The revolution has already begun — and few seem truly prepared for it. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not just another emerging technology: it is the force that is rewriting, in real time, the rules of contemporary marketing.
What once depended on intuition, planning and human experience is now amplified by algorithms that learn, produce and decide at unprecedented speed. Marketing today is a hybrid discipline, where creativity meets mathematics and where human talent finds a new digital ally.
According to a recent McKinsey study, more than 70% of companies already use AI in at least one operational area of marketing, and those that do so in a structured way record operational efficiency gains between 15% and 20%. The automation of tasks such as data analysis, message personalization or audience segmentation frees teams to focus on what technology still cannot replicate effectively, such as strategic thinking or empathy.
It is a paradigm shift — from marketing based on campaigns to marketing based on continuous experiences. Today, the digital consumer lives in a state of constant interaction and demands instant personalization, coherence and relevance. For example, on Netflix, more than 80% of the content viewed results from AI-generated recommendations. At Zara, analytical results are produced in real time, demand patters are refined, and production is adjusted according to algorithmic forecasts; in the banking and insurance sectors, it is already common to find digital banks that use AI to recommend personalized products based on behavior and context. In all these examples, the lesson is the same: those who master data master the experience.
This new era also demands a structural transformation within marketing teams. The traditional model, organized in functional silos (branding, digital, communication), is being replaced by small, agile and multidisciplinary teams — the so-called “pods” — supported by AI agents that preform operational tasks. Unilever is a clear example of this change: its “AI Studios” produce, in just a few seconds, hundreds of creative ad variations adapted to different markets and languages. The result? A 30% reduction in launch time and an average 12% increase in conversion rates.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, recently stated that AI will do “95% of what marketing professionals currently ask agencies and external creatives to do”. Although provocative, this prediction reflects the growing trend towards automation of creative and analytical processes. Meanwhile, Gartner estimates that 40% of digital marketing budgets are already being designed by generative AI platforms. This scenario redefines the role of agencies — they no longer sell isolated ideas but provide integration, management and technological acceleration capabilities.
AI is not a disruptor of the future. It is the present that already forces us to rethink marketing at its ore. True power lies in combining the analytical reasoning of machines with the intuition, sensitivity, and purpose of people. The companies that understand this will not merely survive the age of AI — they will be the ones writing it. Marketing today is not digital, it is intelligent. And its future belongs to those who know how to think with algorithms without ceasing to feel as human.
Pedro Celeste, Professor at CATÓLICA-LISBON