Canonical URL: https://giftcard.news/payments-technology/tillo-aims-to-become-ai-native-company-in-2026-to-improve-rewards-and-gi-d208315996e5/ --- description: Tillo’s 2026 strategy focuses on development, operations and customer service, with an internal release cited as an early example. title: Tillo sets an AI operating strategy for its gift card and rewards business image: https://giftcard.news/images/social/v1/tillo-sets-ai-operating-strategy-gift-card-rewards-business-664cf6d6d5a87d5d8cf8036fe74325c1.jpg --- 1. [Home](https://giftcard.news/) 2. [Payments & Technology](https://giftcard.news/payments-technology/) # Tillo sets an AI operating strategy for its gift card and rewards business Tillo’s 2026 strategy focuses on development, operations and customer service, with an internal release cited as an early example. By [Suzie Elis](https://giftcard.news/author/suzie-elis/) January 20, 2026 2 min read Share [ ](https://x.com/intent/post?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fpayments-technology%2Ftillo-aims-to-become-ai-native-company-in-2026-to-improve-rewards-and-gi-d208315996e5%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dx%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&text=Tillo%20sets%20an%20AI%20operating%20strategy%20for%20its%20gift%20card%20and%20rewards%20business "X") [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fpayments-technology%2Ftillo-aims-to-become-ai-native-company-in-2026-to-improve-rewards-and-gi-d208315996e5%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dlinkedin%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial "LinkedIn") [ ](https://wa.me/?text=Tillo%20sets%20an%20AI%20operating%20strategy%20for%20its%20gift%20card%20and%20rewards%20business%20https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fpayments-technology%2Ftillo-aims-to-become-ai-native-company-in-2026-to-improve-rewards-and-gi-d208315996e5%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dwhatsapp%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial "WhatsApp") ![Two people working together on a laptop in Tillo’s official strategy illustration](https://giftcard.news/images/variants/v1/tillo-sets-ai-operating-strategy-gift-card-rewards-business-two-people-working-w1080.webp) Official company image accompanying the source announcement. Photo: Tillo [Tillo](https://giftcard.news/company/tillo/) set out a 2026 plan to make artificial intelligence a core part of how it develops and operates its gift card and rewards business. The strategy, first published in January, describes work across engineering, product, finance, support and commercial teams. It is an operating commitment rather than the launch of a separately priced AI product. [\[S01\]](#article-source-1) ## What the company says has changed The update by chief technology officer [David Kavanagh](https://giftcard.news/person/david-kavanagh/) describes investment in tools, internal training and AI Community Days. As a concrete example, Tillo points to an improvement to its failed-jobs page that moved from an internal idea into production. It does not provide a delivery-time comparison, cost saving or customer-performance measure for that change. \[[S01](#article-source-1), [S02](#article-source-2)\] The distinction matters for a business handling prepaid value. Writing a change faster is one result; operating that change reliably is another. Customers still need a clear account of which transactions succeeded, which failed and which require attention. An internal productivity claim cannot, by itself, answer those service questions. ## A strategy with several intended outcomes Scroll left or right to see all columns __A strategy with several intended outcomes__ | Area of the strategy | Evidence a business buyer can ask for | | -------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------- | | Software delivery | Release timing and reliability over a defined period | | Operational responsiveness | Resolution times for comparable issues | | Customer support | Consistent answers and traceable escalation | Tillo says it wants faster delivery, stronger operations, better decisions and improved customer experience. The company also stresses the need to protect trust when rewards programmes involve customer funds, fraud controls and service expectations. [\[S01\]](#article-source-1) Those aims are relevant to gift card distribution because the value of a platform is experienced through ordinary tasks: obtaining a card, checking an order, resolving a failed delivery and reconciling funds. A change to internal working methods becomes commercially meaningful when it improves one of those tasks in a way a customer can observe. ## How to judge the commitment The announcement supplies a direction and one internal example, but no quantified baseline against which its broader ambitions can yet be assessed. [\[S01\]](#article-source-1) Future reporting would be more informative if it separated development efficiency from production reliability and customer outcomes. For buyers, the useful question is therefore what changed in the service they receive. The company’s choice of tools provides context; delivery quality and accountability remain the measures that determine whether the strategy works. ## Sources and documents ExpandCollapse * [\[S01\] AI operating strategy, originally published January 20, 2026](https://www.tillo.com/blog/tillos-intent-for-2026-becoming-an-ai-native-company?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news) — Tillo * [\[S02\] Company announcement identifying CTO David Kavanagh](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/tillo%5Fainative-aiinbusiness-fintech-activity-7419320731680854016-qDN1?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news) — Tillo ## In this article ### Companies * [Tillo](https://giftcard.news/company/tillo/) ### People * [David Kavanagh](https://giftcard.news/person/david-kavanagh/) Share [ ](https://x.com/intent/post?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fpayments-technology%2Ftillo-aims-to-become-ai-native-company-in-2026-to-improve-rewards-and-gi-d208315996e5%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dx%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&text=Tillo%20sets%20an%20AI%20operating%20strategy%20for%20its%20gift%20card%20and%20rewards%20business "X") [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fpayments-technology%2Ftillo-aims-to-become-ai-native-company-in-2026-to-improve-rewards-and-gi-d208315996e5%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dlinkedin%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial "LinkedIn") [ ](https://wa.me/?text=Tillo%20sets%20an%20AI%20operating%20strategy%20for%20its%20gift%20card%20and%20rewards%20business%20https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fpayments-technology%2Ftillo-aims-to-become-ai-native-company-in-2026-to-improve-rewards-and-gi-d208315996e5%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dwhatsapp%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial "WhatsApp") ![Portrait of Suzie Elis](https://giftcard.news/images/variants/v1/suzie-elis-editorial-portrait-w320.webp) About the author ## [Suzie Elis](https://giftcard.news/author/suzie-elis/) Journalist — Gift Cards & Digital Gifting Suzie Elis covers gift card products, digital gifting and distribution for Gift Card News. From reading to building ## Your next move in gift cards. Tell us what you’re building. We’ll help you explore suitable providers. [Find a provider ](https://giftcard.news/find-a-provider/) ## Related articles [Payments & Technology](https://giftcard.news/payments-technology/) News ### [Crossmint Launches Card Vault for AI Agents, With Checkout Still in Pre-release](https://giftcard.news/payments-technology/crossmint-launches-card-vault-ai-agents/) [Daniel Brooks](https://giftcard.news/author/daniel-brooks/) September 17, 2026 1 min [Payments & Technology](https://giftcard.news/payments-technology/) News ### [Mastercard and HyperPay launch HyperSpend for Saudi business expenses](https://giftcard.news/payments-technology/mastercard-hyperpay-hyperspend-saudi-business-expenses/) [Daniel Brooks](https://giftcard.news/author/daniel-brooks/) September 15, 2026 2 min [Payments & Technology](https://giftcard.news/payments-technology/) News ### [Paramotor partners with NSDL Payments Bank and Mastercard for gift and prepaid cards](https://giftcard.news/payments-technology/paramotor-partners-with-nsdl-payments-bank-and-mastercard-for-gift-and-prepaid-cards/) [Daniel Brooks](https://giftcard.news/author/daniel-brooks/) September 11, 2026 1 min ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://giftcard.news/#publisher","name":"Gift Card News","url":"https://giftcard.news/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/brand/giftcard-news-logo.svg"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https://giftcard.news/author/suzie-elis/#person","name":"Suzie Elis","url":"https://giftcard.news/author/suzie-elis/","description":"Suzie Elis covers gift card products, digital gifting and distribution for Gift Card News.","jobTitle":"Journalist — Gift Cards & Digital Gifting","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/images/suzie-elis-editorial-portrait.webp","contentUrl":"https://giftcard.news/images/suzie-elis-editorial-portrait.webp","width":256,"height":256,"caption":"Illustrated portrait representing the Suzie Elis editorial profile."}},{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/images/tillo-sets-ai-operating-strategy-gift-card-rewards-business-two-people-working.webp","contentUrl":"https://giftcard.news/images/tillo-sets-ai-operating-strategy-gift-card-rewards-business-two-people-working.webp","width":1080,"height":720,"caption":"Official company image accompanying the source announcement.","@id":"https://giftcard.news/images/tillo-sets-ai-operating-strategy-gift-card-rewards-business-two-people-working.webp#image"},{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://giftcard.news/payments-technology/tillo-aims-to-become-ai-native-company-in-2026-to-improve-rewards-and-gi-d208315996e5/#article","url":"https://giftcard.news/payments-technology/tillo-aims-to-become-ai-native-company-in-2026-to-improve-rewards-and-gi-d208315996e5/","headline":"Tillo sets an AI operating strategy for its gift card and rewards business","description":"Tillo’s 2026 strategy focuses on development, operations and customer service, with an internal release cited as an early example.","datePublished":"2026-01-20T12:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-01-20T12:00:00.000Z","inLanguage":"en","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/payments-technology/tillo-aims-to-become-ai-native-company-in-2026-to-improve-rewards-and-gi-d208315996e5/#webpage"},"isPartOf":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/#website"},"isAccessibleForFree":false,"hasPart":{"@type":"WebPageElement","isAccessibleForFree":false,"cssSelector":".reader-restricted"},"image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/images/tillo-sets-ai-operating-strategy-gift-card-rewards-business-two-people-working.webp","contentUrl":"https://giftcard.news/images/tillo-sets-ai-operating-strategy-gift-card-rewards-business-two-people-working.webp","width":1080,"height":720,"caption":"Official company image accompanying the source announcement.","@id":"https://giftcard.news/images/tillo-sets-ai-operating-strategy-gift-card-rewards-business-two-people-working.webp#image"}],"articleSection":"Payments & Technology","keywords":["David Kavanagh","Tillo"],"mentions":[{"@type":"Person","@id":"https://giftcard.news/person/david-kavanagh/#entity","name":"David Kavanagh","url":"https://giftcard.news/person/david-kavanagh/"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://giftcard.news/company/tillo/#entity","name":"Tillo","url":"https://giftcard.news/company/tillo/"}],"wordCount":378,"citation":["https://www.tillo.com/blog/tillos-intent-for-2026-becoming-an-ai-native-company","https://www.linkedin.com/posts/tillo_ainative-aiinbusiness-fintech-activity-7419320731680854016-qDN1"],"author":[{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/author/suzie-elis/#person"}],"publisher":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/#publisher"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://giftcard.news/payments-technology/tillo-aims-to-become-ai-native-company-in-2026-to-improve-rewards-and-gi-d208315996e5/#webpage","url":"https://giftcard.news/payments-technology/tillo-aims-to-become-ai-native-company-in-2026-to-improve-rewards-and-gi-d208315996e5/","name":"Tillo sets an AI operating strategy for its gift card and rewards business","description":"Tillo’s 2026 strategy focuses on development, operations and customer service, with an internal release cited as an early example.","inLanguage":"en","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/#website"},"mainEntity":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/payments-technology/tillo-aims-to-become-ai-native-company-in-2026-to-improve-rewards-and-gi-d208315996e5/#article"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/payments-technology/tillo-aims-to-become-ai-native-company-in-2026-to-improve-rewards-and-gi-d208315996e5/#breadcrumbs"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/images/tillo-sets-ai-operating-strategy-gift-card-rewards-business-two-people-working.webp#image"}},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://giftcard.news/payments-technology/tillo-aims-to-become-ai-native-company-in-2026-to-improve-rewards-and-gi-d208315996e5/#breadcrumbs","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://giftcard.news/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Payments & Technology","item":"https://giftcard.news/payments-technology/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Tillo sets an AI operating strategy for its gift card and rewards business","item":"https://giftcard.news/payments-technology/tillo-aims-to-become-ai-native-company-in-2026-to-improve-rewards-and-gi-d208315996e5/"}]}]} ```