Setting clear expectations and building trustworthiness are two vital ingredients every organisation should be paying close attention to as they start to transform their customer approach using artificial intelligence (AI).

Technology and marketing leaders gather for the third annual CIO and CMO Executive Connections in Auckland. Here are pictorial highlights from the event.

If there's one thing about marketing that can be said to be constant, it's that it always changes. With new technologies, such as voice, AI, machine learning, virtual reality, augmented reality, natural language processing and facial recognition, about to become mainstream, it can feel as marketers, that we are always chasing our tails.

For many organisations, the emergence of digital channels necessitated creation of an entirely new business function to support them. A key question then is where to house that function – within marketing, IT, operations, customer, or someplace else?

Industries are being won or lost based on user experience that drives an emotional response from customers.

The Ruby Red Foundation is fostering a design-thinking approach to bolster its research and grants program. The intention is to unravel life-changing findings, educate the community on its mission and provide ongoing support to people living with a rare form of blood cancer.​

Organisations that emphasise customer experience over product will win out in the digital disruption game, according to a new global c-suite study.

Too many organisations are “doing” before “designing” when it comes to digital and customer transformation, and not going deep enough into insights analysis and cultural change.

Adopting a design thinking approach has enabled Perth public transport provider, Transperth, to overcome physical and operational hurdles and deliver a better experience for vision impaired travellers.

Gourmet Garden is forging ahead with a design-led strategy and overhauling its food production and design, packaging, distribution and marketing strategy all in the name of better brand connections with customers.

Design thinking began in the realm of design, academia and startups. But it’s increasingly gaining favour in the corporate world as a tool and methodology for designing business processes, products and services, problem identification and problem solving and ensuring a more human and customer-centric approach.

Companies with a ‘design seat’ at the highest levels of decision-making, and tout a ubiquitous ‘design thinking mindset’ throughout the company are resonating with customers, according to Forrester principal analyst Ryan Hart.

​Marketers spend a lot of their time convincing people to buy their organisation’s products and services. But what if those same products and services were so well designed, they simply sold themselves?

When you are battling a competitor valued at US$62.5 billion, any edge you gain may prove crucial in securing your position. Such is the situation for Sydney-based taxi booking service, Ingogo, which is tapping design thinking in order to compete in the broader point-to-point transportation market against US-based behemoth, Uber.

A digital communications overhaul aimed at improving the way Vision Australia staff collaborate has also delivered a host of customer services benefits since its launch.

The marketing landscape is becoming fiercer than ever before, forcing businesses to re-think internal strategies to ensure a better and more relevant customer experience.

Rapid changes in technology, along with growing customer expectations for a seamless digital banking experience, means the pressure is on for financial institutions to deliver a more innovative user experience (UX) than ever before.

Great strides in technology and connectivity have seen customers expecting faster, more personalised services. In response to this, design thinking has become increasingly more important as a way of meeting those demands.

Digital disruption has triggered a rebrand and two-year operational and technology transformation program at Australia’s local search, directories and media company, Sensis.

Indra Nooyi, CEO of PepsiCo, hired Mauro Porcini to serve as the company’s first chief design officer. The goal: To help Pepsi grow its core brands. Likewise, venture firm, Kleiner Perkins, wooed designer John Maeda to become the firm’s design partner. So why are highly successfully companies putting top-notch designers in key leadership roles?

Applying design principles to business is opening up a world of opportunity to co-create with customers and industry on everything from products to crime prevention.