Which human skill do you prioritize that AI cannot replicate?

Kellyn Smith Kenny

Chief Marketing & Growth Officer · At&T

Emotional intelligence

Kellyn Smith Kenny says marketers should gravitate toward human excellence and hone their EQ to understand what resonates emotionally and evoke a true brand-individual connection, where she thinks there will still be tremendous power.

The answer starts at 29:37.

Tom Kaneshige

Chief Content Officer · CMO Council

Human judgment

Tom Kaneshige says human judgment won't be replaced by AI and will be more important than ever, and argues how well marketers integrate the strengths of both will be key.

Tim Soulo

CMO · Ahrefs

Passion for the craft

Tim Soulo says he hires marketers for passion for the craft and willingness to learn, because AI can generate endless ideas but experience is needed to judge which are good and when to stop.

The answer starts at 54:10.

Duarte Garrido

Co-Founder & Co-CEO · DOJO AI

Creative ideation

Duarte Garrido says creative ideation is the human differentiator marketers should prioritize, since AI is not built for it and creativity comes from human experience, not data.

The answer starts at 29:30.

Rustom Dastoor

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

In-person relationship building

Rustom Dastoor prioritizes in-person relationship building as the human practice AI cannot replicate, saying AI does not compensate for humanity and that meeting people in person has immense value.

Paul Roehrig

Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer · Ascendion

Human storytelling

Paul Roehrig says human storytelling is his answer, saying it comes down to human interpretation of a story with emotional resonance and that a robot will help but he doesn’t think it will be able to do that anytime soon.

Marvin Chow

VP of Consumer and AI Marketing · Google

Judgment

Marvin Chow says judgment matters because you have to know what good looks like; if you don't, merging roles just stacks bad on bad.

Seth Godin

Connecting humans

Seth Godin says he uses AI to connect humans and build networks of people, because AI is never going to be able to replace networks of people.

Dawn Dawson

Chief Marketing Officer · Mortgage Solutions Financial

One-to-one experiences

Dawn Dawson says to create one-to-one experiences, letting AI help create them, because as AI increases efficiency it isolates people and humans need connection.

Lucinda Barlow

Senior Director, Head of International Marketing (APAC, EMEA, Latin America) · Uber

Storytelling

Lucinda Barlow says storytelling, specifically dramatic tension between the new and familiar, is required to embed messages in memory and create long-term behavior change, because AI-generated ads struggle to create that tension and it takes craft and human understanding.

Lara Hood Balazs

Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President, Global Marketing · Adobe

Empathy

Lara Hood Balazs names empathy, saying it breeds trust because you fall in love with your customer problems, not the solutions, and that the human makes that judgment.

Gilad Bechar

Founder & CEO · Moburst

Self-learning

Gilad Bechar says he prioritizes self-learning, calling it one of the most relevant abilities as marketing roles and silos change.

Todd Kaplan

Chief Marketing Officer, North America · Kraft Heinz

Empathy

Todd Kaplan says consumer empathy is among the biggest traits for future brand-building teams, because AI can do more of the doing but the thinking—like understanding real consumer insight—will not go away.