Twilio's data report shows AI & quality data key for success

Twilio Segment, unveiling its fifth annual Customer Data Platform (CDP) Report today, reflects that enterprises are placing data quality at the top of the agenda in an effort to optimise the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and act swiftly on comprehensive customer insights.

The 2024 report is informed by anonymised usage data derived from over 25,000 Twilio Segment customers and reveals that companies are integrating customer data platforms with AI and analytics to personalise customer experiences and facilitate business progress.

In the midst of AI's broad uptake, enterprises are coping with an unprecedented spike in data volume. Twilio Segment processed an unprecedented 12.1 trillion API calls in 2023—an increase of hundreds of billions from the previous year. This underlines a wider trend towards more advanced, data-centric operations, spotlighting the vital function of real-time data processing and smooth integration of AI technology. The quick harnessing of data insights through CDPs that work compatibly with data warehouses gives companies a crucial competitive advantage, empowering them to effectively gather, unify, and implement data across multiple platforms.

Kathryn Murphy, SVP of Product and Design at Twilio, commented, "In 2024, increasing numbers of brands will utilise AI to deliver improved, personal experiences for their customers. Our report demonstrates the crucial role customer data plays in maximising the effectiveness of AI."

She added, "With data warehouses and data lakehouses like Databricks becoming central to customer data strategies, it's critical for CDPs to facilitate seamless integration with these data warehouses. The capability to interoperate with data warehouses is essential because CDPs act as a central technology for brands eager to leverage AI and data to build even more powerful relationships with their customer base."

Chris Hecht, SVP of Corporate Development and Product Partnerships at Databricks, remarked, "As businesses aim to dismantle data silos and rely on a unified data platform to power their analytics and AI initiatives, the significance of data sharing and data quality has never been clearer."

Hecht also noted that the alliance with Twilio Segment demonstrates their commitment to enabling organisations to leverage their data's full potential, regardless of its location, and to effectively bridge the space between data and utilising cleaned and verified event profile data for insights.

Key findings of the 2024 Twilio Segment CDP Report include the identification of data quality as the foundation for AI success, the role of data warehouses as one of the most popular destination categories for customer data in 2023, predictive AI as a core strategy moving, and continued growth in enterprise solutions.

The Twilio Segment platform helps customers tap into their data by linking with more than 450 out-of-the-box integrations. Google Universal Analytics was the most popular app, used by 55% of Twilio Segment customers, followed by Mixpanel (44%) and Facebook Pixel (37%). The ability to avoid vendor lock-in underscores a growing market preference for systems that are not only modular but also highly interoperable. Employing a CDP, businesses benefit from intelligent, data-driven strategies that can enhance the customer journey.