Gen Z needs to get the right info in a snap

AI can help financial institutions’ marketing teams get the job done.

The most effective marketing campaigns should bring the right message within eight seconds, and artificial intelligence (AI) can help financial institutions do just that, according to an Adobe, Inc. consultant.

“AI is no longer just a buzzword, but a real lever to elevate experience and deal with problems,” Jeff Wee, a senior solution consultant at Adobe, told the Asian Banking & Finance and Insurance Asia 2025 Malaysia Summit.

Sending the right message to customers at the right time is critical especially in an era of shrinking attention spans, he pointed out.

“The average attention span of a Gen Z individual is now down to just eight seconds,” Wee said. “It’s even shorter than the attention span of a goldfish.”

“We need to ensure we send the right message to the right person at the right time, and be able to do this automatically and at scale,” he added.

Adobe, known for Adobe Photoshop, its flagship software for photo editing and graphic design, uses AI through its Adobe Sensei platform to automate complex tasks like image editing, content tagging, and personalized marketing.
Wee said marketing teams that use AI have reported a 40% productivity boost in terms of campaign targeting and customer experience.

He cited the slow adoption of generative AI (genAI), which he attributed to customer trust issues, brand control, integration, and transparency. Adobe’s solution is to offer models that companies can control and train to speak their brand language.

“So they follow your brand guidelines and stick with your compliance systems,” he said. “Whether you are in retail banking or insurance, consistency and compliance are no longer issues.”

For data safety, Adobe’s genAI engine is trained on licensed or authorised data from its more than 300 million stock images and photos, making it “functionally safe,” Wee said. “So data, content, and journey can be moved together at the same time, in synchronisation.”