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Navigating AI, Identity, and Personalization with Rahul Chand

How AI is Transforming AAA Northeast

Summary
At Wunder 2025, we sat down with Rahul Chand, VP of Marketing at AAA Northeast, to explore how AI, identity resolution, and real-time personalization are shaping the future of digital marketing. From tailoring homepage experiences to tackling top-of-funnel identity gaps, Rahul shared a clear-eyed view of what’s working, and what still needs to evolve. Read on for his candid take on finding the right balance between machine-driven efficiency and brand integrity in an increasingly automated landscape.

At Wunder 2025, Wunderkind’s flagship executive gathering, top minds from across retail, fashion, travel and luxury came together for a few energizing days of insight and innovation. Between hands-on sessions, thoughtful discussions, and collaborative workshops, we had the chance to sit down with marketing leaders for open conversations on where the industry is headed, and how technology is reshaping the path forward.

In this interview we were joined by Rahul Chand, VP, Marketing at AAA Northeast to share his forward-looking view on the evolving landscape of personalization at scale, the importance of identity resolution, and the real-world limits of today’s AI-driven solutions.

AI Is Already Driving Personalization, But the Human Touch Still Matters

AAA Northeast is already leveraging AI to customize digital experiences across its seven million members. As Rahul explained, “When you go to our website, AAA Northeast, the homepage you see is completely different from mine.” This is made possible through sophisticated propensity models that decide which offers or services to present to each user.

But despite the automation, human oversight is still crucial, especially when it comes to brand voice and creative content. “The question is, will it still be on-brand? Can we fully trust the content the machine produces? I’m not sure we’re there yet,” Rahul said. While the technology is evolving, brand integrity remains a human responsibility.

AI’s Real Power Lies in Decisioning and Real-Time Relevance

What excites Rahul most isn’t flashy AI headlines, it’s what AI can do in the background to make messaging more timely and relevant. “At the end of the day, that’s every marketer’s dream: delivering the right message to the right audience, at the right time, through the right channel.”

However, he points out a major limitation: reach. “The biggest challenge is that we can only do it for a portion of our membership or customer base.” Even with rich data, personalization is only as effective as the reach and depth of customer identification.

Identity Resolution Is the Key to Unlocking Personalization

Rahul made it clear: “We can only tailor things for you if we know who you are.” Currently, about 40% of website visitors remain unidentified, meaning the team can’t activate the data they already have. Identity resolution sits at the core of any personalization strategy, especially at the top of the funnel.

Partners like Wunderkind play a pivotal role here. “They haven’t raised their hand or told us who they are as a brand, but because we’re able to recognize them and trigger those cart abandonment emails or win-back strategies, it gives us confidence to drive even more top-of-funnel traffic.”

Triggering the Right Message at the Right Time Is Still a Work in Progress

Finally, Rahul emphasized how much opportunity still exists in real-time marketing orchestration. “We’re not about ‘batch and blast.’ We want to be relevant and contextually aligned, both in the product mix and the message.”

But gaps in identity resolution and data integration still prevent fully realized personalization. “There’s a portion of top-of-funnel traffic where the data doesn’t yet exist in the CDP. Until we can tap into a third party that helps us identify who that person is and what else they do, we can’t fully trigger some of those campaigns.”

Final Thoughts: Data-Driven Marketing with a Human Compass

Rahul Chand’s insights offer a grounded, strategic look at AI’s role in modern marketing. While AAA Northeast is leveraging machine learning for real-time personalization, the path forward requires solving identity gaps and ensuring brand-safe content generation. As AI continues to evolve, the marketers who will win are those who blend automation with human intent—carefully, and intentionally.

Check out other interviews in our Wunder 2025 series:

Kevin Wishard, Hertz

Ana Sollitto, HelloFresh

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Danny O'Reilly

Danny O’Reilly is a seasoned writer specializing in the martech space with a focus on zero- and first-party data, personalization and loyalty. Also an avid runner with over 12k Instagram followers, Danny aims to inspire, educate and entertain through his thought leadership and copywriting skills. You’ll find his work across the Wunderkind website, thankfully. Enjoy.