I just returned from Tealium’s Digital Velocity in London — a room full of some of the world’s most forward-thinking brands, all wrestling with the same question: how do you turn data into a real competitive advantage?
Here’s what stood out.
AI is only as smart as the context you give it 🧠
Our CEO Jeff Lunsford opened with a striking prediction: by 2030, AI agents will initiate 20% of retail transactions. The catch? AI models are powerful but context-poor. Without real-time data at the moment of interaction, even the best AI delivers mediocre experiences. That’s the gap most companies are sitting in right now.
The data layer has evolved 🚀
Our CTO Mike Anderson made the case that we’ve moved beyond the traditional data layer. The new frontier is the AI Data Layer — not just collecting data, but delivering real-time context so AI can act intelligently, not just report retrospectively. The innovations that brought this to life:
- AI at the Edge — inference running directly on-device, enabling instant personalization with zero latency and stronger privacy
- Agent Engine Optimization (AEO) — preparing your digital properties to be navigated by AI agents acting on behalf of consumers
- Real-time decisioning at the source — scoring customers at the point of data collection, not hours later in a warehouse
- GenAI-powered setup — from natural language audience building to automated data layer configuration, lowering the technical bar so teams can focus on strategy
The results speak for themselves 📈
This wasn’t theory. Brands on stage proved that a strong data foundation is a revenue engine:
- BBVA ran a real-time cross-sell campaign → 66% lift in sales
- LALIGA activated 50+ hyper-personalization parameters → 37.8% open rate
- Radisson shifted from channel-led to audience-first → 127% increase in conversion rate and 67% return on ad spend
- Legal and General is leveraging Tealium’s MCP and Moments API to feed perfectly contextualized, real-time data directly into their AI platform, ensuring every automated decision is grounded in live customer intent
The tech is never the real problem 🤝
From Zooplus to Evoke to SNCF Connect & Tech, the same truth kept surfacing: failure isn’t a technology problem — it’s an alignment problem. The brands winning are the ones who put the customer at the center, build shared vision across teams, and tie every use case back to business impact.
Don’t forget the human element ✨
Mary Portas closed us out with a timely challenge: in a world racing toward automation, loyalty is still built through human feeling and connection. Our job is to be intentional — decide what we hand to machines, and fiercely protect what should stay human.
The bottom line? A documented data strategy and a robust data layer are non-negotiable in the agentic era. AI will drive real efficiency and innovation — but it needs the right foundation, the right teams, and the right human judgment behind it.
The brands winning with AI aren’t waiting. They’re building the clean, consented, real-time data foundation now. We can help you build yours.
