🎙️Loredana Vătăvoiu, Marketing & Communication Director, Up Romania: The role of AI is to support, not substitute, the decision-making

Outsourcing Today, the business services industry’s integrated networking and news platform, continues its interview series with leaders shaping the future of business services and related sectors. We explore key perspectives on the year ahead, strategic priorities, and growth opportunities.

Read below the key standpoints and perspectives Loredana Vătăvoiu, Marketing & Communication Director, Up Romania:

🎙️How are AI-based technologies changing your company’s competitive edge in 2026?

AI is strengthening our competitive edge where it actually matters: efficiency, personalization, and decision quality. We use it to simplify operations, reduce friction in recurring processes, and better understand user behavior. The advantage does not come from AI itself, but from how consistently you integrate it into business decisions and customer experience.

For example, we developed Benny, a gen AI tool that generates personalized newsletters based on variables like audience, product, tone, and context. It allows teams to move faster while maintaining consistency and relevance at scale. Benny is being used in more than half countries of the Upcoop Group, from Romania to countries like Mexico and Brazil.

🎙️What’s the biggest misconception business leaders still have about AI?

That AI is a shortcut to performance. It isn’t. AI amplifies what already exists in an organization: if you have clear processes and good data, it creates value; if not, it scales confusion. Another misconception is that it can replace human judgment in complex decisions. In reality, its role is to support, not substitute, decision-making.

🎙️What business decisions in your company are AI-led?

With tools like Benny, AI directly supports content generation decisions—who we address, how we frame the message, and how we personalize communication at scale. It doesn’t replace decision-making, but it accelerates execution significantly and improves consistency. Strategic decisions, however, remain human-led, with AI acting as a support layer.

🎙️How has AI changed what customers expect from your products or services?

Customers expect more relevance, more speed, and less friction. Personalization is no longer a differentiator, it’s becoming a baseline expectation.

🎙️How do you stay differentiated in your market, what tools and competitive advantages do you leverage in 2026?

Differentiation comes from combining technology with a deep understanding of organizational wellbeing. Our strength is not just in digital platforms, but in how we integrate data, user experience, and business relevance into one ecosystem. We focus on scalable solutions, disciplined execution, and the ability to translate insights into practical value for both companies and end users.

🎙️How do you balance rapid innovation with responsible and ethical AI use?

By being very clear about where AI adds measurable value and where it doesn’t. We prioritize transparency, data protection, and control over how AI is implemented. Innovation without clarity creates risk.

🎙️What technology trend beyond AI should businesses be paying attention to now?

The integration of systems and data into coherent ecosystems. Many organizations still operate in fragmented environments. The real opportunity is not just adopting new technologies but connecting them in a way that enables better decisions and a more consistent experience. In parallel, businesses should pay attention to how technology supports, not replaces, human capability and judgment.