Pet food companies can use AI to personalize marketing and improve customer experiences, but must prioritize transparency and maintain human empathy to preserve consumer trust. The key is using AI to make interactions more helpful and less invasive, while keeping people at the center of customer relationships.
- AI personalization should feel helpful, not invasive—using willingly-provided data like pet age, size, and preferences rather than unexplained insights
- Pet food companies must be transparent about AI use, explaining both what data they collect and why they're using AI technology
- Successful AI strategy combines automation with human empathy—using AI to remove friction while employees handle interactions requiring judgment and emotional connection
- Long-term customer relationships depend on anticipating pet life changes, such as transitions from puppy to adult food and portion adjustments as pets age
- The winning approach shifts AI focus from immediate sales to partnership, helping pet owners feel informed and supported throughout their pet's life
Pet food companies have opportunities to use artificial intelligence to make marketing more relevant to individual pet owners, but those efforts risk undermining consumer trust if personalization begins to feel intrusive.
Mary Ann O’Brien, founder and CEO of OBI Creative, said companies should focus on using artificial intelligence to make interactions more useful rather than simply demonstrating how much they know about a customer.
“AI should make the experience feel more helpful, not more invasive,” O’Brien said. “There’s a big difference between using information a customer has willingly provided (like their pet’s age, size, preferences or purchase history) to make relevant recommendations and using data in ways the customer doesn’t understand.”
Transparency can support trust
That distinction can be particularly important for pet food companies, which may collect information about individual pets to recommend products, provide educational information or communicate with customers.
“The best personalization should feel like, ‘They understand my pet,’ not ‘How do they know that?’” O’Brien said. “Companies should be transparent about what data they're collecting and give consumers control over how it is used. AI should be working behind the scenes to make the customer experience better, not becoming the experience.”
O’Brien recommended that pet food companies tell customers when they are using artificial intelligence, particularly when the technology influences recommendations, customer service or analysis of consumer data.
“Consumers shouldn't have to guess whether they're interacting with a person, an algorithm or a combination of both,” she said.
Companies can also explain why they are using artificial intelligence rather than simply disclosing its presence.
“Don't just tell consumers, ‘We're using AI.’ Tell them why: ‘We're using it to help you find the right products faster, remember your preferences, or provide more relevant recommendations,’” O’Brien said.
Keep people in the customer relationship
While artificial intelligence can automate parts of marketing and customer service, O’Brien cautioned against allowing efficiency to replace empathy.
“Pet owners aren't just buying kibble. They're making decisions about a member of their family,” she said. “That means the emotional connection has to remain human-led.”
Artificial intelligence could help companies understand customer needs, personalize communications and simplify purchasing, while employees continue handling interactions that require empathy and judgment.
“Use AI to remove friction. Use humans to build relationships,” O’Brien said.
Artificial intelligence could also help pet food companies develop longer-term relationships by anticipating changes during a pet’s life. O’Brien pointed to transitions from puppy or kitten food to adult food, portion adjustments as pets age and reminders when customers may need another shipment as potential applications. Companies could also personalize educational information using details customers voluntarily provide.
“The biggest opportunity is to use AI to become a better partner to the pet owner, rather than a better salesperson,” O’Brien said.
That approach shifts the goal of artificial intelligence from generating immediate sales toward helping customers make decisions over time.
“The brands that will win long-term are going to use AI to understand their customers better, not just talk to them faster,” O’Brien said. “If AI helps a pet owner feel more confident, informed and supported throughout their pet's life, that's how you turn a transaction into a relationship.”
