A Deeper Understanding of Clients through AI: A Conversation with AAA’s Jason Cabrera and Bridget McCormack

In this installment of our series on technological innovation at the American Arbitration Association^® (AAA^®), we explore the transformative power of AI in marketing with Jason Cabrera, AAA manager of marketing automation, and Bridget McCormack, AAA president and CEO. They discuss the creation and application of AI-driven marketing personas, offering insights into how these advanced tools are reshaping client engagement and service delivery in dispute resolution.

Q. Can you briefly explain what AI marketing personas are and how they differ from traditional marketing personas?

Jason Cabrera: Think of AI marketing personas as supercharged character profiles that constantly learn from new stories and interactions. In contrast, traditional ones are like characters from a book that won’t change once the story is written. AI personas use a bunch of data to build a dynamic picture of a type of customer, adjusting as preferences or behaviors change, making them super tailored and up-to-date.

Q. What prompted you to start using AI to create marketing personas?

Jason Cabrera: I was thinking of how we can continuously adapt to our clients while connecting with people and building solid and trusting relationships. Especially in dispute resolution, we need to understand who they are deeply. AI helps by creating super detailed profiles that can be tweaked and improved continuously as we learn.

Bridget McCormack: Jason’s initiative underscores a broader strategic push at AAA to leverage technology to deepen our understanding of our clients. Initiatives like these help us maintain our leadership in dispute resolution, ensuring we’re as connected and responsive to our users as possible.

Q. Can you walk us through creating an AI marketing persona? 

Jason Cabrera: Using a generative AI tool like ChatGPT or Google Gemini, I prompt the AI with the following template: 

Build me a persona for a (Job Title) of a (Company Size) (Business Category) in (Geography) with (Company purpose). The goal of this person is to (Business Challenges). Include their goals and pain points and their decision criteria for (Selecting a Company Like Yours).

Q. What tools and data sources do you typically use?

Jason Cabrera: It’s a bit like piecing together a puzzle. We collect information from various places, such as Google Analytics and public sources. Then, AI is the genius that combines all these pieces to create dynamic marketing personas of our clients, highlighting details we might not have noticed before.

Q. What challenges have you encountered while creating AI marketing personas, and how have you addressed them?

Jason Cabrera:  Although these personas are built using publicly available information and anonymized data from Google Analytics, we still need to ensure the AI doesn’t jump to the wrong conclusions and keeps everything up to speed with the fast-changing world. We tackle this by continuously checking and adjusting our AI and feeding it new, tailored, and relevant information.

Bridget McCormack: Jason’s approach to these challenges is an example of our broader ethics-first perspective. As we navigate the complexities of AI, we must do so with a focus on maintaining the trust and confidence of our users. This means being proactive about privacy, accuracy and relevance.

Q. How does AI help analyze and integrate data from various sources to create marketing personas?

Jason Cabrera: Imagine an AI-powered persona as a master chef blending ingredients from different sources to whip up the perfect dish. It takes all sorts of info and mixes it just the right way. BAM! You get a detailed flavor profile of your client’s tastes and preferences that are much richer than if you had the ingredients on their own.

Q. Can you share an example of an insight or pattern AI helped uncover that might not have been apparent through traditional analysis?

Jason Cabrera: AI-powered personas helped us see a specific concern or preference that many clients had that we hadn’t picked up on before. It’s like finding a hidden clue in a detective novel that suddenly makes everything make sense. This allows us to serve our clients better because we now understand them more deeply.

Q. How do you ensure that AI marketing personas are updated with changing customer behaviors and market trends?

Jason Cabrera: Keeping the personas fresh is like updating your app on your phone; it’s about ensuring they reflect the latest trends and data. Our AI-powered persona gets a steady stream of current information, so it’s always learning and adjusting to ensure we understand our clients as they evolve.

Bridget McCormack: This ongoing evolution is key. In a world where change is the only constant, our ability to keep pace, thanks to AI, ensures that our strategies and solutions are the best in the industry. It’s a commitment not just to innovation but to excellence and service.

Q. Where do you see the future of AI in marketing and the role of AI-driven personas evolving?

Jason Cabrera: The sky’s the limit! We’re looking at AI getting even more brilliant, maybe predicting needs before clients know they have them and blending with other cool tech to create experiences we can barely imagine. It’s exciting to see how these advances can help us connect even more closely with our clients.

Q. Are there any new technologies or methodologies you’re excited to explore to enhance AI marketing personas?

Jason Cabrera: We’re excited about exploring all sorts of new gadgets and ideas, like technology that can understand and interpret emotions from what people write or say or how the future of robotics will adjust our clients’ needs and expectations. These could add excellent new layers to understanding and engaging with our clients.

Conclusion

This conversation with Jason Cabrera and Bridget McCormack highlights the transformative role of AI in enhancing client engagement at the AAA. Through AI-driven marketing personas, the AAA sets new standards in personalized service, ensuring it remains at the forefront of dispute resolution. The insights shared reflect AAA’s commitment to innovation and deep client understanding, promising a future where technology further bridges the gap between service excellence and client expectations. As AAA continues to explore and integrate AI, it solidifies its leadership in leveraging technology to serve its clients and the industry better.