Organisations must keep human-in-the-loop amidst continued AI investment – KPMG in Singapore’s Guillaume Sachet

He mentioned that organisations that combine technology, human judgement, and long-term value creation are best placed to strengthen trust and loyalty.

Amidst evolving consumer expectations and digital innovations, Asia’s experience economy has seen a boom in recent years. Consumers across industries now value personalised and meaningful moments over price or products alone. Brands now have to seamlessly blend physical and digital touchpoints, all whilst embedding sustainability, wellness, technology, and culture to win lasting loyalty.

As brands continue to rethink how they create experiences, expertise in digital transformation, customer strategy and innovation has become increasingly valuable. This evolving landscape makes the extensive experience of KPMG in Singapore's Partner for Corporate Transformation, Guillaume Sachet, particularly relevant.

Sachet brings nearly three decades of experience in the technology industry, with a career spanning digital transformation, innovation, and customer experience across Asia-Pacific.

As a returning judge at the Asian Experience Awards 2026, he offers a broad regional perspective on how technology and changing consumer expectations are reshaping the experience economy.

With your nearly three decades of experience working in industries including media, telecommunications, and technology, how would you describe the current customer experience landscape in Asia?

Asia’s customer experience landscape is undergoing significant transformation, driven by rapid advances in AI and emerging technologies, shifting customer expectations, and greater market uncertainty. Customers increasingly expect interactions that are seamless, personalised and consistent across every touchpoint. As a result, organisations are no longer competing solely on products and services, but on the quality and intelligence of the experiences they deliver. We are also seeing a shift away from individual touchpoints towards end-to-end journeys reflecting a total experience. This means that businesses will need to bring together customer, employee, and ecosystem interactions to create a consolidated system that can intelligently adapt to stakeholder needs, powered by innovative and well-governed solutions.
 
What strategic priorities should organisations focus on to deliver meaningful customer experiences?

Organisations will need to move beyond isolated customer experience initiatives and refine their operating models to enable more seamless orchestration of end-to-end experiences. This means recognising that omnichannel experiences are no longer simply about giving customers more ways to transact. They are about ensuring that every channel plays a clear and connected role in the overall journey. For one, rather than serving mainly as a point of sale, the physical store is increasingly becoming a place for discovery and recovery, where customers can receive more personal guidance, resolve issues with confidence, and experience the brand in a more tangible way. When supported by stronger data foundations and connected systems, customer experience teams can draw on customer insights, inventory visibility, and digital tools to provide more relevant and responsive interactions.

AI will be a key part of this equation, as it can coordinate customer interactions and personalise experiences across multiple channels. For example, by strategically embedding agentic AI into customer journeys, organisations can move from fixed journeys guided manually by teams towards dynamic, predictive experiences that are optimised in real time. This allows technology to handle more routine tasks in the background, whilst employees focus on higher-value relationship-building moments. In short, businesses that integrate digital and human intelligence will be better positioned to build loyalty, respond to evolving expectations, and create a lasting competitive advantage.

As customer journeys become more fragmented across multiple channels, how should organisations rethink their operating models to deliver a more consistent experience?

Fragmented customer journeys can erode trust and create friction. Organisations will need to create a total experience journey that meets customer expectations whilst proactively anticipating customer needs. This goes beyond adding new digital tools to existing processes. It calls for a shift from function-based models, where teams optimise individual touchpoints, to value-based operating models revolving around customer outcomes and end-to-end journeys.

In the same vein, organisations should align their data, systems, governance, and employee responsibilities around a clear experience promise so that every function is accountable for the same customer outcome. AI plays a key role in this process, both as an orchestrator and a participant. As an orchestrator, it can coordinate activities across channels, systems, and teams behind the scenes, enabling more consistent and personalised experiences at scale. As a participant, it can engage directly with customers, employees, or partners by answering questions, recommending actions or completing transactions whilst drawing on shared data and organisational knowledge. The real advantage, however, is not the technology alone. It lies in the operating environment around it, where AI, data and human judgement work together to deliver experiences that are personalised, dynamic, and marked by empathy.
 
How should business leaders balance investments in customer experience, digital transformation, and operational efficiency?

Business leaders should avoid viewing customer experience, digital transformation, and operational efficiency as competing priorities. The most successful organisations pursue all three through an integrated strategy comprising four key priorities: enabling AI-driven loyalty orchestration; strengthening responsible AI practices; investing in connected architectures; and measuring and communicating the impact of their experience journeys. Leading organisations are combining machine learning, generative AI, and agentic AI to generate predictive insights, ensure dynamic engagement, and facilitate seamless journey execution. At the same time, trust remains essential. Businesses must embed responsible AI practices by aligning with policymakers’ governance frameworks, implementing privacy-enhancing technologies, and ensuring human oversight for critical decisions. AI usage must also be communicated in clear, customer-friendly language. In addition, organisations should also invest in connected architectures that integrate front, middle and back-office functions, enabling frictionless customer journeys whilst improving operational efficiency. Finally, organisations will need to connect customer and employee experience outcomes with business metrics such as retention, share of wallet and cost-to-serve, ensuring that their investments truly accelerate value creation.

As businesses continue investing in AI and automation, how can they preserve the human element that customers continue to value?

Organisations must keep the human-in-the-loop even as they continue to invest in AI. If they fail to do so, they risk losing a critical base of customers. For example, according to KPMG’s latest Customer Experience Excellence survey, 40% of Singapore respondents cited the inability to access human support when using AI-powered solutions as one of their top AI-related concerns. The survey also found that 42% of customers were concerned about AI's inability to understand their emotions, reinforcing the need for organisations to foster deep and personal connections with customers.

To ensure the trusted use of AI, organisations can invest in the technology through four lenses — value, trust, people, as well as technology and data. First, organisations should leverage AI in a way that frees employees to focus on higher-value interactions where the human element is critical. These include advising customers on complex transactions, handling sensitive complaints, and providing reassurance in situations where trust is at stake. Through the trust lens, organisations should put in place robust governance frameworks that promote transparency, accountability and the ethical use of AI. From a people perspective, organisations will need to redesign roles to enable effective collaboration between AI agents and employees. Finally, when it comes to technology and data, businesses should strengthen their data foundations and create connected architectures that support accurate insights and personalised experiences. As AI adoption accelerates, organisations that successfully combine technology, human judgement and long-term value creation will be best placed to strengthen trust and loyalty.

As a returning judge for the Asian Experience Awards 2026, what qualities or capabilities set apart truly transformative brand experiences?

There are two key qualities that will help organisations to distinguish themselves in the market and transform their brand experience. According to our survey, personalisation and integrity continue to be the strongest drivers of customer experience excellence in Singapore, and we believe this also mirrors the broader sentiment in Asia. Customers increasingly expect more than just transactional rewards for recognition of their loyalty. Brands will therefore stand out if they are able to customise their services, content, and rewards to customers’ unique preferences across end-to-end journeys. These may include, for example, tiered benefits and perks tailored to purchase behaviours and prior brand interactions. In short, personalisation helps organisations create interactions that are relevant, timely and meaningful, thus strengthening their emotional connection with customers. At the same time, integrity has become more important than ever, as AI plays a greater role in customer engagement. Customers want clarity on how their data is collected, and they seek assurance that AI systems operate ethically — free from bias, secure against misuse, and subject to human oversight, especially for critical interactions. If organisations can combine highly personalised experiences with responsible practices that are communicated clearly to customers, they will be well-positioned to grow their brand equity and sharpen their competitive edge.