This is the fourth article in my series on AI Superpowers. Feel free to check out the previous articles: series overview, the first superpower: Understand, and the second superpower: Create.
I once had a CEO proudly tell me, “We know all about our customers! We have their name AND their email right here in our database!” I smiled politely while mentally face-palming so hard I nearly gave myself a concussion. Having someone’s contact information is about as meaningful as knowing someone’s name at a crowded party – it’s the absolute bare minimum of recognition, right up there with remembering which species they belong to. (“Ah yes, you’re a human. I’ve noted that in our CRM.”)
Today, that bare minimum doesn’t cut it anymore. That magical moment when Netflix seems to know exactly what you want to watch next? Or when Spotify creates a playlist that feels like it was hand-selected by someone who deeply understands your musical soul? That’s not magic – that’s AI-powered engagement at work. (Spotify: Thanks for the 80s power songs that kept me energized during my spring clean!).
💡 AI doesn’t just help you reach more people – it helps you reach the RIGHT people with the RIGHT message at PRECISELY the right moment.
When “Hello {FirstName}” Becomes “I Know What You Need”
Remember when adding someone’s first name to an email blast felt revolutionary? Oh, how adorably quaint that seems now. It’s like being impressed by indoor plumbing. “Look, Martha! The water comes RIGHT INTO THE HOUSE!”
The personalization bar has risen so dramatically that a customer who receives a discount offer for a product they’ve already purchased will not just ignore you – they’ll actively question whether you understand them at all. Meanwhile, another brand is sending them perfectly timed suggestions for accessories that complement what they bought last week, possibly before they even realized they needed them. (Because let’s be honest, nobody needs a matching phone case, wireless earbuds, AND a charging stand… until suddenly you absolutely do.)
And here’s the uncomfortable truth: every customer who experiences this level of personalization from ANY brand will now expect it from EVERY brand. The exceptional quickly becomes the expected. It’s the “curse of the best experience” – once you’ve had the best, everything else feels like dialing up the internet with a 56k modem (and if you don’t know what a 56k modem is…I guess ask your parents or…sigh…me).
The Engagement Gap That’s Costing You Customers
Most businesses are stuck in a painful middle ground:
- They have MORE customer data than ever before (drowning in it, actually)
- They have FEWER human resources to meaningfully act on that data
- They’re facing HIGHER customer expectations for personalized experiences (thanks, Amazon. Thanks a lot.)
This creates what I call the “engagement gap” – the growing distance between what customers expect and what businesses can deliver without AI assistance. It’s like promising someone a gourmet meal and then handing them a microwave burrito. Sure, it’s food, but nobody’s writing home about it.
The consequences? According to research by McKinsey, companies that excel at personalization generate 40% more revenue from those activities than average players. Meanwhile, a Salesforce study found that 73% of customers expect companies to understand their unique needs and expectations.
If you’re not using AI to bridge this gap, you’re essentially telling three-quarters of your potential customers to take their business elsewhere. That’s a bold strategy, my friend. Let’s see if it pays off.
Beyond Basic Personalization: The Hidden Benefits of AI Engagement
The obvious benefit of AI-powered engagement is more relevant messaging. But there are deeper advantages that transform how businesses connect with their audiences:
- Anticipatory service: Moving from reactive to proactive by predicting customer needs before they articulate them (or sometimes before they even know they have them – spooky!)
- Emotional intelligence at scale: Recognizing sentiment and adapting tone to match a customer’s emotional state without the usual human burnout that comes from dealing with emotions all day
- Invisible loyalty building: Creating small moments of delight that build cumulative goodwill over time (but beware of scheduling/forcing this as it can quickly go from feeling sincere to scripted as happened with Starbucks when they mandated staff write cheerful notes on every cup)
- Conversation impossible: Having interactions that would be valuable but impossible for humans to conduct at scale
One service I’m eagerly anticipating from my bank, for example, is AI that flags unusual spending patterns. You see, I have subscriptions…so many subscriptions, especially to AI apps. Where some might collect shoes or baseball caps, I’m collecting logins. Yes, they take up less space, but they are arguably harder to keep track of! So, imagine getting a notification that says, “Did you notice this subscription renewal doubled in price from last year?” That simple five-word question could save you money and make you feel protected. Could a human banker do this? Theoretically, yes – but practically, no banker has time to monitor thousands of transactions for subtle price changes across all their customers. And let’s be honest, the last time I saw my actual banker was… wait, have I ever actually met my banker? Do I have one?
💡 The goal should not be to REPLACE human connection but instead to SCALE the very best aspects of it. Think of it as giving your most empathetic, attentive team member a superpower cape and the ability to be in 10,000 places at once.
The 24/7 Engagement Framework: Personalization Without Creepiness
The challenge with AI engagement isn’t technical – it’s psychological. How do you personalize without making customers feel like they’re under surveillance? Nobody wants to feel like they’re in a digital version of “The Truman Show.” Here’s my framework for hitting that sweet spot:
- RECOGNIZE: Identify your customer through first-party data they’ve willingly shared. AI helps connect the dots across touchpoints.
- REMEMBER: Maintain context from previous interactions. AI creates a living memory of the relationship. In my opinion, this alone could entirely transform experience. After all, nothing gets my goat more than being asked for my account info or phone number 10 times on a single call. Or getting the same useless, generic response to a support request that I ALREADY received. I’m irritated all over again just typing those examples!
- RESPOND: Tailor your communication based on their history and preferences. AI helps match the right message to the moment.
- RECOMMEND: Suggest relevant next steps that genuinely benefit them. AI predicts what would serve them best. (Without the creepy “we’ve been watching you” vibe.)
This framework keeps you grounded in value creation rather than exploitation. When AI applications follow these principles, customers experience personalization as service rather than surveillance. Think less “Big Brother” and more “personal concierge who happens to be really good at their job.”
Real-World Engagement Successes
Let me share some examples that will make you rethink what’s possible with AI engagement – and maybe make you a little jealous of these brands’ marketing teams. (If you’re not green with envy by the end of this section, check your pulse – you might be a robot.)
👉 Nike: Building a Fitness Journey, Not Just Selling Shoes
Nike isn’t just selling sneakers anymore – they’re wrapping their entire brand around your personal fitness journey.
Their Nike Fit technology uses AI to scan your feet (yes, your actual feet, not just a generic size chart that thinks we’re all shaped like rectangles) and recommend the perfect size, while their Training Club app serves up workouts tailored specifically to your goals and progress.
What I love about Nike’s approach is how they’ve connected every touchpoint. Your past purchases, workout history, and even activity patterns feed into increasingly smarter recommendations and perfectly-timed motivational nudges. It’s no longer “just do it” – it’s “we know exactly how and when you’ll want to do it next.”
This isn’t marketing; it’s mind-reading with permission. And frankly, if they start suggesting I need new running shoes three days before mine develop a hole, I won’t be surprised – just impressed. (Source: Forbes)
👉 Starbucks: Personalization at Scale Through Deep Brew
Remember my earlier mention of Starbucks? Their “Deep Brew” AI engine deserves a deeper look because it’s quietly revolutionizing retail personalization. Every time you open their app, it’s considering your order history, the current time of day, local weather, events happening nearby, and even current store inventory to make suggestions that feel almost telepathic. (“It’s raining, you had a meeting scheduled, and you usually prefer something warm on Tuesdays – how about a Caramel Macchiato?”)
This isn’t random guesswork – it’s AI using rich context to make your morning coffee feel hand-crafted just for you. During the pandemic, this approach helped their mobile orders skyrocket to over 80% of transactions in some locations.
But the real magic isn’t in the numbers – it’s in creating daily moments where technology feels surprisingly… human. Though I’m still waiting for the AI that can tell when I need a quadruple shot instead of my usual double. (“We notice you were online until 2am – perhaps something stronger today?”) (Sources: Forbes and Harvard Business School – Digital Initiative)
👉 Adobe: Scaling Personalization Across Complex B2B Journeys
“But Julie,” you might be thinking, “I’m in B2B – this personalization stuff is harder for us.” I hear you! B2B journeys are notoriously complex – long sales cycles, multiple stakeholders, and buying processes that make consumer purchases look like child’s play. It’s like comparing a casual game of checkers to a 12-dimensional chess tournament where the rules change every third move.
This is exactly where Adobe shines with their AI-driven marketing approach.
They’ve cracked the code on using predictive analytics and generative AI to help companies tailor messaging by persona, behavior, industry vertical, and channel preference – making even enterprise-scale communication feel specific and relevant. Their technology enables sales teams to have the right conversation with the right stakeholder at precisely the right moment – creating impact that feels genuinely personal, not programmatically assembled. It’s like giving your sales team psychic powers, but without the crystal ball and mysterious hand gestures. (Source: Forbes)
👉 Julie: Using Agentic AI to Tailor Messages That Are Full of Value
I was helping a client build an AI agent last week that perfectly demonstrates this superpower in action.
Their sales team faces the classic modern dilemma: they KNOW they should research every prospect thoroughly, but between juggling existing clients, attending meetings, and trying to maintain some semblance of work-life balance (ha!), it simply wasn’t happening. So we built them an agent that does the heavy lifting. They input any company and their goal (sales pitch, partnership proposal, etc.), and the agent springs into action like an overly caffeinated research assistant. It finds the right person to contact, scours the latest news about the company, dissects their website, considers the sales rep’s specific goals and preferred tone, then generates a draft email ready for review – complete with an explanation of why the AI thinks this particular message will hit the mark.
The real magic? It can even place the finished email directly into their Gmail drafts, ready for that final human touch. What was previously a “should do” but rarely happened has become a “done” – consistently, for every prospect. The result isn’t just more personalized outreach; it’s better conversations that start from a place of genuine understanding rather than generic pitches. As one rep told me, “I feel like I’m showing up to each conversation having done my homework, even when my calendar was packed solid.”
That’s the Engage superpower in a nutshell – making meaningful personalization possible at a scale humans simply can’t match on their own.
Getting Started: Your AI Engagement Toolkit
Ready to bridge your own engagement gap? Here’s how to begin:
- Take an honest inventory of your current personalization. How many of your customer interactions are truly tailored to individual needs versus thinly-veiled mass communication?
- Map your customer journey. Identify the moments where AI-powered personalization would create the most value – often these are decision points, moments of friction, or where “waiting” is really apparent and painful (ahem…customer support, for example).
- Start with one segment and one touchpoint. Rather than boiling the ocean, pick a high-value customer segment and one specific interaction to transform with AI engagement.
- Build your engagement database. Connect your disparate data sources so AI has the context it needs to create meaningful personalization.
- Measure relational metrics, not just transactional ones. Look beyond conversion rates to indicators like reduced time-to-purchase, increased share-of-wallet, and customer satisfaction scores.
The tools for implementing this range from accessible to advanced:
- For small businesses: Start with AI-enhanced messaging (like my AI agent example above).
- For mid-market: Explore conversational AI tools that can personalize website experiences and customer service interactions in real-time.
- For enterprises: Consider customer data platforms (CDPs) that unify information across channels and use AI to orchestrate consistent personalization everywhere.
Your AI Engagement Challenge
This week, try the following:
- Identify one generic message you currently send to customers (email, notification, invoice, etc.) and reimagine it as an AI-personalized interaction. What additional context would make it more relevant? How could timing be optimized?
- Experience personalization as a customer. Find three examples of AI-driven engagement in your own consumer life. What makes them effective? What feels intrusive versus helpful?
The line between “creepy” and “caring” often comes down to value creation. When a personalized interaction clearly benefits the customer, it’s experienced as attentive service. When it only benefits the business, it feels like surveillance.
💡 The goal isn’t just to know more ABOUT your customers – it’s to demonstrate that you know more about what they NEED.
Whether you’re a solopreneur or leading an enterprise, AI engagement isn’t optional anymore. Your competitors are already using it, and more importantly, your customers are already experiencing it elsewhere.
The businesses that thrive won’t be those with the most data, but those who use AI to transform that data into relationships that feel genuine, valuable, and irreplaceable.
###
Stay tuned for the next article in this series, where we’ll explore the fourth AI superpower: Enable.
Struggling to find the right balance in your AI engagement strategy? Let’s connect to discuss how you can use AI to create personalization that delights rather than disturbs. Your customers are waiting to be understood – don’t keep them waiting too long.
