Artificial intelligence is changing how companies operate and how customers experience their brands. New research suggests that companies with lower levels of “brand debt”—the trust, relevance, and consistency lost when products, experiences, and decisions drift away from customer expectations—are significantly more likely to outperform their peers. Drawing on a benchmark of 60 companies and lessons from Bose’s digital transformation, the lessons here are that managing brand debt should become an enterprise-wide priority rather than a marketing exercise. As AI increasingly shapes customer interactions, companies that manage brand debt deliberately will be better positioned to strengthen trust, sustain growth, and preserve competitive advantage.

Brands can't just focus on how often they show up in AI search. They also need to pay attention to accuracy – and know what to do when AI gets it wrong.

Artificial intelligence is changing how companies operate and how customers experience their brands. New research suggests that companies with lower levels of “brand debt”—the…