If data is the new oil, AI is the refinery that extracts that high-octane fuel of insight

Marketers today face a complex challenge: staying relevant across multiple dimensions amid an explosion of channels, rising competition, and the constant battle for audience attention. Rajesh Iyer, Executive Vice President & Portfolio General Manager – Business & Industry Solutions, HCLSoftware, explains, “In today’s attention economy, the biggest problem marketers face is how to get heard. To get heard, you need to be relevant; to be relevant, you need the right message; and to have the right message, you must deeply understand your audience. As you unpack the issue, it reveals a sequence of required capabilities—starting with relevance.”

The second major challenge, he says, is internal relevance. With budgets under pressure, marketers must justify every rupee spent through clear attribution and measurable RoI across channels. The third is agility—how quickly brands can adapt to shifting markets and evolving consumer expectations.

When it comes to demographics, Iyer notes that Gen Z is “not one but many segments, and far more conscientious than previous generations.” While the foundation for engagement remains relevant, multi-channel messaging, building deeper connections requires brands to align with the values and causes that resonate with this cohort. “With Gen Z, the challenge is not just attention. It’s also about connecting to a cause they care about,” he says.

Building a Trust Economy & the Expanding Role of AI

A key priority for marketers is crafting communication that holds attention across the funnel, guiding consumers from mid-funnel discovery to eventual purchase. According to Iyer, “A counterpoint to the attention economy is the trust economy. Trust is about building a relationship so strong that when you share one message, on one channel, at the right moment, the likelihood of action is 80–90%. In the attention economy, you’re lucky to get 2%.”

With AI becoming integral to marketing, its applications now extend well beyond content and creativity. One major opportunity lies in data. Customer information typically sits scattered across repositories; AI can extract meaning from this sprawl. From data intelligence and transformation to customer data platforms that reconcile first-, second- and third-party data, AI can harmonize identities, automate segmentation, and power propensity modelling that shapes decisioning within the MarTech stack.

“If data is the new oil, AI is the refinery that extracts high-octane insight,” Iyer says. “It enables precise targeting with highly relevant messaging wrapped in memorable experiences.”

AI also strengthens customer engagement by predicting preferences and interacting in real time. Context becomes central—knowing where a customer is in their journey, what’s happening in their life, and tracking them across physical and digital touchpoints. “Omnichannel journeys, figuring out channel propensity, delivering the next best action at the right time—this is where AI creates tremendous value,” he adds.

Another important use case is operations, where AI helps scale experiences. While marketers often focus on metrics, Iyer reminds that the essence of brand–customer interaction is emotional. “It’s about creating moments of magic. A brand that consistently delivers magic will stand out in the noise,” he says. Equally important is identifying and alleviating “moments of struggle” with empathy and care.

Composability as a Value Proposition

For CMOs and CIOs, one persistent pain point is composability. HCLSoftware addresses this through HCL Unica+, a modular, integrated MarTech platform built on self-contained business capabilities that can be easily added, updated, or swapped without disrupting the entire ecosystem. Customers need not purchase the full stack; they can tailor it to their needs.

“Composability is about having a stack that works end-to-end out of the box, while allowing you to plug out components and replace them with your own or a third-party option,” Iyer explains. “We call it integrated composable—flexible, API-driven, and interoperable.”

Composability, he argues, is crucial for delivering outcomes across relevance, attribution, and agility. Unica+ has been reimagined for the intelligence economy: AI-first, data-driven, hyper-personalized, and deployable on multiple clouds. Using the acronym ABCDE, Iyer breaks down the platform: A for AI, B for brand-new customer experience, C for composable cloud-native, D for data-first and data-driven, and E for easy to buy and deploy.

Who Owns the AI Conversation—CMO, CTO, or CDO?

Inside organizations, marketing conversations increasingly involve not just the CMO but also the CTO and CDO. Companies have moved beyond exploring AI conceptually and are now evaluating applied AI solutions. Many are reallocating existing budgets—often in high single digits—towards AI-powered capabilities.

Iyer’s final advice: “Don’t inundate customers with irrelevant messages. When you do reach out, be empathetic and respectful of their privacy. These behaviours deliver long-term results. Create memorable experiences, amplify moments of magic, and reduce moments of struggle.”