In 2001, I received a campus interview invitation from BCG. It opened like this:
Dear Anand,
We’d like to invite you to an interview on … We were impressed by your …
… and went on to share 2-3 phrases about what they liked about my CV. A dozen of us got similar letters – each personalized!
That was cool. Two decades later, I still remember it. It showed care and competence – care enough to personalize for each candidate, competence to pull it off at scale across campuses.
Recently, I got a desk plaque unlike any other award I’ve received. It was personalized not just with my name, but with an AI-generated comic-rendering of me!
Our HR team uploaded my photo to an AI image tool and generated a comic version of my face. I loved it! I’ve thrown away every plaque I’ve received. This one stays on my desk.
That got me thinking. A thoughtful gift turns generic swag into something memorable. My plaque isn’t décor; it reflects my love for comics and AI.
Using AI research and image generation, AI can personalize at scale. That’s not just efficiency. It’s a new level of care. A personalized gift says, ‘We see you.’ (Weird that we need AI care at scale, but…)
We can do this with custom T-shirts, mugs, stickers… We juts need bots in parallel: scan profiles, extract interests, render images, review, design something personal. Something that brings a little more personality and delight into our lives.
My next step: AI-designed T-shirts for my daughter and me. Manga-themed for her; I’m still deciding mine.