Not really, it's only there if you want to take control of the gear changes yourself.
After a few weeks with an adaptive transmission it learns your driving style to a degree and also you, as the driver, learn how to influence its behaviour by adjusting accelerator pedal pressure slightly.
I use the Tip/Step mode occasionally but in general I find normal automatic gives enough response for my needs. It does adapt in lots of ways. If you push the accelerator down rapidly it will instantly engage one from a number of performance oriented gear change patterns. This is different to normal kickdown operation.
You can also manually select a Sport program which tightens up the torque converter and holds lower gears for longer. The shifts also tend to be slightly 'firmer' in sport program whereas in normal the shifts are virtually impossible to feel at all.
A good automatic transmission can be a joy to drive in all kinds of situations. A bad one can be very very annoying and even dangerous.