How Audiences Really Think With or Through AI: Lessons for Southeast Asian Brands (Commentary by Farrell Tan)

We've spent years segmenting audiences by age, income, and lifestyle.

AI may prove to be a more useful dividing line because it changes how decisions are made in the first place.

A recent article in ET BrandEquity* made a bold claim: forget neat generational buckets like Gen Alpha. The real defining force for young professionals entering the workforce today is Artificial Intelligence. They call this emerging group Generation AI.

What I found most useful wasn't the headline, but the underlying idea: brands need to pay closer attention to how their audiences think. More specifically, whether they think with AI as a tool, or through AI by handing off much of the cognitive work.

Malaysia and broader Southeast Asia have some of the world's highest rates of young, digitally native consumers. From Shopee's AI-powered recommendations and Grab's smart features to university students using ChatGPT for assignments and side-hustle pitches, AI is no longer optional. It is becoming part of how people make decisions in Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Bangkok, and beyond.

Two Common Ways People Engage with AI

Some users treat AI as an efficiency engine. They ask it to draft content, compare options, or guide purchases. They gravitate toward quick, authoritative answers and frictionless experiences. In the hustle of Malaysia's gig economy and social commerce scene, this approach is very common, especially among time-poor urban professionals.

Others use AI differently; more like a sparring partner (me included). They do the initial thinking themselves, then leverage the tool to challenge ideas, refine arguments, or dig deeper. These individuals tend to demand transparency, data, and proof points before trusting a brand.

Of course, most people fall somewhere in between, shifting modes depending on the situation, their energy levels, or how high the stakes are. The same person might outsource a quick product comparison but scrutinise a brand's sustainability claims more carefully.

The distinction is not a hard category, but it is a useful lens for understanding how people approach decisions.

What This Means for Communications in Our Region

For brands operating in Malaysia and ASEAN, this shift changes how we build campaigns, manage reputation, and engage stakeholders:

Map where AI enters the decision-making process

We've moved well beyond demographics and even psychographics. Today, the challenge is understanding where people are turning to AI for answers, recommendations, comparisons, and validation. Those moments increasingly influence perception before someone ever visits your website, speaks to a salesperson, or engages with your organisation directly.

Build for convenience and scrutiny

Some audiences want a quick answer. Others want to understand how you arrived at it. Communications strategies increasingly need to accommodate both. Clear recommendations matter, but so do sources, evidence, and transparency.

Assume every claim will be questioned

In a region where misinformation and deepfakes spread rapidly through WhatsApp groups and TikTok, trust can no longer rely solely on brand reputation. Audiences increasingly expect to verify claims for themselves.

One trend we've observed in reputation and crisis work is that stakeholders are becoming harder to persuade, but easier to verify. Claims that might once have gone unchallenged are now scrutinised almost immediately. Organisations that communicate consistently and transparently tend to fare better than those relying on authority alone.

Think beyond traditional search

Optimise content not just for traditional search engines, but also for generative AI platforms where many younger consumers now begin their discovery journey. Visibility increasingly depends on whether your content is useful enough to be surfaced, referenced, and trusted.

Measure confidence, not just attention

Clicks, impressions, and engagement remain useful, but understanding whether communications help people make decisions with greater confidence may prove more valuable over time.

We've observed with clients across reputation management and crisis communications that brands adapting to these changing behaviours often build stronger resilience and loyalty in volatile markets.

How Orchan Can Help

At Orchan, we don't just talk about these shifts. We help leadership teams turn them into practical, regionally attuned communications strategies. Whether that's understanding where AI influences stakeholder decisions, strengthening reputation in increasingly complex information environments, or building communications programmes that resonate with audiences approaching decisions in very different ways.

The challenge is not learning how to use AI but in the understanding of what happens when your audience does.

AI will change how people search, buy, and communicate. The bigger question is whether brands understand how those same people now make decisions.

Interested in exploring this for your brand? Drop us a note at changenow@orchan.asia, call us on +603-7972 6377, or visit www.orchan.asia.

*ET BrandEquity article: https://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/marketing/step-aside-gen-alpha-welcome-generation-ai/131626870?utm_source=Mailer&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=etbrandequity_news_2026-06-14&dt=2026-06-14&em=ZmFycmVsbC50dGRhc2lhQGdtYWlsLmNvbQ==