Marketers turn to AI as personalisation revolution arrives

Australian businesses are increasingly turning to agentic AI tools to manage growing customer engagement demands, with the technology rapidly becoming a foundational part of modern marketing operations rather than an optional add-on.

The rise of agentic AI is helping organisations cope with an increasingly complex digital landscape, where brands are expected to deliver personalised experiences across a growing number of channels.

Marketing teams are facing unprecedented pressure as customer expectations rise and digital engagement becomes more fragmented, according to President of APAC at Adobe, Ben Goodman.

Goodman spoke at Adobe Summit Sydney, where various executives representing the creative software giant, as well as customers like Qantas, ruminated on how quickly the AI landscape is shifting for marketers, towards an unprecedented level of customisation and personalisation.

"When you think about the world of digital marketing, digital experience, it's all around customer engagement," Goodman said.

"It's just growing every single day."

Agentic AI systems, including Adobe's CX Enterprise Coworker, Firefly and agent orchestration technologies, are being positioned as tools that can automate tasks, accelerate content creation and help businesses gain deeper insights into customer behaviour.

According to Goodman, the new technology is allowing organisations to scale marketing efforts in ways that were previously difficult or impossible, especially when it comes to personalisation.

"We're on this trajectory at a world level where all brands are able to personalise something for you at the individual level," he said.

"Agentic technologies are about actually bringing scale and velocity into the digital marketing capability."

AI expanding marketing beyond traditional teams

One of the most significant changes emerging from AI adoption is the democratisation of marketing capabilities across organisations.

Previously the exclusive domain of marketing teams, AI-powered tools are increasingly enabling employees from other parts of the business to participate in customer outreach and content creation.

This shift is creating three major outcomes for organisations: broader access to marketing capabilities, more sophisticated audience engagement strategies and improved visibility into customer journeys.

That visibility is becoming particularly important as consumers increasingly rely on AI-powered search and conversational platforms to make decisions.

Citing the growing market for GLP-1 weight-loss medications, Goodman described how customer journeys are becoming more complex, as well as less predictable.

"When most people start (the weight loss journey), they're typically not looking for medication initially, they're not actually looking for anything of that nature," he said.

Instead, consumers may begin by searching for information about eating habits, exercise programs or weight management strategies before eventually arriving at medical treatments.

As a result, organisations are increasingly interested in understanding the full customer journey, not just focusing on when a consumer interacts directly with their brand.

Adobe is already seeing Australian organisations adopt these capabilities, with customers such as Carsales and Virgin Australia utilising AI-driven content creation and customer journey orchestration tools.

Job losses still a concern - but productivity gains the bigger story

The rapid advancement of generative AI has fuelled concerns among some workers that technologies capable of creating images, videos and marketing content could eventually replace creative professionals.

While he acknowledged there is scepticism, uncertainty, and even fear surrounding AI adoption, the Adobe executive argued fears of widespread job displacement are overblown.

"There's no 'bogeyman,'" Goodman said.

"When you adopt a new technology, you understand what its use cases are, you understand where it operates well. Until it's adopted meaningfully in organisations, there's always a fear of the unknown.

"Organisations (adopting AI), they're not getting rid of people. Actually, what they're doing is helping their people focus on the things they didn't have bandwidth for previously."

Tasks such as detailed audience segmentation, hyper-personalised marketing campaigns and new market expansion strategies are becoming more achievable as repetitive work is automated.

However, a different concern is emerging among businesses and workers: the risk of falling behind competitors that embrace AI more aggressively.

Many organisations now expect employees to actively explore ways of using AI to improve productivity and efficiency.

Companies that encourage AI adoption across their workforce are moving faster and becoming more attractive employers for emerging talent entering the industry.

Rethinking Adobe's future audience

Referencing a quote often attributed to motor vehicle pioneer Henry Ford about faster horses, Goodman believes innovation requires organisations to commit to new directions rather than cautiously reverting to established approaches.

While Adobe remains heavily invested in its professional creative community, it increasingly sees opportunities to empower a much broader audience, who may have intermediate or even rudimentary design skills. AI is helping to bring that skill gap.

Products such as Adobe Express have been designed to support users without specialist design skills, enabling employees to create marketing materials, menus, invitations and other content using AI-assisted tools.

This represents a significant expansion of Adobe's traditional user base, which tended to skew towards professional designers.

The strategy is also influencing the firm's approach to partnerships and digital skills development around the world.

A recent partnership between Adobe, Indonesian telecommunications provider Indosat and Indonesia's Ministry of Economy that aims to provide 100 million Indonesians with access to Express.

The initiative includes local-language educational resources focused not only on creativity but also on monetisation and digital entrepreneurship.

"That wasn't a conversation we were having 10 years ago, five years ago," Goodman said.

Competition breeds innovation

Goodman was magnanimous when citing the rise of Australian competitors, such as the Sydney-based Canva, as well as the broader growth of the sector, as validation of demand for creative tools spanning various industries.

"A rising tide raises all ships," he said.

Adobe's four decades of investment in creative software has helped pour the foundations of the industry, while increased contemporary competition is helping the sector as a whole to push each other for perpetual innovation.

And the firm is very receptive to feedback - with much of the innovation showcased at Adobe's major conferences originating from feature requests by customers.