Which human skill is key to succeed with AI in marketing?

Tom Kaneshige

Chief Content Officer · CMO Council

Human Judgment

Tom Kaneshige says human judgment will be more important than ever in marketing and argues it won't be replaced by AI, with integrating AI and human strengths being key.

The answer starts at 28:53.

Tim Soulo

CMO · Ahrefs

Passion for the Craft

Tim Soulo says passion for the craft, along with willingness to learn, is what he looks for, explaining that AI can generate ideas endlessly but knowing which ideas are good only comes with experience.

The answer starts at 54:10.

Duarte Garrido

Co-Founder & Co-CEO · DOJO AI

Creative Thinking

Duarte Garrido says creative thinking—the ability to think differently—is the marketer's differentiator, because AI runs on logic and can't do creative ideation; that comes from human experience, not data.

The answer starts at 29:12.

Gary Lombardo

Adjunct Professor

Agility

Gary Lombardo says agility is at the core of staying relevant in AI marketing; he keeps close to customers and tests small experiments because the market is moving faster than ever.

Rustom Dastoor

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

Humanity

Rustom Dastoor points to humanity, saying AI does not compensate for it and that in-person human connection has immense value.

The answer starts at 20:56.

Ryan Gavin

Chief Marketing Officer · Slack

Intellectual Curiosity

Ryan Gavin says you have to be intellectually curious and present in these types of things, since AI models are a black box and you can't quickly see exactly what they did or why.

Marvin Chow

VP of Consumer and AI Marketing · Google

Growth Mindset

Marvin Chow says a growth mindset is important for marketers, noting he has had to learn the web, social and AI, and that being open to unlearning old ways and embracing new ones is valuable as things shift.

Lucinda Barlow

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

Creative Spirit

Lucinda Barlow says the one thing is to bring a creative spirit—curiosity, openness, and embracing smart risk-taking—because it achieves great impact and growth.

Gilad Bechar

Founder & CEO · Moburst

Self-Learning

Gilad Bechar says the ability to self-learn is a most relevant skill, and calls that mentality probably the most important today because the pace of innovation is insane and things can be built much faster.

Todd Kaplan

Chief Marketing Officer, North America · Kraft Heinz

Empathy

Todd Kaplan says empathy, alongside agility, is one of the biggest traits CMOs should build in their teams, arguing that even as AI does more of the doing, people still need to grasp real consumer insight rather than cite facts.

Joseph Salvatore

Creative Marketing Specialist · Ketone-Iq

Storytelling

Joseph Salvatore says storytelling is the skill to develop, saying that although models can generate any video, not everyone can create a story someone wants to watch a second time.

Dara Treseder

Chief Marketing Officer · Autodesk

Creativity

Dara Treseder says creativity, curiosity, and discernment are among the most valuable skills for the future of work, because anything that can be automated will be automated.