A conversation with Emil Sarkissian, CEO of Loyalty Methods, on how platform architecture determines AI readiness in enterprise loyalty programs

Enterprise loyalty platforms are not equally ready for AI. A working assumption has taken hold across the loyalty technology market: that AI is architecture agnostic.

From a marketing perspective, real-time loyalty promises exactly what modern programs aspire to deliver: relevance at scale.

For most organizations, loyalty begins as a marketing initiative — evaluated through marketing RFPs, measured by engagement and redemption, and celebrated for its customer-facing impact.

The surprise is not that finance eventually gets involved in loyalty programs. The surprise is how early that involvement becomes necessary — and how unprepared most platforms are for the questions finance asks.

Why loyalty programs stall when operational complexity outgrows campaign thinking