ChatGPT, Google AI Mode and other AI-powered assistants are actively reshaping behavioral patterns within B2C and B2B landscapes. With each passing week, existing and emerging standards like MCP, A2A, AP2 (from Google) and x402 (from Coinbase) are going to enable a massive wave of agent-initiated, real-time actions such as reservations, recommendations and payment transactions.
To catch this wave and avoid privacy wipe-outs, smart enterprises all face what Tealium believes is an existential mandate – to establish a consent-aware “behavioral data layer” that: 1) listens for customer and prospect activity across all channels; 2) updates visitor profiles at time of interaction; 3) and feeds all AI-powered and traditional customer-facing systems in real-time to personalize experiences and dramatically enhance business outcomes.
We believe most companies’ customer data is their most valuable strategic asset. Capitalizing on the value of that asset while maintaining privacy compliance with hundreds of global data privacy regulations has rapidly become the most pressing technical challenge in the AI era. Not only are regulatory fines at risk, but trust with your customer. It can take a decade to build customer trust and only seconds to destroy it.
A recently published example of dramatically enhanced AI-powered business outcomes involves major global retailer Kmart. By focusing on strategic customer data solutions to unify visitor profiles across all digital and in-store touchpoints, this retailer built a robust data governance framework that allowed them to confidently roll out AI-powered personalization that met the highest regulatory standard while also reducing opt-out rates by 30%. This is the balance Tealium helps our customers achieve: creating tailored, relevant experiences while ensuring privacy is a respected and protected cornerstone of their strategy.
This demonstrates that the modern customer journey is no longer a linear path – it is a dynamic, interconnected web of signals across websites, apps, ads, call centers, and physical stores. Siloed data is the enemy of this experience, leading to fragmented interactions and wasted potential.
In another example, leading travel provider TUI significantly improved its booking process. After better connecting their data ecosystem, their AI-driven systems saw a 25% boost in bookings. By seamlessly recognizing and responding to each traveler’s unique journey, this company transformed data into measurable outcomes and meaningful action. Our mission is pragmatic: to give enterprises connected, actionable, privacy-compliant data wherever they meet their customers with delightful, personalized and highly converting experiences.
Looking Ahead
The advance of agentic AI is not just another minor technology shift. It is a tidal wave of disruption and opportunity that will rearrange competitive landscapes across all industries. The winners will be enterprises who proactively invest in unified, privacy-compliant data strategies, viewing their ability to maintain compliance as a competitive edge rather than a regulatory headwind. Apple’s differentiated privacy stance has benefited their entire ecosystem greatly over the past two decades. The next decade will determine which companies can rise above their peers by enhancing experiences while also building and maintaining trust. Every aspect of execution along this journey leads back to the existence of a trusted data layer at its core.
