How AI Is Redefining the Future of Marketing: My Keynote at the AMA Virtual AI Summit
On May 15, 2025, I had the privilege of delivering the keynote at the American Marketing Association’s Virtual AI Summit—an event that brought together hundreds of the nation’s top marketers to unpack the future of our industry.
Here’s the bottom line:
AI isn’t a tactic. It’s the tectonic shift reshaping marketing from the ground up.
AI: The Most Transformational Tech Since the Internet
In my keynote, I made one thing clear:
“AI is moving faster than the internet and the iPhone ever did—and it’s coming for every corner of the marketing funnel.
Most CMOs still think of AI in the context of productivity tools and content creation. That’s a mistake. The real unlock is strategic intelligence: AI that knows your customers better than your team does.
Key Themes I Covered
From Demographics to Decision DNA
Marketers have long relied on demographics. AI makes that obsolete.
Now, we can market to people based on behavioral signals, psychographics, and real-time intent.
The shift from segments to individuals is no longer theoretical—it’s happening.
Gen Alpha = Your AI-Native Customer
This generation, aged 0–15, is growing up with AI as a utility, not a novelty.
Their expectations will reset every rule you thought you understood about brand loyalty, UX, and discovery.
Content Is Commoditized. Context Is King.
AI will write the emails, edit the video, and build the landing page. That’s table stakes.
The winners? Marketers who ask better questions, leverage first-party data, and deliver value in context, at speed.
Why Most Marketing Orgs Aren’t Ready
Marketing teams are still siloed, stuck in channel-based KPIs.
The future requires cross-functional AI fluency—creative meets data meets tech.
I challenged attendees to build internal AI task forces, pilot GPT copilots, and start training teams on prompt engineering now.
My Call to Action to AMA Members
“The marketers who win in the AI era won’t be the ones with the best campaigns. They’ll be the ones with the best questions.”
This isn’t about replacing creativity. It’s about amplifying it with intelligence at scale.
I encouraged every AMA member to do three things in the next 30 days:
Audit your tech stack for AI-native platforms.
Upskill your team on AI fundamentals (prompting, tools, ethics).
Redesign your org chart for a world where strategy and software are inseparable.
Final Thought
We are at a once-in-a-generation inflection point. AI is not a job killer—it’s a job shifter. The marketers who lean in now will build the brands that define the next decade.
If you missed the session, connect with me on LinkedIn or check out my book Generation AI, now available on Amazon.
Stay tuned, stay curious, and stay human.
