What role should AI play in marketing creativity?

Rick Koleta

Founder & Creator · GTM Vault

Gatekeeper

Rick Koleta says the role is a gatekeeper, putting the gate in front of the creative rather than after it: five checks decide whether a campaign gets built, and it is the cheapest step that can stop the spend.

Neil Patel

Co-Founder · Np Digital

Handle Average Tasks

Neil Patel says AI's role is handling average tasks, because it optimizes for average and can easily replicate average marketing work, while exceptional work is hard for it to replicate.

Tom Kaneshige

Chief Content Officer · CMO Council

Collaborate with Humans

Tom Kaneshige says AI and human marketers should work together, arguing that human judgment is more important than ever and that integrating the two strengths is key.

Duarte Garrido

Co-Founder & Co-CEO · DOJO AI

Assist, Not Replace

Duarte Garrido says AI is not here to replace marketers, arguing marketers will become more important because a good marketer's creative brain and decision-making aren't things AI can do very well.

The answer starts at 42:56.

Rustom Dastoor

Executive Vice President, Head of Marketing and Communications for the Americas · Mastercard

Intelligence Function

Rustom Dastoor says AI can help marketing move from a creative function to an intelligence function, using data and consumer proximity to influence product development and pricing and act as an early warning system. He says AI does not compensate for humanity.

Paul Roehrig

Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer · Ascendion

Assist, Not Replace

Paul Roehrig says AI should assist marketing creativity rather than replace it, because while a robot can help tell emotionally resonant stories, we're not ready to abdicate that human interpretation.

Marvin Chow

VP of Consumer and AI Marketing · Google

Execution Tool

Marvin Chow says AI will be an execution tool, used for creative and efficient execution and targeting insights, while people with taste and judgment decide brand and campaign direction.

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Khurrum Malik

VP of Business & Product Marketing · Walmart Connect

Another Tool

Khurrum Malik says AI is just another tool for creativity, noting a creative director friend uses it in ways he never imagined and that creativity is still there.

Rachel Thornton

CMO, Enterprise · Adobe

Assist and Scale

Rachel Thornton says marketers use generative AI to scale content and agentic tools to help build campaigns and handle rote work, while the great creative and experiences are still built by marketers.

Jonathan Kerr (JK)

Chief Growth Officer · Auto & General Australia

Ideation Aid

Jonathan Kerr says AI's opportunity in marketing creativity is ideation and democratizing the idea factory, letting many more people brief in half-formed ideas, because a good idea can come from anywhere.