GBC TIME has interviewed – Christoffer Feldt-Sørensen, Chief Sales Officer at Symplify, the leader in cross-channel marketing automation for marketers and crm teams
How does Symplify define modern customer engagement in an AI-powered world? Does automation go beyond convenience and actually drive meaningful customer relationships?
At Symplify, modern customer engagement means delivering highly personalised, real-time experiences across every touchpoint—powered by data, driven by AI, and always aligned with customer intent and reception. In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, automation is no longer just about convenience or efficiency. It’s about intelligence and relevance. Our AI-augmented platform enables marketers to move from reactive campaigns to predictive, journey-based strategies that anticipate customer needs and behaviours before they happen. By analysing behavioural data, purchase patterns, and engagement signals, Symplify helps brands craft messages that feel timely, contextual, and human—even at scale. Automation, in this context, becomes a tool for building trust and emotional resonance, not just executing tasks faster. Ultimately, meaningful relationships stem from relevance. And with AI as an enabler, automation becomes the bridge between operational scale and individual connection—empowering marketers to engage smarter, not just more often.
AI often feels intimidating to non-technical teams. How do you make it approachable inside your platform?
At Symplify, we believe that the power of AI should be available to everyone—not just data scientists or technical teams. That’s why our platform is designed with a user-first approach, making advanced AI capabilities intuitive and actionable for marketers, CRM teams, and customer experience professionals. We embed AI directly into familiar workflows—like segmentation, content optimisation, send-time prediction, and journey orchestration—so users can benefit from intelligent automation without needing to understand the underlying complexity. It’s about putting insights at your fingertips and letting the technology work with you, not against you.
Our platform also provides guided recommendations, visual dashboards, and easy-to-use tools that turn AI from something intimidating into something empowering. Whether it’s suggesting the next best action for a customer or optimising subject lines in real time, AI in Symplify feels like a smart partner—not a technical hurdle.
By lowering the barrier to entry, we help teams embrace AI with confidence—and focus on what they do best: creating meaningful, engaging customer experiences.
What’s the biggest misconception companies have when they approach CRM and marketing automation today?
One of the biggest misconceptions companies have when approaching CRM and marketing automation is believing that technology alone will solve their engagement challenges. Many organisations implement automation tools with the expectation that simply sending more messages, more efficiently, will drive better results. But automation without strategy, relevance, and personalisation often leads to noise rather than meaningful engagement. True CRM success isn’t just about automating tasks—it’s about orchestrating thoughtful, data-driven journeys that adapt to customer behavior in real time. It’s not about doing more; it’s about doing it smarter. Automation should amplify human insight, not replace it. At Symplify, we help businesses shift their mindset from volume-driven outreach to value-driven communication—using automation not just to scale, but to deepen relationships and deliver truly customer-centric experiences.
Predictive marketing can feel abstract – can you walk us through a real-world example of how it works?
Predictive marketing in a sports betting context means using data to anticipate user behaviour and deliver highly relevant, timely experiences. For example, ahead of a major football tournament, Symplify can identify previously active users who placed bets during past events but have since gone inactive. By analysing patterns such as betting frequency, preferred sports, and engagement history, the platform predicts who is most likely to re-engage. It then triggers personalised campaigns—like offering an odds boost on their favourite team or a tailored bonus—delivered through the user’s preferred channel at the optimal time. Dynamic content, referencing past wins or favourite teams, enhances relevance, while real-time optimisation ensures performance improves as the campaign runs. The result is a seamless, intelligent reactivation journey that increases engagement and lifetime value while making users feel understood rather than targeted.
Symplify’s AI helps anticipate customer behaviour?
Predictive marketing can feel abstract, but Symplify’s AI makes it actionable by helping sports betting operators anticipate customer behaviour and respond in real time. For example, during the build up to an event like the Champions League final, Symplify can analyse historical data to identify users who typically engage during high-stakes matches but have since become inactive. The platform then predicts who is most likely to re-engage and automatically triggers personalised campaigns—such as targeted bonuses, reminders, or odds boosts—delivered via the user’s preferred channel at the optimal time. This intelligent use of data allows operators to proactively drive reactivation and increase betting activity, all while creating a more relevant and engaging experience for each customer.
What’s the smartest way to combine AI and human creativity in campaign strategy?
The smartest way to combine AI and human creativity in campaign strategy is to let AI handle the heavy lifting of data analysis and optimisation, while humans focus on the emotional intelligence, storytelling, and brand voice that truly connects with audiences. AI can surface insights—like the best time to send, the ideal customer segment, or which subject lines convert—so marketers can spend less time guessing and more time crafting compelling, relevant content. It’s not about replacing creative thinking, but enhancing it with data-driven precision, allowing campaigns to be both strategically smart and emotionally resonant. When used this way, AI becomes a creative partner, not just a technical tool.
What are the most underrated ways businesses can use automated flows beyond standard emails or SMS?
Beyond standard emails and SMS, one of the most underrated ways businesses can use automated flows is by integrating in-app messaging, push notifications, and dynamic content blocks that respond in real time to user behaviour. For example, triggering personalised pop-ups based on browsing activity, or dynamically updating homepage content based on CRM data, can significantly boost relevance and engagement. Additionally, flows that power customer loyalty triggers, churn prevention journeys, or even internal alerts to sales or support teams can create a more cohesive and proactive customer experience. Automation isn’t just about outreach—it’s about orchestrating smarter, connected interactions across the entire customer lifecycle.
You serve multiple verticals – gaming, fintech, retail, NGOs. What’s the common thread that ties their engagement challenges together?
Across diverse verticals like gaming, fintech, retail, and NGOs, the common thread in their engagement challenges is the need to deliver personalised, timely, and relevant experiences at scale. Regardless of industry, organisations struggle with fragmented data, evolving customer expectations, and the pressure to stand out in crowded markets. They all require solutions that not only automate communication but also adapt dynamically to individual behaviours and preferences, enabling meaningful connections that drive loyalty and long-term value. At Symplify, we address these universal challenges by providing a flexible, data-driven platform that empowers teams to orchestrate seamless customer journeys tailored to their unique audience.
Can automation ever go “too far”? How do you recommend clients strike a balance between helpful and intrusive?
Can and does regularly. Who among us doesn’t routinely get an email from an app based service, then an app push with the same info or vice-versa? Even if the user can adapt their settings to counter this, why push the onus onto the user? It only causes irritation. So yes, automation can indeed go “too far” when it feels impersonal, overwhelming, or intrusive to customers—turning helpful engagement into annoyance. To strike the right balance, we recommend clients focus on context, consent, and cadence. This means leveraging data to deliver the right message at the right time, respecting customer preferences and communication frequency, and ensuring every automated interaction adds genuine value. It’s also crucial to maintain human oversight—regularly reviewing automated campaigns for relevance and tone, and providing easy options for customers to control their experience. When done thoughtfully, automation enhances the relationship rather than detracts from it.
What’s next? Are there any AI or automation capabilities you’re particularly excited to launch or expand in 2025?
Looking ahead, Symplify is focused on expanding our AI and automation capabilities to deliver even more hyper-personalised, predictive customer journeys. In 2025, we’re excited to launch enhanced real-time decisioning engines that leverage AI to adapt messaging and offers dynamically across channels based on evolving customer behaviour. We’re also investing in deeper integrations with emerging channels like conversational LLMs and advanced chatbots, enabling brands to engage customers in richer, more natural ways. Additionally, expanding our automation to include more sophisticated lifecycle orchestration and intent prediction will empower marketers to anticipate needs before they arise, creating truly proactive engagement strategies. Our goal remains to equip our clients with cutting-edge tools that balance intelligence and empathy, making every interaction more meaningful.
