According to Teresa Barreira, Chief Marketing Officer of the consultancy Publicis Sapient, artificial intelligence isn't disrupting marketing. It's performing an audit. Her argument, presented in a recent interview, is that AI is revealing systemic flaws the industry has tolerated for years: bloated structures, sluggish workflows, and processes better suited to a past era.

For Barreira, the evidence is in the contrast. When AI can draft a campaign brief, generate creative assets, and plan media buys within hours, the traditional model—spanning weeks and involving countless handoffs between teams and agencies—appears untenable. This isn't a niche view. Marketing budgets have tightened, with Gartner noting spend as a percentage of revenue fell to 7.7% in 2024, yet the average martech stack has swollen to over 90 tools. The result is a costly paradox of increased complexity and diminishing returns.

Barreira, whose firm advises major corporations on digital strategy, observes this shift firsthand. Generative AI from firms like OpenAI and Google isn't merely assisting with tasks; it's replacing entire stages of work. This compression eliminates the need for many roles designed to manage that now-unnecessary complexity. The strain extends to agency holding groups, where the traditional separation between creative, media, and data specialists is being questioned as AI bridges strategy and execution.

The skills required for marketers are changing. LinkedIn data shows demand for AI-related marketing competencies surged over 60% year-on-year in 2024, while traditional role demand stalled. The new high-performer is a technically fluent generalist who can orchestrate AI across the value chain.

Barreira acknowledges hurdles like compliance and quality control in regulated sectors. However, she contends that delay is a greater risk. Her advice to leaders is straightforward: ruthlessly map and simplify operating models, build AI literacy organization-wide, and rebuild agency partnerships for speed and co-creation using shared technology. The core challenge, she suggests, isn't adopting AI but finally confronting the organizational inertia AI has laid bare.

Source: Webpronews