The currency of connection: What it really means to ‘speak customer’

As marketers and business leaders in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region, we often find ourselves grappling with a fundamental question: In an era of unprecedented digital transformation and data abundance, what truly drives customer loyalty and sustainable growth?

I believe the answer lies in something far more meaningful than transactions or even personalization. We need to build authentic, empathetic connections at scale. This “new currency of connection” reflects a deep truth about value in today’s dynamic market: Customers aren’t just buying products or services; they’re investing in relationships. They want brands that understand them, anticipate their needs and communicate in ways that are relevant to them.

The new currency of connection: What does it mean?

In a world saturated with digital noise and endless choices, the ability to forge genuine connections is the most valuable asset a business can have. These connections are the new currency, and they’re earned through consistent, meaningful interactions that make a customer feel seen, heard and valued, as if the brand truly “gets” them, not just their purchasing habits.

Why is this so critical now?

The sheer volume of digital interactions means customers can easily disengage if their experience feels generic or disjointed. We’ve all felt that frustration. Research shows that 80% of customers say disjointed omnichannel experiences are their biggest frustration. This highlights the significant gap between what businesses promise and what they deliver, and the result is not just a minor inconvenience to customers. Rather, it creates a breach of trust that steadily erodes loyalty.

Consider a small-business owner in Cape Town. They’re juggling inventory, staff and growth. Their bank proactively offers a financing option that is perfectly tailored to where they are, based on recent transaction history and industry trends. In that moment, the bank isn’t selling them a product; it’s offering a solution that makes the customer feel genuinely understood and supported in their journey.

That’s connection.

That’s the new currency in action.

How AI can power human connection at scale

AI is the most powerful way to scale the new currency of connection. When applied thoughtfully, it can personalize experiences in a way that’s never been done before, predicting needs, smoothing out friction and giving human agents the time and space to focus on complex interactions where human understanding and empathy are irreplaceable.

However, it’s crucial to remember that AI without empathy can feel robotic and intrusive. The goal is to use AI to enhance connection, not replace it. Our approach is to use AI in these three areas:

• Intelligent experience design: Crafting intuitive, data-driven journeys that feel personal and responsive
• Connected journeys: Creating seamless transitions across channels so customers feel understood at every touchpoint, whether digital or human
• Workforce enablement: Empowering human teams with tools and real-time insights to deliver great service and focus on high-value, empathetic interactions, rather than getting bogged down in routine tasks.

With instant access to a customer’s history, preferences and sentiment, based on previous interactions, agents can resolve issues faster, offer proactive solutions and tailor communication, turning every call into a positive, connected experience. That’s AI working in the service of human connection.

How CMOs can turn connections into growth

This new currency of connection is reshaping how marketers and sales leaders operate. They’re shifting from sporadic, one-off campaigns to a consistent flow of personalized conversations that build relationships over time.

AI-driven insights allow marketers to move beyond broad segmentation to true individualization, delivering relevant messaging at the precise moment it matters, and significantly improving conversion rates. We’ve seen clients achieve industry benchmarks of a 20% to 30% increase in digital acquisition conversion by adopting these intelligent approaches, proving that relevance delivers results.

In sales, teams are no longer cold-calling. Equipped with a 360 view of informed leads, they’re having more empathetic and effective interactions. This is elevating sales from a facilitator of transactions to a role of trusted advisor. As the focus shifts to nurturing long-term relationships through consistent, positive experiences, customer lifetime value increases: this approach can lead to a 15% to 25% improvement in retention for at-risk segments.

Beyond the front end, the new currency of connection also drives operational efficiency. Streamlined back-end processes are crucial to seamless experiences and reducing the cost to serve. With our solutions, clients have achieved a 25% faster average handle time and a 30% higher rate of first-contact resolution.

Building trust in a high-noise, high-choice world

The new currency of connection demands trusted engagement.

In the diverse and dynamic markets of South Africa, and across MEA, building trust is imperative. Customers need to know that their data is secure and private. In a region where trust can be fragile, transparency and ethics are not negotiable.

NTT DATA’s local presence, strengthened by Merchants, our business process outsourcing operational backbone, allows us to create this trust at scale. Even in highly automated environments, the human touch and an understanding of local conditions and cultures remain intact, making every interaction feel personal and secure.

The new currency of connection is authentic, empathetic engagement, intelligently amplified by technology. It’s about understanding customers and building trust in every interaction. As CMOs, our job is to support this mix of people and technology. We must make sure that our strategies not only make money but also make real, lasting connections with our customers.

“We speak customer”: NTT DATA’s blueprint for building authentic connection

Empathy and efficiency can, and must, go hand in hand. At NTT DATA, “We speak customer” is a guiding philosophy and a commitment to understanding and meeting evolving customer needs. It means going beyond superficial customer interactions and prioritizing genuine understanding, and it involves listening intently, interpreting needs with precision and acting decisively.

This mindset is what powers the new currency of connection. By combining human insight with cutting-edge technology, we help clients design experiences that feel seamless, intuitive and thoughtful. This way, every digital touchpoint, every automated interaction and every human conversation becomes part of one cohesive, human-centered customer journey.

We pride ourselves on our ability to design and execute. We don’t just advise on strategy; we close the execution gap, turning those strategies into measurable outcomes. This is where the rubber meets the road for CMOs and business leaders who want to see real results from their customer engagement investments.

Our “local-first, outcome-led” approach means that our solutions are globally informed yet grounded in the cultural nuances and diverse market dynamics across MEA. It’s this local understanding that makes the connections we help you build feel relevant to your customers.

Turning connections into outcomes

We help organizations blend empathy with engineering to build trust in every interaction. Whether we’re designing intelligent experiences, connecting omnichannel journeys or empowering frontline teams, our focus is simple: Create connections that are authentic, consistent and secure.

That’s how we empower clients across MEA to turn customer engagement into long-term loyalty and unlock the real value of the new currency of connection.