Customer Journey Map - AI Enhanced Innovation Tool

Problem Statement

Organisations that serve customers depend on customer satisfaction and retention to generate revenue and increase market share. Yet these businesses often miss opportunities to create truly engaging experiences. Why?

Because many companies struggle to understand and visualize the full spectrum of a customer’s interactions with their brand, products, or services. This is where Customer Journey Map, as one of the available tools, can be particularly helpful.

What is Customer Journey Map

Gartner defines a customer journey map (CJM) as a tool that helps marketers understand the series of connected customer experiences that customers desire and need — whether that involves completing a specific task or navigating the end-to-end journey from prospect to loyal advocate. By doing so, CJM enhances customer understanding and informs customer-facing decisions (1).

Customer journey mapping (CJM) is an increasingly popular strategic management tool, praised by both academics and practitioners for its effectiveness in clarifying an organisation’s customer experience (2). Such prise is well-founded as CJM allows visualising customer’s experience and the overarching service system. This blueprint of touchpoints serves as an excellent catalyst for innovation.

Imagine collaboration of  cross-functional team to identify and eliminate service failures and customer pains, improve processes, and create greater value at each stage of customer’s journey.

How can this be achieved in a world of growing uncertainty and volatility?

Source: Simplarity Ltd.

Know your Customer, Know your Market

In their “Market Outlook 2025”, JP Morgan characterises 2025 as a year of divergence, with markets facing increased complexity driven by the impact of technological innovation, geopolitical and macroeconomic volatility and regulatory uncertainty in fiscal and monetary policies (3).
According to J.P. Morgan Research, there’s a 55% probability of a high-for-long baseline, and a 45% probability of rates dropping in 2025.

Source: Market outlook 2025: Navigating cross-currents, J.P. Morgan

It seems that the Covid pandemic has accelerated de-globalization trends.  This, combined with the growing debt levels and restricted access to financial products (e.g. loans, mortgages) have led to:

  • The implementation of trade barriers at the national level
  • A growing reluctance to spend on luxury goods or make personal investments.

As a result, drastic changes in customers behaviours, driven by external factors, are unfolding before our eyes.  Making matters more complex, debt net of financial assets is estimated to increase to $25,587 billion (90.6% of GDP) by the end of 2024, and $27,370 billion (93.3% of GDP) by the end of 2025 (4).

Source: Federal Government Financial and Debt (in Billions of Dollars)

Such mounting debt levels in the United States could trigger a “butterfly effect” across global markets, further influencing customer behaviours

AI Enabled Customer Service

Are we likely to face a crisis in the near future, or will we navigate the unchartered territories unscathed? If a crisis is indeed brewing, how server might it be?  According to McKinsey, companies that employ AI for proactive analysis of customer behaviour, leveraging vast amounts of data, are more effective in:

  • Reimagining customer service
  • Rethinking customer touch points
  • Deepening customer relationship, enabling rapid or even real-time reaction (5).
Source: The frontier of customer engagement: AI enabled customer service , McKinsey 27 Mar 2023

Is preparing businesses for a possible crisis ahead sufficient?

What if the crisis ahead mirrors what Ray Dalio refers to as the “Big Debt Cycle”, akin to the one experienced by our great grandparents in the 1920s (6)? Can AI support businesses and enhance the creation of effective CJM in rapidly changing world order?

Source: Dalio R. Principles for Dealing with The Changing World Order. 2021

Benefits of AI powered CJM

Human memory is limited. We frequently fail to recall past events, particularly the ones that didn’t take place in our own life time. AI, however, can build on historical and long forgotten interactions, data and trends to optimise CJM in real time. Key advantages include:

  • Predictive Insights – Identify patterns and spot trends to predict future behaviours.
    Example: DBS Bank’s AI-driven NAV Planner provides personalized investment recommendations based on individual financial goals and risk profiles, helping customers make informed decisions​.
  • Personalised Recommendations and Solutions – product, service and offers tailored to customer needs.
    Example: E.ON uses AI to anticipate energy demand in real-time, optimising grid operations, offering  more competitive pricing and personalized energy plans.
  • Proactive Problem Solving – addresses issues before they arise.
    Example: BASF employs AI for process optimisation and predictive maintenance in its chemical plants, reducing downtime and improving product quality.
  • Dynamic updates – keeps CJM current with real-time updates.
  • Example: Kaiser Permanente’s AI algorithms predict patient health risks, and enables early intervention, reducing hospital readmission rates and enhancing patient care.
  • Automated Interactions – streamline customer interactions with AI-powered chatbots.
  • Sentiment analysis – detect negative sentiments early and resolve concerns promptly.
    Example: AT&T uses AI to analyse customer feedback across channels to identify common pain points and improve service delivery.
  • Refined Messaging and Marketing – fine-tuning business communication to resonate with target audience.
  • User Experience (UX) optimisation – identifying and removing bottlenecks on website or apps e.g.: navigation, payment processes, or load times, enabling swift improvement.

Unlike manual analysis, AI-driven insights are continuous, allowing businesses to make incremental changes that reflect real-time customer feedback and ultimately improve the robustness of CJM.

Risks of Over-Reliance on AI

AI can undoubtfully process massive datasets and forecast customer behaviours, yet there are critical risks to acknowledge:

  • Data Quality and Bias
    What if the data itself is flawed, biased or incomplete? AI models trained on skewed datasets risk perpetuating these biases, excluding or mistreating certain customer segments.
  • Limited Adaptability
    AI models may struggle to adapt to new or unexpected data types or variables without significant retraining, lagging behind in environments where customer behaviour frequently evolves.
  • Cost vs. Benefit
    Is investment in AI always worthwhile? Developing and managing AI-driven CJM can be resource-intensive (finances and expertise). If returns aren’t substantiated, a more human-centric strategies may be recommendable.  
  • Diminishing Returns
    Whilst an initial AI investment might deliver quick wins, as resources pour into expanding AI capabilities, your gains may actually dwindle.  
  • Privacy Concerns
    How much customer data is too much? AI-generated CJM require extensive data collection, raising significant privacy and regulatory concerns (e.g. GDPR, CCPA). Mishandling of sensitive information can damage reputation and incur legal penalties.
  • Misinterpretation of Outputs
    AI-generated outputs can be misunderstood by non-specialists, leading to incorrect conclusions or poor strategic decisions. AI also may not grasp cultural nuances or emotional context, resulting in amateur errors.
  • Security Vulnerabilities
    What if AI systems are breached, data inputs manipulated and AI algorithm exploited?  This could result in erroneous, high-stake business decisions

Change is the only constant

Regardless of our personal stance on technology, our lives and businesses will continue to be shaped by AI. An informed approach to AI adaptation must involve smart risk assessment, competent governance and educated decision-making.

How can we achieve this? 

Human Intelligence

Technology alone is not enough—it’s technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the results that make our heart sing.

While AI can automate repetitive tasks, streamline processes and provide new, valuable insights, it remains no substitute for human intelligence, particularly in complex decision-making and customer relationship-building. In roles requiring creativity, empathy, and nuanced judgement, the human touch remains indispensable.

From my experience, as you integrate AI into your customer journey strategies, consider the following:

  1. Evaluate ROI Thoughtfully
    Not every AI investment will yield transformative results. Before adoption, determine whether the solution will deliver an expected improvement or merely incremental refinement. Align expenditures with clear objectives and measurable outcomes (KPIs).
  2. Stay Alert to AI “Hallucinations”
    Even advanced AI models can produce misleading or incorrect outputs due to flawed data, biases, or algorithmic quirks. Validate critical AI-driven insights with human oversight and cross-functional expertise to ensure reliability and accuracy.
  3. Blend Efficiency with Creativity
    Leverage AI’s strengths in data processing and pattern recognition while preserving human intuition for strategic thinking and customer relationship-building.

By uniting AI capabilities with human ingenuity, businesses can stay agile, customer-focused, and prepared for ongoing change. In an ever-evolving marketplace, the question is no longer whether to adopt AI, but rather how responsibly and boldly integrate it into your strategic vision. A balanced approach between digital tools and human wisdom is the cornerstone of resilient, future-ready organisations.

Reference List

  1. Customer Journey Maps | Marketing Insights | Gartner.com
  2. Business Horizon (2017) 60, 143-150, How to create a realistic customer journey map Mark S. Rosenbaum, Mauricio Losada Otalora, German Contreras Ramirez)
  3. https://www.jpmorgan.com/insights/global-research/outlook/market-outlook
  4. https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/ap_21_borrowing_fy2025.pdf
  5. 4 AI Customer Journey Map.pdf
  6. Dalio R. (2021), Principles for Dealing with The Changing World Order. Why Nations Succeed and Fail. Simon & Schuster UK Ltd.