RMIT University has launched a new Marketing Technology Lab designed to give marketers hands-on experience with emerging technologies, while exploring how businesses can deliver personalised customer experiences without compromising data privacy.

The immersive facility comes as organisations increasingly rely on customer data, AI and MarTech to personalise interactions across digital and physical touchpoints, even as pressure mounts to deploy these capabilities responsibly. Built to support teaching, applied research and industry engagement, the lab gives students and industry partners direct access to the technologies shaping modern marketing.

It forms part of RMIT’s broader investment in the space, following its earlier launch of a Marketing Technology major, billed as the first of its kind in Asia-Pacific and third globally. The lab itself includes immersive experiences, a simulated retail store, an integrated software stack, analytics and visualisation zones, along with access to CRM, analytics and AI-enabled platforms.

Jason Pallant, founding director of the lab, said it aims to prepare graduates to understand both the potential and responsibilities of emerging technology, with a strong focus on a privacy-first approach that treats personalisation and privacy as complementary rather than conflicting goals.

Shane Duggan, Senior Industry Fellow in Economics, Finance and Marketing at RMIT, said the lab offers a space to examine how organisations can use data and AI responsibly while still delivering tailored experiences.

The launch also responds to a wider industry skills gap, RMIT has cited research showing only 28% of businesses have adequate in-house MarTech capabilities, while 74% report a critical shortage of skills, a gap the lab aims to help close.