AI-enhanced Loyalty Programs

“Most companies talk about GenAI for CX. Frontier Internet rebuilt its entire loyalty journey with it; and it’s showing up in net adds, ARPU and churn.” Frontier is the largest pure-play fiber provider in the US, and over the last few years they’ve been in a major turnaround — built on two pillars: 1) Put the customer at the center 2) Go digital-first with advanced analytics + GenAI Stacie Vongvanith leads consumer retention, CX and analytics, owning both the experience and the numbers : churn, satisfaction, loyalty. Her mantra: actions over insights. No model unless it changes the business. With that lens, her team and leadership used AI to redesign the loyalty journey end-to-end: Before the call: a GenAI “training buddy” that personalizes coaching for agents, leaning into their strengths and shoring up weaknesses so they hit the phones ready on day one. During the call: richer, real-time customer context and prompts that help agents make the right offer, at the right moment, in the right tone. After the call: a large language model analyzes every single call and thousands of survey comments to surface why customers leave, why they stay, what agents do well, and where processes break. All of that feeds a flywheel: what they learn after the call goes straight back into before and during - better training, better prompts, better journeys. Results? While many are still experimenting with pilots, Frontier is already seeing this show up in: - Record fiber net adds, - Growing ARPU, and - Consistently improving voluntary churn as they layer more tools into the flywheel. Soumyajyoti Datta day to day leadership enabled this transformation in less than six months

AI is rewriting one of banks’ most fundamental assumptions: customer loyalty — and with it their entire value creation model. For decades, banks treated loyalty as a product-driven outcome: • Measured by cross-sell ratios and account counts, under the unchallenged assumption that product quantity equals loyalty depth. • What no one asked was what lay beneath — how often those products were used, how central the bank truly was to a customer’s financial life, and how much value each relationship created. 𝗔𝗜 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝘁: • It amplifies a shift already underway — from products to experiences — but one banks had mostly failed to embrace. • It turns customer relationships into continuous engagement. AI allows banks to move beyond static account ownership toward an ongoing, data-driven dialogue — where every interaction updates understanding and deepens relevance over time. • Growth no longer runs on campaigns but on intelligence. AI turns static marketing into a self-learning loop — where goals, propositions, and interactions evolve in real time as every customer action feeds new insight and response. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗸𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁? As loyalty becomes dynamic, banks need platforms that connect intelligence and experience in real time — systems that don’t just analyse behaviour but act instantly. One of the best examples of how to actually do this is what Backbase showcased at its recent Engage Europe flagship event in London. Two things stand out: 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: • Unified growth loop: Backbase connects data and engagement across acquisition, activation, expansion, and retention — making every interaction feed the next. Example: a new card activation triggers a personalised onboarding journey. • Data-driven expansion: AI identifies when customers are ready for deeper engagement — such as suggesting a savings goal when deposits rise. • Predictive retention: Early signs of inactivity, like fewer app logins, prompt timely action before churn. • Actionable visibility: A single dashboard ties engagement to ROI, revealing which actions truly drive lifetime value. 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀: • Backbase’s AI Orchestrator links customer data, product logic, and engagement channels into one adaptive system that learns and responds in real time. • When a customer’s spending shifts — for example, higher grocery and fuel payments and a consistently high balance before payday — the Orchestrator detects and responds instantly, prompting a personalised savings plan and cashback card offer, delivered seamlessly in-app. • Over time, engagement deepens, deposits and card usage rise, and churn risk falls — showing that with the right systems, loyalty becomes measurable and manageable. Opinions: my own, Graphic source: Backbase   𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫: https://lnkd.in/dkqhnxdg

Yesterday a merchant messaged me saying “We launched a loyalty program last year, but customers barely use it. What are we missing?” So I asked her to do one thing. “Open your dashboard and click on Customer Profile for your last three buyers.” Here’s what she saw inside AiTrillion Loyalty: Customer A →Viewed 6 products →Earned 120 points →Never redeemed →Added to cart twice, dropped both times AiTrillion automatically triggered a “Redeem Your First Reward” popup the moment they returned. They came back, redeemed, and placed their first repeat order. Customer B →Bought a $98 bundle →Earned 98 points →Browsed a higher priced item two days later AiTrillion showed a “You’re 40 points away from a discount” banner on that product page. They upgraded. A $98 customer became a $142 customer without a single email. Customer C →Joined the program but never understood the value →Zero actions taken for 14 days AiTrillion sent an automated “How Your Rewards Work” message with a personalized milestone CTA. They engaged, earned points through a social action, and finally made their second purchase. None of this required setup after day one. No manual reminders. No guesswork. Just one connected loyalty engine gently nudging every shopper at the right moment. And at the end of the week, her repeat revenue jumped by 26 percent. Not because she “had a loyalty program.” But because she could see exactly what each customer needed next and AiTrillion executed it for her. That’s the real difference. Not telling. Showing.

I teamed up with Zsuzsa Kecsmar, Co-founder & Chief Strategy Officer at Antavo AI Loyalty Cloud , to talk about how to increase loyalty revenue by 4X by adding more engaged and VIP profiles ahead of BFCM 2025. Together with Mailability.io, we built a strategy that combines AI-powered loyalty + AI-powered email intent scoring to drive real Klaviyo revenue. Because here’s the thing: Most brands treat loyalty like a standalone program. But when it’s connected to Klaviyo and powered by intent data it becomes a scalable growth engine. Here’s the 3-step approach we mapped out: 👉 Use Antavo AI Loyalty Cloud to track loyalty tiers, reward history, referrals, and behavior, directly in Klaviyo 👉 Let Mailability.io assign real-time Intent Scores to every profile, so you know who to activate, upgrade, or re-engage 👉 Combine loyalty status + intent to trigger AI flows and campaigns that match real customer behavior What that unlocks: → Push VIPs to repurchase faster with tier-based incentives → Invite high-intent shoppers into your loyalty program at the perfect moment → Re-engage inactive members with personalized offers and AI-driven flows and campaigns The result? → Smarter audience targeting → Stronger pre-BFCM engagement → 4X+ loyalty revenue from your best customers If you’re planning to maximize retention and LTV this holiday season this one's worth a swipe. Full breakdown in the slides. Let’s make loyalty work harder. Want to learn more? → https://lnkd.in/dCdwyQ2d

The Future of Loyalty + Payments is Being Rewritten by AI #LoyaltyPlusPayments Over the last few months, I’ve been diving deep into how AI is transforming the convergence of loyalty and payments and the shift is nothing short of game-changing. What excites me most is how personalization and real-time engagement are now possible at a scale we’ve never seen before. 💡 Imagine this: A. Your wallet “knows” your coffee habits and sends you a reward just when you’re passing your favourite café. B. You use those points instantly , no expiry worries, no complex redemption rules. C. The same wallet nudges you with a flight upgrade offer the moment you search for travel, with points + payment blended seamlessly. This isn’t just future talk, the real-time earning and burning is already here. AI is helping loyalty programs predict behaviour, identify micro-moments, and serve hyper-relevant offers. Some compelling numbers: 1. McKinsey reports that AI-driven personalization can lift revenue by up to 15% and improve customer satisfaction scores by 20%. 2. Programs using AI for rewards targeting see 3-5x higher redemption rates compared to static campaigns. What makes this convergence powerful is freedom to the members as they control how and when to use value, and brands gain a deeper, richer view of customer intent through integrated payment data. At Beyondperks, we see this as the golden intersection: AI + Loyalty + Payments = Profitable, long-term customer relationships. I’d love to hear from my network on what’s the best AI-powered personalization you’ve experienced in a loyalty program? #LoyaltyPlusPayments #AI #CustomerEngagement #DigitalWallets #Personalization

Loyalty is being quietly disrupted by AI. And most brands aren’t ready. As genAI assistants like ChatGPT, Gemini, and retail agents move into discovery, comparison, and checkout, they’re inserting themselves between brands and customers. That changes the rules of loyalty. The uncomfortable truth Loyalty used to live on your site, in your app, in your emails. Now, shoppers are increasingly asking AI agents to: • Find the best deal • Optimize loyalty points • Track price drops • Trigger purchases automatically Research shows 70% of shoppers worldwide are interested in using AI agents to maximise their loyalty benefits. Loyalty is shifting from 👉 brand-controlled experiences to 👉 AI-mediated decisions. Why this is a real threat to brands By 2026: • Over 63M US consumers will use AI platforms for shopping • AI-driven ecommerce sales are projected to grow 7× by 2029 • Nearly 20% of those purchases may happen inside AI-native checkouts Every one of those moments risks bypassing your owned channels. Less traffic. Less data. Less direct relationship. Loyalty programs can’t stay static Traditional loyalty mechanics weren’t designed for AI agents. Agents don’t care about brand storytelling. They care about: • Point optimisation • Redemption flexibility • Clear rules • Real-time accuracy • Structured data If your loyalty program isn’t AI-readable, it’s effectively invisible. What “AI-ready loyalty” actually looks like Leading brands are already shifting: 1️⃣ From perks → programmable benefits Rewards need to be structured, tagged, and machine-readable. 2️⃣ From closed programs → coalition value Cross-brand partnerships matter when AI compares options. 3️⃣ From campaigns → always-on utility Loyalty becomes something agents use, not something customers remember. 4️⃣ From personalisation for humans → optimisation for agents AI will increasingly decide how benefits are applied. Where smart teams should start Before integrating with every AI platform: • Build loyalty-aware native AI assistants • Start with narrow, low-risk use cases • Ensure real-time accuracy to avoid hallucinations • Treat loyalty data as infrastructure, not copy The goal isn’t visibility everywhere. It’s relevance at the moment of decision. The bigger shift leaders should see Loyalty is no longer just a retention lever. It’s becoming: 👉 a data layer AI agents depend on to choose brands If your loyalty program isn’t visible to AI, your brand won’t be visible when it matters most. 💬 Which AI capability are you prioritising for 2026? 📌 Save this it’s your AI-ready digital marketing roadmap 🔁 Repost if you believe systems beat tactics ➕ Follow Sandeep Gulati🎯for AI × Digital Marketing frameworks built for what’s coming next

Everyone is talking about Agentic Commerce, but few are explaining what it actually means for loyalty programs. Stripped of the jargon, it’s a shift from humans searching, comparing and buying - to AI agents doing that work on their behalf. Agentic Commerce was just brought to life at #NRF2026 in New York with Google announcing partnerships with several retailers, including Woolworths Group here in ANZ. Woolworths will evolve its digital assistant, Olive, into a proactive agent that plans meals and automatically builds shopping carts based on what a customer loves - surfacing specials and rewards offers along the way. For those of us in loyalty, this isn’t incremental change. It’s a fundamental shift. Below is my perspective on three key themes for non-technical loyalty practitioners. 1️⃣ FROM RECALL TO REAL-TIME DATA Historically, loyalty relied on memory - a customer remembering they had points or checking an app. In an agentic world, decisions happen in milliseconds. Loyalty data will evolve from static to liquid. If an AI agent can’t verify points balances, tier status or offer eligibility at the exact moment of a query, that loyalty value effectively doesn’t exist for that transaction. Real-time execution is no longer a technical nice-to-have; it’s part of the value proposition. 2️⃣ LOYALTY AS A DYNAMIC UTILITY, NOT A CAMPAIGN We’re used to loyalty operating through campaigns - an email on Tuesday for a weekend sale. Agentic commerce breaks that model. AI agents compare total value in real time. Personalised points offers, member pricing, free delivery and other benefits must be surfaced in the moment to influence a machine’s recommendation. Loyalty stops being a message and becomes a service. 3️⃣ THE NEED FOR MACHINE-READABLE LOGIC For the last few decades, programs have been designed to be human-friendly, emotive and creative. AI agents care far more about clarity than creativity. Complex rules, exceptions and hidden terms create friction for machines. The programs that win will be the ones that are simple, transparent and easy to calculate. THE BOTTOM LINE As agents start making more everyday purchase decisions, loyalty programs will increasingly be calculated rather than felt. The ones that thrive will be visible, fast and easy for machines to understand. Curious to hear from other loyalty and CRM leaders - how ready is your program for real-time, agent-driven shopping? #LoyaltyMarketing #AgenticCommerce #RetailTech #NRF2026 #CustomerExperience #CRM #AI Eagle Eye AZK Media: Global B2B Technology PR & Marketing Agency