The way companies manage customer data is evolving – and rapidly. In an era where personalization, privacy, and real-time decision-making are no longer optional, businesses need a smarter approach to data. That’s why Twilio presents the 2025 edition of the Customer Data Platform report, its latest in-depth study on how companies are leveraging customer data platforms (CDPs) to unlock new opportunities.
This year’s report, based on insights from thousands of Twilio customers, reveals the key trends shaping the future of customer engagement. From the rise of composable technology systems to the growing synergy between data warehouses and CDPs, the findings make one thing clear: companies that effectively harness their data will define the next era of customer experience.
“From the simplest to the most complex interactions, whether seeking engagement, personalization, scalability, or better technology utilization, we always have the same starting point, where everything originates: data. Essentially, the entire tree of actions, strategies, and technologies grows from this single seed, which alerts us to the quality, quantity, and refinement of this data,” says Vivian Jones, Twilio’s LATAM Vice President.
Below are four of the most important insights from this year’s report:
- Interoperability is key to MarTech success – Companies are abandoning rigid, monolithic platforms in favor of composable technology systems – integrated ecosystems where best-of-breed tools work together seamlessly. This flexibility fosters innovation and allows businesses to quickly adapt to new needs;
- Data Warehouses and CDPs are better together – Last year, Twilio customers synced nearly 10 trillion rows of data with cloud data warehouses like Snowflake and BigQuery. While warehouses provide scalable data storage, their true power is unleashed when integrated with a CDP, enabling businesses to combine historical data with real-time insights for more personalized customer experiences;
- Analytics remains a powerhouse – Analytics tools are the most connected category on the Twilio platform, reflecting their critical role in understanding customer behavior. Companies integrating analytics with a CDP are making smarter, real-time decisions that drive deeper engagement.
- The growth of predictive AIpredictive – Last year, Twilio launched Predictive Traits, allowing businesses to anticipate customer behavior using machine learning. Adoption of this feature grew 57% this year, signaling a shift from predictive AI being a cutting-edge advantage to an essential driver for smarter, more personalized customer engagement.
Top customer data destinations for 2025
The report also explores which tools companies are prioritizing in their customer data strategies. The most connected categories on the Twilio platform include:
- Analytics (Google Analytics, Amplitude, Mixpanel) – 89%;
- Data warehouses (Snowflake, BigQuery) – 52%;
- Advertising (Meta Ads, LinkedIn, Google Ads) – 50%;
- Raw data storage (Amazon S3) – 40%;
- Email marketing (Customer.io, Mailchimp) – 35%;
- Heatmaps and session recording (Hotjar, FullStory) – 33%;
- Customer success platforms (Zendesk, Gainsight) – 25%;
- CRM systems (Intercom, HubSpot, Salesforce) – 14%.
These categories highlight how companies are orchestrating customer data across diverse platforms to create seamless, data-driven experiences.
Why this matters
The explosion of MarTech tools over the past decade has created a paradox: while there’s momentum toward consolidation, the reality is that companies are using more tools than ever to meet specific, critical needs. Integration has become the connective tissue holding these technologies together, allowing businesses to leverage specialized tools while maintaining a continuous flow of data.
MarTech is a vast and growing industry with thousands of players, and some level of consolidation is always in the air. Now, a recent wave of mergers and acquisitions has everyone paying attention. Uniphore acquired ActionIQ, Contentstack acquired Lytics and Rokt announced its merger with mParticle – all deals announced weeks apart, all centered on acquiring a customer data platform.
These moves signal growing recognition that customer data is at the heart of modern marketing technology. But consolidation alone doesn’t solve the complexity companies face in managing their technology systems.
What these recent acquisitions have really done is just create new point solutions, tying the CDP to a specific application or channel, which is limiting by definition.
Instead, a customer data platform should be part of an open architecture, seamlessly integrating communication channels, data sources, and AI capabilities, with the flexibility to add custom solutions. The report makes clear that this is how companies create unified, integrated customer experiences at every touchpoint.
Twilio’s recent joining of the MACH Alliance underscores its commitment to enabling composable, open, future-ready architectures. The MACH framework (Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native, and Headless) represents the category’s gold standard for building modular technology systems. By joining the alliance, Twilio signals its alignment with principles of flexibility and interoperability – values that are critical as companies seek to adapt to the evolving customer data landscape.
However, not all integrations are created equal. Many large software packages promise interoperability but fall short due to fragmented data models and limited documentation, forcing companies to rely on expensive custom integrations. In contrast, Twilio’s platform was designed with openness at its core, ensuring businesses can connect tools frictionlessly and unlock the full potential of their data.
To learn more, read the full report here.
