AI may be evolving at breakneck speed, but it’s already changed the way every marketer works. In some cases, that has meant an emphasis on doing more and doing it faster, leading to an explosion of homogenous work. But the truly smart way to deploy AI is to redefine your role and workflows to practice a new kind of human-centred creativity – and reap the rewards.
Two experienced and recognised SEA marketing leaders offered their insights from their front row seats at the AI revolution: Margot Torres, managing director of McDonald’s Philippines and one of the region’s most decorated marketing leaders; and Irene Joshy, creative head at Kantar APAC, a social anthropologist and semiotician with a deep understanding of consumer behavior and a background in senior marketing roles at Colgate-Palmolive and Nielsen.
When you look at how AI has already changed marketing, what are your main reflections?
Irene: We should take a pause and congratulate humankind for the creation of artificial intelligence. It’s a giant technological leap forward in the evolution of our civilisation. It offers efficiency and the ability to do things at speed. It makes our ideas come alive and brings a touch of imagination to art, architecture, advertising and content.
Margot: When used well, AI can elevate the quality of marketing by accelerating data processing, sharpening insights, and enabling faster experimentation. Beyond creativity, it can also strengthen brand experiences by improving customer experience, operations, personalisation and overall brand relevance.
Irene: The possibilities creatively are boundless. If we can imagine it and want to prototype it, AI is our best ally – there has been a real democratisation of access. But it is a tool and not more than that – human craft is still key and if we didn’t anthropomorphise computers or smartphones, why would we want to do that with AI?
AI is a tool, not a creator. We shouldn’t anthropomorphise it any more than we would a smartphone
Navigating the risks
It’s been estimated that this year, 90% of new online content will be created solely or partly by AI. Amid that explosion of content, marketers have to raise their voices and reclaim control of the creative agenda, ensuring the benefits of scale afforded by technology are balanced by human oversight. But commentators and practitioners alike warn this isn’t straightforward.
How critical is the risk of ‘outsourcing’ creativity to AI?
Margot: The democratisation Irene described also creates a flood of synthetic content, making mediocrity easier and increasing marketplace clutter. Marketers can easily fall into the trap of prioritising speed and quantity over quality. We’re already seeing outputs that look polished but lack human insight, emotion and meaning, making it harder for brands to genuinely connect. Leaving your brand to a tool isn’t creative bravery; it risks sloppiness and disconnect from consumers.
Irene: It’s true that if it were left to AI, the world would be full of sameness. We’d be waiting endlessly for AI to generate fresh, original concepts for us. We don’t want a slew of AI-generated content that’s not rooted in a single, powerful idea – that just would not work. But that only happens when people take shortcuts and abdicate brain work, replacing it with regurgitated information provided by the large language models of this world.
Margot: As technology becomes more advanced, we’re seeing people gravitate towards what feels authentic and real. So while AI-generated content can be useful, efficient and even entertaining, there’s also a risk of backlash if what you put out feels synthetic or generic.
Leaving your brand to a tool isn’t creative bravery; it risks sloppiness and disconnect from consumers
A balanced approach
We know a synthesis of AI and human intuition delivers for businesses. But moving to a place of genuine creative bravery – where marketers reinvest the benefits of an AI-powered workflow into risk-taking and horizon-scanning, and deliver on their objectives – requires a fundamental mindset shift.
What will the marketers who emerge as genuine leaders in an AI era do right?
Margot: AI is a powerful tool that allows our people to focus on the work that matters most. When used with intention, it becomes an accelerator: sharpening insights, expanding creative exploration and helping shape more targeted, relevant campaigns. However, its value ultimately depends on how intentionally we use it, and how thoughtfully we train it. The challenge for marketers today is to connect in meaningful ways and not simply add to the noise.
Irene: Once an idea is in place, being able to produce content at scale, make different versions, experiment with visuals, voice and lend the campaign versatility is where AI is put to best use. But humans remain the architects of meaning, connection and true resonance. AI amplifies our capabilities, but our unique human insights and empathy are irreplaceable. AI is at our service, not the other way round.
Margot: At Cannes this year, I saw great work where AI was used to process data and unlock powerful ideas. For example, the Sato 2531 campaign for the Japanese NGO ASUNIWA showed that by the year 2531, only one Japanese surname would be left because women were mandated by law to take their husband’s surname. Meanwhile, O2’s ‘Daisy vs Scammers’ built an AI-powered persona of a grandmother who could keep scammers on the line, wasting their time and protecting potential victims. The tech was smart, but what made it powerful was the human choice behind it: the humour, warmth and personality. It wasn’t just AI for AI’s sake.
Irene: Personally, I use AI to inform myself like I would use search in the past. Then, I use my thoughts, experience and ideas to power creativity. At the next stage, when I wish to see how the idea can be scaled and expressed, I would turn to AI to be able to test, learn, experiment and learn some more – always keeping human intelligence in the loop.
Margot: AI speeds up content production, data processing and execution, but the time saved should be reinvested into deeper insights, innovation and strengthening what the brand stands for. It cannot replace human insight, empathy, cultural understanding or courageous decision-making.
From expert to experimental
This will undoubtedly be a pivotal year for corporate AI adoption, and the risk for laggards. is that the gap between companies integrating the technology into marketing practice and the rest will become a chasm. In a groundbreaking Google/BCG survey last year, businesses that were identified as leaders in AI integration were already found to have 60% greater revenue growth than competitors. A study conducted by Kantar in partnership with Lazada reveals that while 68% of e-commerce businesses are familiar with AI, only 37% have integrated it into their operations.
What advice would you give marketers struggling to use AI in meaningful ways and retain control of the issue?
Margot: The teams who get this right are very intentional. They start by being crystal clear on the ‘why’ behind AI, not using it for novelty, speed or convenience alone but because it solves a real business problem or unlocks a creative opportunity. They define the purpose, the human insight and the brand intention first. That becomes the guardrail that determines how far AI can and should go.
Irene: But also imagination is what ultimately leads to memorable and iconic content. Imagination will take you places in an AI-driven world. The time we earn through deploying AI for mundane tasks is best put to use to fuel imagination and create ideas. The most memorable content triggers human emotions, provides us with new perspectives and enriches our thinking. The creator economy is growing fast and has a role to play, but the magic is when we blend branded content with creators. This synergy has a 1.7x multiplier effect, demonstrating the power of integrated marketing strategies that leverage both traditional branding and creator-driven content.
Even if we are using AI to generate, multiply and create variations of content, remember it is being served to a human and the absence of clarity and creativity would spell doom.
Margot: You need to shift from an expert to an experimental mindset: encouraging curiosity, agility and openness to new tools and ways of working. Practice creative bravery – what I call positive discomfort, leaning into the unfamiliar because that’s where growth and breakthrough ideas happen. Build a test-and-learn culture. Start small, experiment often, learn quickly and refine based on real insights. Stay consistent to what your brand stands for and be obsessed with what your customers are looking for.
The absence of clarity and creativity in an AI-generated world would spell doom for brand resonance
A brighter future?
It would be easy for marketers to be fearful given the many imponderables involved in the evolution of AI, and the uncertainty about its effects on existing practice and organisational structures. And yet, Dentsu’s highly influential Global Ad Spent Forecast suggests this will be the year advertising breaks the $1 trillion barrier. It’s clear that even facing economic tailwinds, marketers are ready to seize the initiative.
Are you optimistic for the future?
Irene: There are AI shops in SEA that are providing content generation at scale with the means to target consumers but I feel the adoption of AI here is going to be selective. As in almost everything, SEA is leading by adopting AI in a way that helps us achieve our goals, not just for the sake of it. We will adopt it where it serves our needs - the usage is bound to like all else normalise once the novelty wears out.
Margot: We’ll eventually have clearer answers to many of today’s questions, but as AI evolves, new and more complex challenges will naturally emerge. The good thing is our capabilities, thinking and creativity will evolve alongside it. Humans remain the architects of meaning and connection. AI amplifies craft but it cannot replicate empathy. Insight-led ideas ensure AI is being used with purpose, not novelty.
Irene: Like everything in culture, there will be an initial fascination, curiosity and flurry of activity, after which things have to settle and we will strike the much-needed equilibrium, finding our place versus that of AI in the world at large and at work. Human intelligence and human connection are and will continue to be paramount.
The ‘positive discomfort’ Margot described, where marketers resist simply going with the AI-driven flow but instead reinvest the time technology hands them into creatively driven risk-taking, could be the defining characteristic of the year ahead. Viewing AI solely as a route to drive efficiency is likely to alienate consumers and eradicate the magic that helps brands truly take off; conversely, marketers who focus on connection and human-led creativity, backed by AI-powered systems and processes, will find they retake control of the narrative and watch their brands thrive. The growth of the creator ecosystem is emblematic of how audiences crave the essentially human even as they embrace the benefits of AI. Will businesses be brave enough to lean into discomfort?
A New Frontier: The 2026 YouTube Works Awards SEA
As YouTube Works embarks on a new creative frontier with AI, the programme is looking to celebrate the pioneering mindset and the most innovative applications of AI for creative development with the new “Best Use of AI for Creative” category at 2026 YouTube Works Awards SEA.
This category looks for the most innovative creative works, where AI is being used as a collaborative partner in unlocking new creative frontiers. Judges will look for work that demonstrates a pioneering spirit approach, using Gen AI to overcome creative constraints, generate novel formats or craft experiences that were previously unimaginable. Entries should prove how this experimental mindset resulted in a breakthrough in creative capability, audience engagement and/or cultural resonance, setting a new benchmark for future innovation.
2026 submission to YouTube Works Awards Southeast Asia is now open. Brands and agencies are invited to submit their entries through the official portal until April 30, 2026.