Personalising the customer experience

Food technologist and UQ PhD candidate Joel Andrade in the FaBA Innovation Pathways Program presented cutting edge research that underscores the value of personalising customer experience (CX) through Artificial Intelligence (AI).

He stressed that for businesses to be relevant in a rapidly evolving, customer-driven marketplace, they must move beyond one-size-fits-all thinking and invest in emotionally intelligent, transparent, and adaptive customer experience (CX) design.

“Consumers are no longer satisfied with generic experiences, and AI has the potential to deliver tailored interactions that align with customers’ personal values and emotional needs,” said Joel Andrade.

Professor Janet McColl-Kennedy, FaBA Innovation Pathways Program Lead said personalisation was about more than efficiency and convenience—it’s also a lever for customer experience, customer wellbeing and customer loyalty, if designed and executed well.

“Joel’s work unpacks three key themes critical to the future of customer experience design: leveraging AI-driven personalisation for sustained customer engagement; providing transparency for trust in AI – personalised CX and promoting customer wellbeing through personalised emotional and social engagement.

“For example, a business could implement AI systems that respond to customer sentiment in real time—adjusting the type of product recommendations based on emotional cues. This level of responsiveness builds trust and helps brands deliver more ethical, human-centred experiences,” she said.

Here in Australia, supermarket giants are trialling AI-enabled smart trolleys’ in a range of stores. These trolleys recommend products based on what’s already in the customer’s cart and deliver location-based discounts.

By scanning their loyalty cards, customers can unlock further personalisation—receiving targeted ads based on their in-store location or previously purchased items, and being able to complete payments directly through the trolley. These innovations are a clear signal that the future of customer experience is dynamic, data-driven, and increasingly personalised in real time, said Professor McColl-Kennedy.

Joel’s research contributes to a growing body of work calling for AI systems that support not only business growth, but also customer empowerment and sustainability. This is not only available to large corporations, smaller and emerging businesses seeking to differentiate their offerings through tailored customer experiences, can also reap benefits.

“This work advances how we think about AI as a force for good enabling interactions that are more personalised to customer needs and wants, ethical and emotionally intelligent. This enables businesses to co-design customer experiences that are both commercially viable and socially responsible,” said Professor McColl-Kennedy.