In fact, you’ve probably already utilised artificial intelligence today.

It might have been when Spotify created your “perfect for this mood” playlist, when Grab predicted your fare, or when Netflix decided which show to tempt you with next. All of these are examples of AI quietly working in the background, shaping the products and services you use without ever announcing itself. AI is becoming an invisible layer in everyday experiences, and that has huge implications for how brands create value, build trust, and stand out.​

What AI really changes

From a customer’s point of view, the impact of AI is not about algorithms, but about how they experience products and services. At its core, AI is about systems that learn from data to make predictions and decisions, and that changes how products and services behave over time.​

In that regard, four big shifts matter for brands:

1. From static to adaptive

Traditional products behave the same way for everyone. With AI, services can learn from each interaction and adjust accordingly. Think of a content app that learns what you prefer to read, or a fitness app that adapts your routine based on your progress rather than following a fixed plan.​

2. From mass to “one”

Marketing has always talked about segmentation, but AI makes it possible to tailor offers, content, and even pricing to individuals at scale. Retailers can curate product selections that feel hand‑picked and relevant to you. Done well, this feels like a brand finally “gets you”.​

3. From reactive to proactive

Many services wait for a customer request: “I have this problem; please help.” AI allows services to anticipate needs and act earlier. A financial app might flag that your spending pattern looks risky before it becomes a problem, or a telco could suggest a more suitable plan before you hit your data cap. This shift from “call us when something breaks” to “we’re looking out for you” can be a powerful expression of a brand’s promise.​

4. From linear journeys to fluid experiences

Customer journeys used to follow neat, linear steps: awareness, consideration, purchase, use, support. AI weaves search, chat, recommendations, and automation into a more fluid experience. You might ask a chatbot a question, be shown curated content, get a personalised offer, and complete a purchase without ever seeing a traditional webpage.​

The new brand challenge: invisible tech, visible trust

As AI capabilities become widely available, technology itself becomes less of a differentiator. Many brands can plug into similar models and tools; what becomes truly differentiating is how a brand uses AI to express its unique brand promise, values, and personality. 

This creates two core tensions that brand leaders need to manage:

1. Automation vs. human touch

Automating routine queries or processes can free humans to focus on complex, sensitive situations, which is one of the great benefits of AI. That said, in sectors like healthcare, finance, and hospitality, there are moments where human contact is not just preferred but essential. Brands need to decide what should always remain human, what can be “AI first, human in the loop,” and what can be fully automated. Those choices say a lot about what a brand values.​

2. Speed vs. stewardship

There is intense pressure to “move fast” on AI for efficiency and competitive reasons. At the same time, regulators and society are increasingly concerned with fairness, bias, transparency, and safety. Leaders must balance experimentation with governance: setting clear guardrails, reviewing high‑impact use cases, and defining where the brand will not go, even if the technology allows it.​

A useful guideline to follow is having  “AI‑on‑brand”: ensuring that every AI‑enabled interaction behaves in a way that is consistent with the brand’s promise, tone, and ethics. If your brand stands for reassurance and clarity, your AI should not be cryptic or pushy; if your brand stands for empowerment, your AI should give options, not orders.​

Creating “on‑brand AI”

Rather than treating AI as a technology project, it helps to see it as a new material for experience design. The following are some ways you can consider using to guide teams in designing AI features that are both effective and on‑brand.

1. Start from human frictions

Instead of asking, “Where can we use AI?”, start with “Where are customers currently confused, anxious, or frustrated?” Map the journey and identify specific friction points – long waits, complex forms, confusing choices, or information overload.​

Only then ask, “Could AI genuinely reduce this friction or make this moment feel more personal?” Examples include using AI to simplify form‑filling, triage support requests more intelligently, or summarise complex information in plain language. When AI is anchored in a real human problem, adoption and satisfaction tend to be much higher.​

2. Align your “AI personality” with your brand

Most brands already have a personality defined in their guidelines. The missing step is translating that personality into how AI behaves: tone of voice, how proactive it should be, how much it should explain, and how cautious or experimental it can be.​

A healthcare brand, for instance, might have an AI that is calm, clear, and conservative in its advice, continuously highlighting limitations and encouraging professional consultation when needed. A youth lifestyle brand might have an AI that uses informal language, suggests bold options, and embraces more experimentation while still respecting boundaries around safety and consent.​

3. Make the invisible visible

Many AI decisions are invisible, which can make customers uneasy. Brands can counter this by adopting simple transparency practices: short explanations like “We’re suggesting this because you liked…” or “We predicted this based on your recent activity,” plus clear options to adjust or turn off personalisation.​

At the crux of this is about giving people enough information to feel informed and in control. Simple privacy settings, reminders of what data is being used, and accessible explanations for important decisions can turn a black‑box experience into one that feels more collaborative and trustworthy.​

4. Measure what matters to humans

AI projects are often evaluated using technical metrics like accuracy, latency, or cost savings. To understand whether AI is supporting or undermining the brand, teams should measure human‑centred outcomes such as: perceived helpfulness, ease, comfort, trust, and preference for the AI‑enabled experience versus the old one.​

The key is to treat AI not just as a back‑office efficiency lever, but as a core part of the brand experience to be designed, tested, and refined.​

What leaders can do now

For leaders in marketing, product, and customer experience, AI can feel overwhelming, but the first steps can be focused and practical.

1. Audit where AI already touches your customers

Many organisations already use AI in fraud detection, recommendations, search, or support routing, but these elements are rarely viewed through a brand lens. Map current uses and ask: “Is this interaction on‑brand? How might it feel from a customer’s point of view?”​

2. Create an “AI experience charter”

Develop a simple, one‑page agreement that defines how your brand will and will not use AI when it comes to customers’ interactions with your products and services. This can cover principles like transparency, consent, tone, escalation to humans, and areas that are off‑limits, giving product and marketing teams a clear reference.​

3. Run one focused, low‑risk pilot

Instead of trying to “transform everything,” choose one friction point where AI could make a clear difference and run a contained pilot. Involve real customers early, test different designs, and measure both performance and sentiment, then share the learnings to build confidence and capability.​

As AI becomes a common ingredient in products and services, the real competitive edge will not be the model you choose, but the kind of human experience you design around it. Brands that treat AI as a medium for expressing their promise will be the products and services that people choose, trust, and recommend.​

References:

• Morgan Stanley on AI trends and enterprise focus: https://www.morganstanley.com/insights/articles/ai-trends-reasoning-frontier-models-2025-tmt
• General “AI in industries / CX” material: https://sada.com/blog/5-tech-predictions-for-2025-how-google-cloud-and-ai-will-transform-key-industries-2/
• McKinsey “State of AI in 2025” for adoption, transformation, and governance themes: https://kanerika.com/blogs/the-state-of-ai-mckinsey-report/
• Automate Service Without Losing the Human Touch: https://deliberatedirections.com/automate-service-without-losing-the-human-touch/
• AI Won’t Just Cut Costs, It Will Reinvent the Customer Experience: https://www.bain.com/insights/ai-wont-just-cut-costs-it-will-reinvent-the-customer-experience/

The post Issue 54: Q4 2025 appeared first on Tangible.

Designed to serve the millennial travellers who are now making up the largest percentage of the workforce, lyf by Ascott allows for work, play and socialising, all under one roof.

The lyf ‘”one-of-a-kind” studio room. Source: lyf by Ascott 

On first glance, some might be thinking, “where’s the TV?”. Then again, who watches TV these days?

lyf, the largest co-living property in South East Asia, was created “by millennials for millennials and the millennial-minded”. On the surface level, its central location and shared facilities such as kitchen, laundry and working spaces are just bare basics for what these young working adults are looking for. The abundance of shared spaces features various quirks to accommodate the lifestyles of millennials, from an actual life-sized hamster wheel for the fitness junkie, to the fully equipped social kitchen for the culinary masters.

The lyf guard team. Source: lyf by Ascott 

One of the highest-rated feature, 9.2/10 for service on booking.com, was its lyf guard team, the service staff that provides the human aspect of the youthful and friendly vibe of the entire space.

With the perfect mix of design, facilities and service, lyf is the brand for millennials looking for work + play.

For the Solo Travellers

The new Destination Gen Z report from Booking.com, for example, finds that independence is a top priority for those aged 16 to 24, with 34% planning to travel alone.

As more and more people lean towards the idea of solo travel, big hotel rooms are no longer trendy nor important to travellers, especially the Gen Zs who have overtaken the millennials in percentage of the global population. Rather than spending the money on material-related desires, Gen Zs are more experience-focused as compared to the millennials.

Visually appealing lobby designed for the Minimalists. Source: Muiu Capsule Inn

Of the economy hotels, we thought the wooden themed MUIU Inn Capsule Hotel, situated in Taipei, would best serve this segment of travellers.

Double room in MUIU. Source: Muiu Capsule Inn

Alongside its minimalistic design, the rooms at MUIU are also no-frills, providing just enough space for a good night rest after a day out exploring the city of Taipei. Towels and charging points are also included for basic refreshening and recharging of tech-devices.

By providing just what’s needed and nothing more, MUIU is ideal for the value-seeking, frugal Gen Z solo traveller.

For the Tech Loving Travellers

If you prefer robots to humans, we recommend trying out the Henn Na hotel the next time you visit Japan.

Enter the world of technology at Henn Na Hotel. Source: The Smart Local

From the moment you step into the hotel, pretty much everything you need is served by technology. Besides getting checked in by a robot receptionist (which also comes in the form of a T-rex at certain Henn Na branches), get ready to see robot fishes swimming around in water tanks, and music in the background played by a robot orchestra.

Need your shirt ironed for a business meeting the next day? No problem. Gimmicks aside, tech-enabled services such as the LG styler is available to help your clothes (and you) looking your best.

LG styler available at Henn Na Hotel. Source: The Smart Local

Unfortunately, Henn Na hotel has announced earlier this year that it will be firing some of its robots who are apparently creating more work for humans, the opposite of what was initially intended. If you’re one of those tech junkies who is all down for a technology hotel experience, we hope you get to try out some of these tech features at Henn Na before they are once again replaced by humans!

From focusing just on a specific demographic, the millennials or Gen Z, to having robot receptionists for today’s technologically advanced travellers, it’s becoming clearer that hotel brands can no longer hope to appeal to travellers based on just price.

With the constant need to stand out, hotels face the challenge to find new ways to stay fresh and relevant, while keeping their brand consistent. Our advice? Don’t shy away from these revolutionary ideas, stay close to what your guests are saying and keep a lookout for future fans of your brand!

Happy holidays!

From Team Tangible.

The post Issue 30: Q4 2019 appeared first on Tangible.

My second point: Who should be responsible for making things work better?

What follows are some observations around the subject.

1. Who should be responsible for making things work better?

Over the years C-Suite titles have alluded to those responsible for the job of making things work better:
– CTO (Technology circa 1960’s)
– CEO (Executive circa 1970’s)
– COO (Operations circa 1980’s)
– CFO (Financial circa 1980’s)
– CIO (Information circa 1980’s)
– CINO (Innovation circa 1990’s)
– CBO (Brand circa 2000’s)
– CDI (Digital circa 2010’s)
– CXO (Experience circa 2010’s)

As the focus of different business sectors is very diverse, the blurring of job titles can be forgiven but from the array of C-Suite titles, we would suggest that the job of making things better starts with the CEO. The COO is next in line as they define the strategic direction and empower people for whatever project is at hand.

Change and innovation need to start at the top, the CEO needs to endorse change and align his or her colleagues. If the CEO does not fully endorse change, you can start to plot the gradual decline of the business.

2. Why bother hiring change consultants?

We’ve heard the arguments that the responsibility for the strategic direction of a business should be driven by the C-Suite; that’s why they’re paid the big bucks – right? We wouldn’t suggest that C-Suite executives don’t know where business is going or which new technologies are relevant. Most CEOs realize they need to empower their employees and gain customer insights to enable their businesses to adopt or adapt technologies to give them a competitive advantage. That’s where C-Suite executives need to create the stage for innovation and that usually means letting go. This is a great opportunity for co-creation between business, customers and innovation partners.

3. Change is a great opportunity to collaborate & grow.

Sounds philosophical, doesn’t it? One observation from the UK was how often change consultants were given problem statements and not specific briefs.

If you’re given a problem statement, a few interesting things happen. Clients, consultants, creatives and customers can collaborate to define the objectives, that address the problem statement. This helps break down the client-supplier relationship and allows ideas to flourish. It also means that the team from the client side can start thinking of the most effective ways to get their colleagues to adopt any new ideas.

Hopefully, this also stops consultants leaving PowerPoint decks behind, with the hope that the client will somehow change their business by a process of osmosis.

In summary, it’s time we collaborate more.

Read more:

• When did we start naming corporate honchos with 3 letters?
• Research says these are the 5 essential elements of a successful team

How collaborative leadership delivers sustainable innovation

The post Issue 25: Q3 2018 appeared first on Tangible.

1. Find an existing trend and make it better.

Facebook wasn’t the first social media platform (remember ‘MySpace’). But they saw that people wanted an exclusive network, so initially, they only allowed college students… and the rest is history. When you notice a trend starting, leverage it by expanding on it or improving it.

2. Give it away for free.

Many disruptive businesses start out as free services. Skype transformed global voice communication, and you may have never spent anything. Spotify, Facebook? You don’t pay that company a monthly fee unless you’re running ads. Twitter, Google? Imagine if you had to pay for all those searches? Disruptive businesses grow by virtue of their price point: Then they reverse-engineer the business model in order to arrive at profitability.

3. Make complex simple.

No-one likes complexity, so if you can transform a convoluted process, system or method into a simple and seamless experience, you win. Apple did this with computing and PayPal did this with payments.

4. Put customer service at the centre of everything.

I bet you can remember the last time you had great customer service? While dozens of businesses pay lip service to great customer service, only a relatively small number live by it. Take Zappos, for instance, these guys turned an impersonal world of e-commerce into an engaging and human experience. If you can turn an unfriendly industry on its head by injecting awesome customer service into the mix, you’ll bring the entire niche crawling to your door.

5. Go mobile – Duh

The no-brainer is that any industry that hasn’t “gone mobile” is either ready for disruption or death. The reason is that nearly everyone is hooked to a mobile device. People are clearly addicted to their mobiles so if you’re not prepared to take advantage of it then you probably will not disrupt anything unless you can disrupt mobile itself… Now there’s a thought!

Read more: Guide to 12 Disruptive Technology Examples

See more:

The post Issue 19: Q1 2017 appeared first on Tangible.

James Dyson

James Dyson was born on May 2, 1947, in Norfolk, England. Sadly his father, Alec Dyson, who was a teacher, died of cancer when James was only nine. He attended Gresham’s School, a boarding school in Holt, Norfolk, from 1956 to 1965 where he excelled at long distance running, which he credits to his gritty determination. That same determination was what pushed him through the 15 years and 5,127 prototypes it took to launch his first vacuum cleaner. Dyson went on to study Art in London before moving on to furniture and interior design at the Royal College of Art from 1966 to 1970, and finally to engineering. Following graduation, he had the good fortune of having an unconventional boss, Jeremy Fry, who put Dyson in charge of designing a high-speed landing craft in spite of the fact that Dyson had no prior experience in product design. Working alongside his boss, he learnt how to prototype and designed the Rotork Sea Truck, a flat-hulled, high-speed watercraft, similar to a small landing craft.

Read more: How I Did It: James Dyson

Antoni Gaudi

Gaudi was born in a small town an hour from Barcelona in 1852. His love for nature emerged out of a childhood wracked with rheumatoid arthritis. Gaudí’s mother took him for trips into the Tarragona countryside, as she believed that fresh air would help combat his illness. Amid the hills and trees, Gaudi’s eyes awoke to the elegance and harmony of nature.

Gaudi studied architecture in Barcelona where he worked at different jobs to support himself. The budding genius graduated in 1878, the same year, he met Eusebi Güell, a wealthy Barcelona businessman who proved to be a most generous supporter of Gaudi’s work. It was only after the death of his father that Gaudí devoted his time exclusively to the magnificent project that cemented his reputation as one of the most creative architects of the 20th Century, the Sagrada Familia.

Gaudi accepted no payments for the Sagrada Familia and never saw its completion, as he was killed by a tram in 1926. The Sagrada Familia is due for completion in 2026.

Read more: Antoni Gaudí Biography

See more:

The post Issue 18: Q4 2016 appeared first on Tangible.

Amancio Ortega

The notoriously publicity-shy Amancio was born in Northern Spain in 1936. He founded Zara with his wife in 1975 (luckily he couldn’t register his first choice name: Zorba). Zara sells runway inspired fashion in such volumes that in 2015, he was reportedly the second richest man in the world (behind Bill Gates & ahead of Warren Buffet).

Amancio Ortega is the son of a railway worker, who at 14, began working for a shirtmaker, where he learned the art of apparel making. Little is known about his personal life but he is said to be a workaholic who once worked for a 25 year stretch without taking a holiday.

What Amancio created with Zara is remarkable. Lightning fast, catwalkinspired, affordable fashion, which threw away the fashion distribution rule book. Forget 4 seasons and 6 months lead time to get clothes from the runway to the store. Think 104 seasons and a 2-week window to get from fashion concept to store. To put this into context: 2 weeks after Madonna opened her tour in 2001, fans were wearing Zara knock-offs of her outfits at her concerts.

Read more: Amancio Ortega: From Zero to Zara

See more:

Ingvar Kamprad

Ingvar Kamprad was born in the south of Sweden in 1926. At age five, the young Ingvar was selling matches for profit. By 10, he had a bike and moved onto selling Christmas decorations, fish & pencils. Today, his net worth is around $50 billion (that’s a lot of fish, pencils & Christmas cards).

In 1943, at the ripe age of 17, he founded IKEA (only selling furniture five years later). His big idea was ‘flatpacking’ but this only started when he had to cut the legs off some furniture to transport it. In 1956, he officially introduced this process innovation of ‘flatpacking’ so that the buyers could assemble it at home. The process saved overheads but made him very, very unpopular. Local manufacturers refused to work with him. His response: move his whole manufacturing operation to Poland… in the height of the Cold War! It had lots of timber, but wasn’t a great capitalist environment. He was labelled a traitor at home, but this didn’t seem to bother Ingvar.

Malcolm Gladwell attributes his comfort with unpopularity, together with the survival skills learnt as a dyslexic, as the key ingredients in his eventual success.

Read more: How IKEA founder’s bizarrely frugal habits and ‘disagreeable’ personality trait made him one of the richest self-made billionaires

See more:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTWiQD3TLAw

The post Issue 16: Q2 2016 appeared first on Tangible.

David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy led an unconventional life, which certainly can’t be captured in a few sentences. Hailing from a notable Scottish family, he started school in Edinburgh, from where he was accepted into Oxford University but left in 1931 when his family fell on hard times. He then headed to Paris to become an apprentice chef, and after a year, became a door-to-door salesman for AGA stoves. On the strength of a sales manual he wrote for AGA, he landed a job at a London advertising agency, from where he went to George Gallup’s Audience Research Institute in New York.

During WWII, he worked for the British Intelligence Service (learning the power of propaganda). When the war was over, he went to live with an Amish community before returning to Manhatten to set up Ogilvy, Benson & Mather, where he stuck to his belief “that successful product advertising is based on information about its consumers”. He went on to sell soap (Dove), countries (Puerto Rico) and cars (Mercedes-Benz). For Mercedes, he increased sales 4 times (in just one year) from 10,000 to 40,000 cars, when the brand wasn’t popular in the U.S.

Read more: David Ogilvy

Alan Fletcher

Alan Fletcher was one of the most highly regarded and prolific graphic designers of his generation. He was born in Nairobi, the son of a civil servant. When his father became ill, he returned to London and immersed himself in the blossoming creative scene. His friends included Peter Blake, Terrence Conran and Len Deighton in London, and Paul Rand, Bob Gill and Saul Bass from his studies in the US.

In 1962, he founded a design firm called ‘Fletcher/Forbes/Gill’ with Colin Forbes & Bob Gill. The company later evolved into ‘Pentagram’ and their clients included Lloyd’s of London, Daimler Benz and Reuters.

Probably his most profound legacy was the co-founding (along with David Bailey and Terence Donovan) of the Designers and Art Directors Association (D&AD) in 1962. The D&AD Awards have become the most prestigious industry award for the Advertising & Design industry. For many, being awarded the ‘Little Yellow Pencil’ is the pinnacle of creative achievement.

Read more: Alan Fletcher: The Man Who Taught People How to Look

The post Issue 15: Q1 2016 appeared first on Tangible.