For much of the conversation around AI, the focus has been on creating efficiency. Faster content creation. Quicker insights. Better segmentation. Lower costs.
For loyalty leaders, that may be the wrong conversation.
In a recent discussion on The Loyalty Podcast, Kobie joined leading practitioners from McDonalds and Nike to examine the real opportunities AI brings to loyalty. It’s not automation; it’s transformation. Brands that confuse the two risk missing the biggest loyalty opportunity of the next decade.
Host Iain Pringle brings decades of experience in loyalty program optimization to help drive the panel conversation. Linda Cereda, a loyalty consultant and former Global and EMEA VP of Marketing Data at Nike, contributes a transformational perspective grounded in scaling personalization across global markets. Neha Malhotra Maleri, a loyalty executive at McDonald’s, represents the frontline view of managing customer engagement at enterprise scale. Rachel Bicking, Chief AI and Data Officer at Kobie, speaks to the intersection of AI infrastructure and customer value, while Aidan Lundy, Kobie’s VP and Managing over EMEA, emphasizes global consumer research that helps ground the conversation.
The Automation Trap
Most organizations have started their AI journey in familiar territory. According to Cereda, today’s most common applications are centered on productivity and efficiency.
“I would say to me, one area where I’ve seen the most widespread uses today, is AI more for automation, efficiency, productivity. What I mean by automation, you basically do the old work, but you do faster and cheaper and better.”
Content generation, customer segmentation, planning support, and insight generation have become some of the earliest AI use cases. They offer immediate benefits and relatively low barriers to adoption. But automation only improves the way existing work gets done. It doesn’t fundamentally change what a loyalty program delivers.
As Cereda puts it:
“It’s exciting, but it’s still not transformational yet. It’s, you do what you are good at doing, or you are used to doing, but you do it cheaper and faster.”
For many brands, this distinction is critical. Automating outdated processes simply allows companies to do yesterday’s work more efficiently. Transformation requires rethinking the customer experience itself.
Customers Don’t Buy AI
One of the most powerful moments in the discussion comes from Neha Malhotra Maleri, Director of Digital and Loyalty for McDonald’s Saudi Arabia.
Her perspective cut through much of the industry’s fascination with the technology itself.
“Customers don’t buy AI. They are looking for better customer experiences, and that’s what AI should deliver for them.”
From her vantage point, AI’s value isn’t found in algorithms or models. It’s found in its ability to create more relevant, simpler, and more valuable interactions. That means personalized offers that matter. Smarter communications. Better timing. Predictive experiences that anticipate needs rather than react to them. The goal is not to showcase AI, it’s to make loyalty feel effortless.
As Maleri explains:
“The biggest customer impact here is relevancy, simplicity, and value for our customers.”
This shift represents a fundamental evolution in loyalty. Historically, programs have focused on rewarding transactions. AI creates the possibility of understanding intent, predicting behavior, and creating experiences that feel genuinely helpful.
Loyalty’s Secret Advantage
If AI depends on data, loyalty programs may be sitting on one of the most valuable assets in the enterprise. Rachel Bicking, Chief AI and Data Officer at Kobie, believes loyalty is uniquely positioned for the AI era.
“It’s really exciting time to be in loyalty because we’re at a point where loyalty has the best data, and AI only works if you have the best data.”
The combination of transactional history, behavioral signals, stated preferences, and customer consent creates a foundation many other functions simply don’t possess. But having data alone is not enough. Consumers increasingly expect brands to use that information intelligently.
Bicking notes that customers are surprisingly open to AI-powered experiences, provided there is a clear value exchange.
“If you’re asking for data, and it’s not being reciprocated or showing up in that personalization strategy, it actually falls more flat than if you did nothing at all.”
The expectation has shifted. Customers don’t just expect brands to know them. They expect brands to use that knowledge in ways that improve the relationship.
The Fine Line Between Helpful and Creepy
This expectation comes with risk. As personalization becomes more sophisticated, loyalty leaders must navigate an increasingly delicate balance. Maleri offered perhaps the most memorable framework of the conversation:
“The line is benefits versus surveillance.”
Customers are comfortable with brands understanding them. What they reject is feeling watched. Maleri described the difference this way:
“Customers want to be understood rather than being targeted.” The distinction may be subtle, but it is significant. A message that anticipates a customer’s preferences can feel valuable. A message that feels overly predictive or intrusive can quickly erode trust.
For loyalty professionals, AI’s future may depend less on technological capability and more on thoughtful application.
Why Most AI Projects Fail
If AI’s promise seems limitless, the reality inside many organizations has been far less impressive. According to Cereda, technology itself is rarely the problem.
“People think about AI as a tool. It’s tech. You sign a vendor. Now we get the AI, and people are happy. They check the box, and they hope that AI is generating value.”
She argues that companies consistently underestimate the human side of transformation.
“30% is the tech and the data, 70% is the people and the processes.”
Organizations often purchase advanced AI capabilities without redesigning workflows, updating decision-making processes, or training employees to use them effectively. Her analogy was simple and memorable:
“You can have a Ferrari or a Cinquecento. Do you need a Ferrari to drive the kids to school? Probably not.”
The point is not to acquire the most advanced AI. The point is to align people, processes, data, and technology around a clear outcome, and that’s where transformation begins.
Winning the Next Era of Loyalty
The panel repeatedly returned to one central question: what will separate leaders from laggards?
For Maleri, the answer isn’t the technology stack.
“The winners are not the companies who will be using the best tools. It will be companies that have created an operating model which works best to suit their own culture.”
Transformation happens when AI augments human decision-making rather than replacing it. It happens when organizations break down silos instead of creating new ones. It happens when loyalty teams stop thinking about campaigns and start thinking about behaviors.
Most importantly, it happens when brands move beyond using AI to optimize transactions and begin using it to strengthen relationships.
The Real Prize
As the conversation draws to a close, the panel shifts away from technology and back toward business outcomes.
Maleri offered a useful reminder for loyalty professionals caught up in the AI hype cycle.
“Personalization, relevancy, that’s not the end game. Behavior is.”
The objective isn’t simply delivering better offers. It’s increasing engagement, driving frequency, improving customer lifetime value, and deepening emotional connection to the brand. In other words, AI is not the destination. It’s the vehicle.
And while automation can help loyalty teams move faster, transformation is what will ultimately determine who wins.
The brands that thrive in the AI era won’t be those that simply automate existing loyalty practices. They will be the ones that use AI to fundamentally rethink how they create value for customers and, in the process, transform loyalty from a marketing program into a growth engine.
To listen to the full podcast episode, visit: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/podcast-92-ai-in-loyalty-from-automation-to-transformation/id1478145967?i=1000781383671
To learn more about practitioner and consumer perspectives on AI, download Kobie’s 2026 Heart of Loyalty Consumer Research report.
