How CMOs are thinking about AI in 2026

Like it or not, there was no doubt that AI had a huge influence on marketing in 2025.

Whether it was AI-generated ad creative’s increasing frequency, the tech’s proliferation on CTV platforms, or the focus on building “algorithmic trust” to improve brand visibility when consumers shop using AI-powered tools, AI is reshaping marketing workflows and objectives. In the new year, there’s no sign of it slowing down.

We asked several CMOs and marketers what they’re prioritizing in the new year—and unsurprisingly, adjusting to AI continues to be a top focus. We rounded up some of those marketers’ answers below to get a sense of how they continue to adopt the new technology.

Sara Brooks, chief growth officer, BetterHelp: How do you get your brand discovered in a world of AI? The landscape has completely shifted, and so [we are] really heavily focused on how we are showing up everywhere that people are searching online. Whether that’s on Instagram, whether that’s on LLMs, whether that’s in Google, showing up in AI overviews, brand discovery has completely shifted.

Thomas Ranese, CMO, Intuit: AI is changing the center of gravity in marketing. Execution is increasingly automated, so our teams’ value comes from what AI can’t do—deep customer insight, strategic judgment, and creative curiosity. My priority is building a culture of “master prompters” who know how to get the best out of AI to move faster while differentiating us in ways that are more human.

Stacy Martinet, VP of integrated marketing and communications, Adobe: One of my top priorities is upskilling my team—helping everyone get more hands-on with AI to work smarter, collaborate better, and build new ways of operating. The first step: giving people permission to experiment…I encourage my teams to test various tools, summarizing documents, refining messaging, and finding all the big and small ways AI can simplify workflows.

The next big opportunity is rethinking how our teams work in an AI-first world: redesigning processes, expanding roles, and giving people more ownership across end-to-end workflows. The upside is huge: new opportunities, new skills, and real career growth.

Nataly Kelly, CMO, Zappi: My top priority going into 2026 is meeting customers where they’re actually searching. And that is increasingly in AI chat and summary, not just traditional digital channels. SEO still matters, but we’re now optimizing for AEO and GEO because AI systems lean heavily on authoritative sources. Your AI brand presence is becoming just as important as your first-party one.

At the same time, brand is absolutely a growth lever for us in 2026. B2B buyers are making decisions based on trust and values more than features or price—dentsu’s Superpowers Index shows that “personal” decision drivers now outweigh functional ones, and well-known brands win business in 81% of cases. In a crowded SaaS market, that means storytelling, emotional relevance, and creating real experiences are as important as your ability to speak AI’s language.

Mary Beech, chief growth officer, Thorne: Harnessing AI to deepen personalization and ensure consumers have access to credible, evidence-based insights amid the growing wave of AI-generated misinformation. The reality is traditional web analytics are no longer enough to measure influence or reach, and AI-enabled optimization (AEO) will become a critical tool in meeting consumers where they are.

Imri Marcus, CEO, Brandlight: We have so much belief and first principle understanding in the fact that AI is rising as the next big marketing channel, so by far, the biggest priority and focus for us is to keep building the right tools, the right intelligence, the right data to thrive in that environment, and obviously to help our customers thrive in it. It is our job, after all, but we have so much conviction that this is the marketing channel to invest in, that it works both ways for us and for our customers.