Generative AI is taking organizations by storm, promising to transform customer service, improve business efficiency, and propel revenue-generating capabilities.
A 2023 IBM study has revealed that 75% of CEOs believe the organization with the most advanced generative AI will have a competitive advantage. However, they are also concerned about the risks of AI, including bias, ethics, and security.
The generative AI market in 2025 is estimated to be worth over $44 billion. Enterprises are rapidly investing and adopting AI, even though ChatGPT only debuted 12 short months ago.
Let’s look at how some of the world’s biggest brands are deploying generative AI and ChatGPT for customer service and customer experience and internally to support employees in the technology’s breakout first year.
Netflix
Netflix uses ChatGPT to help customers with anything from account issues and billing questions to technical problems. The streaming company has also used AI and ML to optimize streaming quality and tailor content recommendations. Its algorithm learns independently, and the more a user watches, the better the recommendations get.
The recommendation engine Netflix uses reportedly costs close to $1 million per year for the company’s endeavors to increase customer satisfaction. Netflix has its own AI team and has advertised this year for a product manager for its ML platform with a salary of $900.000 and a senior ML software engineer at between $100,000 and $700,000. These salaries point to how large Netflix’s investment in AI really is.
Disney
Like Netflix, Disney has been pitched as a leading adopter of AI, focusing on data-driven insights, predictive analytics, and personalized experiences. During an earnings call in mid-2023, Disney’s CEO Bob Iger declared:
“Overall, I’m bullish about the prospects [of using AI] because I think they’ll create efficiencies and ways for us to basically provide better services to customers.”
Disney has a task force exploring AI’s potential across its business and has also advertised numerous in-house AI roles. However, analysts have warned Disney risks damage to its reputation, particularly if it uses AI on the creative side.
Spotify
This music streaming platform uses ChatGPT to support customers in over 60 languages, answering questions about music, playlists, and features.
Outside of customer service applications, Spotify was one of the first companies with which OpenAI shared its text-to-speech model. Spotify revealed it’s using the same synthetic voice technology to translate celebrity podcasts into multiple languages.
Spotify’s AI DJ tunes into user preferences to orchestrate playlists in order to boost the platform’s engagement. Founder and CEO Daniel Ek says of AI:
“It can personalize things. It can contextualize things. It can provide this thing at a scale that would be impossible to do by humans.”
Wendy’s
Fast-food chain Wendy’s began testing an AI chatbot this year to talk to customers and take drive-thru orders. It chose Google’s large language models (LLMs), which can understand that a “milkshake” is a “frosty” at Wendy’s. The company aims to reduce human miscommunication and mistakes by implementing AI, saying the system should streamline orders so staff can focus on serving food quickly.
Fortune speculated the move might be good for Wendy’s because Intouch Insights points to the chain falling behind peers in wait time and accuracy. Wendy’s share price hiked with the news at the time. Chief Executive Officer Todd Penegor says the system “creates a huge opportunity for us to deliver a truly differentiated, faster and frictionless experience for our customers”
Walmart
Multinational grocer Walmart has been transparent about its generative AI development this year. In August, Walmart launched a generative AI called “My Assistant” to improve the productivity of 50,000 employees, developing the platform in just 60 days. Ben Peterson, head of Walmart’s People Product organization, says:
“We’re on an ambitious journey to reimagine the associate experience by building consumer-grade and intuitive digital experiences that unlock the fullest potential of our associates.”
Walmart is using AI to improve employee’s digital interactions in hiring, onboarding, learning, performance management, career development, compensation, benefits, payroll, and other areas, as reported by CIO.
Walmart’s “My Assistant” synthesizes, summarizes, and augments data from Walmart’s ecosystem. Employees can already use the system to answer complex questions about benefits and other such personalized use cases. Eventually, Walmart plans to deploy generative AI solutions for frontline associates.
Duolingo
Language learning platform Duolingo launched Duolingo Max, powered by ChatGPT-4, in March 2023. Duolingo Max provides users with two new features that use OpenAI’s generative AI, ‘Explain My Answer” and “Roleplay.” The first feature, “Explain My Answer,” lets learners chat with Duo to discover exactly why an answer was wrong. The chatbot goes into as much depth as the user needs to solidify their learning.
The second feature, “Roleplay,” does just that; it lets learners practice real-world conversations in their chosen language. Duolingo’s human employees write the scenarios for Roleplay and tell ChatGPT-4’s model where to take the conversation.
Lloyds Banking Group
Lloyds, per IBM, which it tasked for its generative-AI development, was struggling to meet customer needs with its existing web and mobile applications. IBM built a proof of concept (POC) LLM to improve Lloyd’s virtual assistant performance and personalized search performance for customers.
IBM says its LLM solution for Lloyds reduced manual effort by 80% and improved the accuracy of the virtual assistant’s ability to classify conversations by 85%. These statistics clearly indicate the added value of generative AI-powered chatbots versus older rule-based models.
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Large enterprises are spending millions developing their own generative AI platforms, tasking external developers, and using some of the innovative technologies launched this year.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What are the biggest use cases for generative AI at large brands in 2025?
The biggest use cases shown here are customer service, personalization, and operational efficiency. Netflix uses ChatGPT for account, billing, and technical support while also using AI and machine learning for streaming quality and recommendations. Spotify uses AI for customer support in more than 60 languages, podcast translation, and its AI DJ. Disney is exploring predictive analytics and personalized experiences, and Wendy’s is testing AI for drive-thru ordering.
Why do big companies start generative AI in customer support before other departments?
Customer support is a common starting point because it involves high-volume, repeatable requests and the impact is easy to see. The examples here center on billing, account help, technical issues, playlist questions, and ordering. Netflix uses ChatGPT for support, Spotify answers customer questions in more than 60 languages, and Wendy’s is testing AI for drive-thru orders.
Are large brands using generative AI only for customer support, or for personalization too?
Not just support. The examples include both service and personalization. Netflix pairs support use cases with recommendation and streaming optimization, while Spotify uses AI for customer help, translated podcasts, and its AI DJ. Disney is also exploring predictive analytics and personalized experiences.
How are big brands justifying investment in generative AI?
Large brands are treating generative AI as both a competitive and efficiency investment. A 2023 IBM study found that 75% of CEOs believe the organization with the most advanced generative AI will have a competitive advantage. Netflix signals long-term commitment through AI hiring and investment in recommendations, while Disney created a task force to explore AI across its business.
What separates a generative AI pilot that scales from one that stalls inside a big company?
In these examples, brands that appear further along are using AI in more than one function and backing it with dedicated resources. Netflix applies AI to both customer support and recommendations. Spotify uses it for support, translation, and personalization. Disney has a task force exploring AI across the business, and Netflix has advertised specialized AI roles. Those are stronger signals than a one-off experiment.
How are big brands managing bias, security, and governance risks in generative AI?
Major brands are adopting generative AI while treating bias, ethics, and security as real risks. A 2023 IBM study found that CEOs are concerned about those issues, and Disney created a task force to evaluate AI across its business. Analysts have also warned that creative uses of AI can create reputational risk, which shows why governance matters most when brand trust is involved.
Are enterprises using ChatGPT by itself, or building broader AI systems around it?
Both patterns appear. Netflix uses ChatGPT for customer support, but it also relies on AI and machine learning for streaming quality and recommendations. Spotify combines generative AI with text-to-speech technology and its AI DJ, while Disney is exploring AI for predictive analytics and personalized experiences. In practice, big brands usually blend conversational AI with other AI tools instead of relying on a single chat interface.