when they hear the term, ‘the future of loyalty’? Depending on their own interests and customers, the answer tends to bounce around some common themes, with a couple of surprises.
“The future of loyalty is joyalty moments of magic,” according to Adam Posner. This sentiment was also shared by Braze’s Chris Johnston, who also borrowed to joyalty term to highlight the importance of delivering magic “at every customer engagement on their terms.”
According to Susan Walsh, “The future of loyalty is sustainable, mutual value-driven fun!”, she said, while also noting that versatility would be critical though times of change.
For Jonathan Reeve, the future of loyalty might be summed as being ‘real-time’.
“This ties into AI,” he added. “We really think that AI is going to enable more and more in-the-moment loyalty experiences as you’re shopping, as you’re browsing. That’s where we see things going in the next year or so.”
Ultimately, even as AI continues to integrate deeply with loyalty, success will be defined by a brand’s ability to move beyond a “sea of sameness” and deliver a seamless omnichannel experience that recognises customers, provides mutual value, and makes loyalty a meaningful and even fun part of the customer journey.
