ACAM launches framework to help marketers adapt to AI research products

Brands increasingly have to win customers twice: first by being selected by the AI tools people use to research products, then by the customer, according to the Australian Centre for AI in Marketing (ACAM).

ACAM’s ‘Chosen Twice: The customer journey of the future’ report, supported by Adobe with research support from The Navigators, says the first selection is now largely invisible to marketers. As more consumers use generative AI for research, AI systems are starting to decide which brands make it into consideration. Marketers therefore need to understand not only how to persuade customers, but how AI systems represent, compare and recommend their brands.

The Navigators’ AI Brandscape 2026 study of 1,736 Australians found 39% had used generative AI to help choose a brand, product or service. Only 11% would let AI make a purchase decision, even in low-stakes categories. The research suggests consumers are delegating individual tasks while keeping control of the decisions that matter to them.

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Louise Cummins, CEO and co-founder of ACAM, said: “When customers use AI to research a purchase, brands have to be chosen twice. First by the customer’s AI, which you can influence but not control, and then by the customer. If a brand does not make the AI’s shortlist, it may never get the chance to make the case.

“The implication for marketers is significant. We need to understand what information AI uses to make recommendations, how our brands appear in those recommendations and what ultimately earns the customer’s trust.”

Separate research from Twilio and YouGov found 78% of people had used AI-powered customer service, but only 39% were satisfied with it. Some 84% wanted an easy way to transfer to a person.

Cummins added: “Customers hand AI a task, not a journey, and they set the limits. Successful brands will understand where customers welcome AI, where they want to stay in control and when they need a person. That means designing the hand-back to a human as carefully as the automated experience. If the customer has to start again when they move from AI to a person, the brand has failed to connect the experience.”

ACAM has launched the Customer Delegation Framework, which identifies four questions that determine how far a customer will let AI act for them: can it do the job, is it worth it, am I still in charge, and is it normal yet? Customers are more willing to delegate when AI shows clear capability and value, while concerns about control, trust and social acceptance limit how far they go.

Many marketing teams are still building their own AI capabilities. ACAM’s 2026 AI in Marketing Benchmark, conducted with Kantar, found 83% of participating Australian organisations sit at levels one to three of its six-level AI marketing maturity scale. None had reached levels five or six. ACAM says marketers need to move beyond experimenting with AI tools and redesign customer journeys around the tasks customers are willing to delegate.

The report includes a 90-day plan for marketing leaders, focused on customer tasks rather than individual AI tools. It features Australian examples from Budget Direct, ANZ, Telstra and Woolworths, and interviews with marketing leaders including ANZ’s Sian Chadwick and SBS’s Uma Oldham.

Duncan Egan, vice president of enterprise marketing, Asia Pacific and Japan, Adobe, said: “Now that marketing teams have two audiences to win, the focus needs to shift from simply creating campaigns to orchestrating connected experiences.

"This means creating content that is emotionally resonant for people, structured and trusted for AI, and activated in real time across the right touchpoints. AI can power that orchestration by connecting content, data and journeys to adapt each interaction at scale, while people remain in control of the strategy, brand and customer relationship.”

‘Chosen Twice’ is the third publication in ACAM’s research programme, following Marketing Team of the Future, published in October last year, and the 2026 AI in Marketing Benchmark Report, produced with Kantar and published in July.