Marketers have been quick to embrace the age of artificial intelligence.
A recent Gartner survey of 402 senior marketers in North America and Europe found that 65% of CMOs believe that AI will dramatically change their role over the next two years.
We asked Business Insider’s 2026 Rising Stars in Brand Marketing winners how they leverage AI in their daily work and which tools they rely on the most.
These marketing professionals use tools like Midjourney and Microsoft’s Copilot to test creative ideas, create visuals and stories for presentations, eliminate busywork and create more space for their marketing strategies.
We also asked them to share their advice for young marketers navigating this period of technological disruption.
The following has been edited for length and clarity.
Build an AI stack that reflects your daily work
BI
Benny Gee, Edmunds Creative Director
I see AI as an accelerator at the beginning of the creative process. This allows you to consider more directions quickly, but the real work is deciding which ideas are worth pursuing and pushing them into something that’s clear, useful, and actually feels Edmunds-like.
To support that, I built a small AI stack that mirrors the way I work every day. puzzled For deep research, Claude As a pressure tester to push back my thoughts and find holes, and as a tool for nano banana and higgs field Quickly explore visually from rough comps to moving static ideas to life.
We are in uncharted territory in terms of how marketing work is done and who is hired to do it. Tools are changing rapidly and the job market is tight, resulting in a flood of fast, cheap, and often forgotten jobs.
What makes me optimistic is that this will reward people who care about the craft. Tools have lowered the cost of content production, but judgment and taste are more important than ever. Good marketers know what’s worth building, why it’s important, and who it’s for.
Create concepts using image generation tools
BI
Jasmine Sharp, Grubhub Director and Head of Creative
tools like geminiimage generator and in the middle of a journey This was invaluable for my team, whether it was quick ideation to generate a concept, creating visuals for a pitch deck, or developing images to enhance the creative.
On days focused on strategy, project, team planning, or simple development, I turn to my “old faithful.” gemini or Chat GPT It helps formalize key inputs and make ideas clearer and more concise.
For all you budding marketers and creators out there, I encourage you to embrace adversity and put yourself in difficult, even uncomfortable situations early on. You may make mistakes from time to time, but those experiences hone your skills, make you more resilient, and give you the confidence to take risks wisely.
Additionally, don’t be afraid to explore different work environments and subject areas early in your career. This expands your portfolio, develops 360-degree thinking, and prepares you for impact and leadership later on.
Utilizing AI as a “thinking partner”
BI
Fiona Green, Amazon Community Operations Director of Communications
In my daily work, I use AI as a strategic thinking partner to test ideas, hone messaging, and uncover insights to improve campaign resonance.
While AI handles some of the execution, the value of uniquely human skills, particularly creativity, judgment, and a deep understanding of human behavior, is increasing. Marketing has always been about understanding what makes people tick and turning that into stories and experiences that resonate. Even in the age of AI, this will not go away. It becomes even more important.
For those looking to enter the field, I recommend investing in the humanities by studying behavior, culture, and storytelling, while also becoming proficient with AI tools. The emerging marketers are those who can combine technical ability with critical thinking, empathy, and a clear perspective.
Prepare presentation materials
BI
Natasha McLeod, Senior Manager, Creative, The Coca-Cola Company
AI has become an important part of my daily work, helping me with everything from understanding priorities to taking minutes of meetings and ensuring briefs are aligned with business objectives. We also use it to generate deck visuals and analyze complex data more efficiently.
microsoft copilot is my go-to tool because it integrates seamlessly into my workflow, but I’m also actively exploring other platforms to stay up to date as features evolve.
Marketing is undergoing major disruption, which is exactly what makes these exciting times. There is a real opportunity to unleash your creativity and passion while using tools like AI to enhance, rather than replace, your natural skills. The core of marketing remains understanding what motivates consumers and how brands earn a meaningful place in their lives.
Pressure test your creative ideas
BI
Mohib Iktidar, NYX Cosmetics Global Marketing Director
AI accelerates creativity, but humanity remains the differentiator when it comes to beauty.
I use GPT tools to synthesize research and derive insights that would traditionally take hours or days. I’m counting on you too Claire ITEC and Omi Visualize your creative space and prototype packaging.
AI has fundamentally changed the speed of exploration. You can explore, synthesize, visualize, and pressure test ideas faster than ever before, so you can spend more time on strategic and creative depth.
But beauty marketing is emotional, cultural, sensory and very human. I used AI to expand my creative possibilities, but never to replace real people or real experiences.
As marketing becomes increasingly powered by technology, the greatest competitive advantage remains deeply human: the ability to understand people and move culture forward.
Anyone can learn how marketing works. What truly sets you apart is your perspective, your compassion, and how deeply you can understand others.
Meeting records and summaries
BI
Mia Vandermeer, Content and Brand Marketing Manager, Tennr
For me, recording and summarizing meeting notes was the best use of AI. This allows you to stay present while brainstorming and jot down important ideas without missing any details.
Other than that, I’m a bit of a Luddite because I have company policy against using AI in my writing. Clarity comes from writing, and outsourcing the act of writing means outsourcing the act of thinking. It’s worth the extra time to write well and clearly, and to craft original and unique ideas that actually make people think differently.
Storytelling is an industry-agnostic need that isn’t going away, especially in the AI slop era we’re experiencing. Businesses and brands need storytellers to communicate their values, resonate with audiences, and differentiate them from others.
Save your admin time and keep them focused on important strategic tasks
BI
Bita Jedo, Influencer Marketing Manager, EMEA, Disney+
i use microsoft copilot Streamline your daily work by refining influencer briefs, streamlining long writing tasks, and quickly summarizing emails and documents.
By eliminating administrative tasks, you can stay focused on the strategic and creative decisions that matter most to your campaign.
My advice to young people starting out is to get as wide an experience as possible, even if it’s only for a short period of time.
Careers are no longer linear, and that’s a good thing. There is also a world of opportunities and side hustles available online. While you don’t know where your career will take you, finding what you enjoy can help you build a more versatile career.
Turn numbers into a clearer story with tools like Gemini
BI
Celeste Roque, Tubi Social Media Director
We use AI to eliminate friction in jobs that don’t require human instincts.
That’s important because I want my team to spend time actually moving the needle. That means studying your community, understanding what resonates within the culture, and being creative.
On the practical side, I gemini Focus is on reporting. This helps you graph and analyze performance data, so you can turn the numbers into a clearer leadership story and show the impact social is having.
My advice to the next generation of budding marketers is to be able to articulate why something works. If you think some of your content resonates with others, be able to analyze why. How tense is the content? Who is it speaking to? Why does the timing make sense? Instincts get you into the room, but explaining your instincts builds trust.
Working with an internal AI stack consisting of multiple models
BI
Rachel Ferrigno, Zoetis Associate Director of Content Marketing and SEO
I use AI primarily as a strategic accelerator, not as a content replacement tool. In your day-to-day work, you’ll help streamline your workflow by assisting with initial content edits, creating outlines, assisting with creative briefs, and identifying opportunities for content updates.
I was lucky enough to participate in two generative AI pilot projects at Zoetis, where I learned and evaluated multiple tools and honed my prompt generation skills. My trading tool is our in-house GenAI functionality. Unlike standalone tools like Chat GPT or microsoft copilotour in-house GenAI platform integrates multiple AI models. OpenAI, Claudeand Mistral — all in one place for ease of use.
My advice to future generations of marketers is to find a balance between generalist and specialist. I recommend finding an area of marketing that you like and having some secondary specializations on top of that.
For example, if you’re a content marketing expert, you might want to focus on generative AI, search engine optimization, and storytelling as subspecialties.
