By: TJ Lightwala: Data& AI & Marketing Practice Lead , Accenture SONG, MEA

AI’s greatest promise: GROWTH

2024 could be labeled as year of learning, 2025 for experimentation and potentially 2026, scaling. It’s hard to keep up at times for all the deals, and market movements in AI with new pathways to forge growth, yet we know that the last couple years have triggered a lot of learnings to create roadmap of future, applications of AI that are required to rewire the digital core and therefore what that value could mean. Now, real reinvention does indeed beckon the question – of mindsets, GROWTH or PRODUCTIVITY.  I lean towards Growth. 

Global executives expect even more disruption in 2026 than 2025 yet feel increasingly confident because they are doubling down on digital and AI investment. In Accenture’s Pulse of Change, 82% of C-suite leaders anticipate higher levels of change, and 86% plan to increase AI spending, with most now seeing AI as a revenue driver rather than just a cost lever.

For the Middle East, Accenture’s reinvention work shows that roughly 8 in 10 companies already have a reinvention strategy, but many still struggle to scale beyond pilots, even as governments push ambitious national transformation agendas. In parallel, Life Trends 2025 highlights shifting relationships with work, technology, and brands, and shows how people are re-negotiating trust, attention, and wellbeing in a digital-first world.

There are few themes I see when speaking to clients, especially in the consumer facing business: 

  1. AI Personalized content and multilingual highlights, we see it especially important in Tourism, Entertainment, Retail and Banking. For example, in Sports, using AI to generate customized recaps, commentary and highlights in many languages, reshaping production workflows and fan engagement.
  2. Data Driven Performance and use of AI Insights to continuously manage the planning and activation of segments to next best action. For example, in Banking shifts in customer segments to lifestyle-based activation based on behaviors and insights to generate incrementality. 
  3. AI Academy and Innovation design to start the conversation and expose the art of the possible. A conversation opener using human centered design and customer, visitor experiences to shape the needs, solve the pain points. For example, AI powered assistant during your duty free and travel journey sharing personalized options, and information based on your context, location to the gates, dietary records et al 

What does this mean to the consumer facing business:

In tourism, retail, sports, and entertainment, this translates into AI copilots for planners, merchandisers, revenue managers, coaches, and front-line hosts, and into AI concierges and advisors for customers. Retail research already highlights AI advisors in stores and online that recognize customers, remember preferences, and curate choices, which are directly transferable to trip planning, venue ticketing, and fan engagement experiences.

Implications and outcomes:

  • Move from pilots to scaled platforms: consolidate fragmented experiments into a few enterprise-grade AI platforms spanning marketing, operations, and experience orchestration.
  • New KPIs: Add “experience-driven revenue”, AI-assisted gains, and time-to-innovation alongside traditional occupancy, RevPAR, same-store sales, and ticket yields
  • Focus on human-AI collaboration: In-store associates, hotel staff, call-center agents, coaches, and event hosts will be augmented by AI recommendations, freeing them to focus on empathy, complex situations, and upsell and personalized opportunities  

Despite the reinvention of our times, and its truly Cambrian in nature, we as consumers still seek balance, meaning, and real-life experiences. In tourism, retail, and live events, this plays out as demand for authentic local experiences, curated journeys that reduce cognitive load, and hybrid digital-physical spaces that enable community rather than just transactions. Accenture’s retail research underlines a future where stores become localized, community-centric hubs with interactive, digitally powered experiences—equally relevant to airports, destinations, and stadiums. 

Implications and outcomes: 

  • Reimagine physical assets: Malls, stadiums, heritage sites, and resorts can become platforms for rotating experiences, creator activations, and wellness-centric offerings, underpinned by data on flows and preferences.
  • Simplify choice with AI curation: Holiday shopping and retail research shows that consumers welcome AI that simplifies decision-making and acts as a trusted guide, which can be extended into itinerary design, membership benefits, and fan experiences.
  • Monetize beyond tickets and room nights: Experiences open new revenue through memberships, retail media, digital collectibles, and partnerships with health, education, and culture entities

I love creativity in creation. The magic in math. The possibilities of tools and tech in new experiences, the speed of marketing and personalization at scale.   The difference will be the knowledge gap of companies and talents that try, fail forward and retry versus the vastly diverging gap of those that don’t. 

#AIRants #RetailRants