Jamie Umpherson, Chief Creative Officer at Runway, is using AI to power charge his - and his organization’s - creativity. Drawing on years in agencies working as a creative director, he shares how AI-powered tools are changing marketing, the bottlenecks that the technology can break down, and just how far the technology has come in a short time. Umpherson also shares how brands can scale while maintaining consistency and integrity.

For further reading:

More about Jamie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-umpherson-03579710/

More about Runway: https://runwayml.com/news

Introducing Runway characters: https://runwayml.com/news/introducing-runway-characters

General World Models: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tx3DgeqHO5s

Listen on your favorite podcast app: https://pod.link/1715735755

Shegun Otulana, CEO of Copysmith.ai, says there’s a widening gap between marketing teams that use AI tools on the edge, and ones that have fully rebuilt their processes around AI. He explains how his company is focusing now on the shift to GEO, how he’s built and continues to build AI-powered products for specific client needs, and why share of voice, mentions, and citations are becoming the new metrics of visibility.

For further reading:

Copysmith.ai: https://www.copysmith.ai/

Comeback Town: He built a billion dollar company in Birmingham and so can you: https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2025/03/comeback-town-he-built-a-billion-dollar-company-in-birmingham-and-so-can-you.html

From $250k Raised to $1.25B Exit w/ Shegun Otulana: https://bryce.medium.com/from-250k-raised-to-1-25b-exit-w-shegun-otulana-34e32912c603

More about Shegun: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheguno/

Listen on your favorite podcast app: https://pod.link/1715735755

Jeff Lunsford, CEO of Tealium, says that as enterprises rush to deploy agentic AI, batch processing and siloed systems won’t cut it: AI strategy lives or dies on the quality — and speed — of your data. In this episode, we explore what a true real-time data layer looks like, why most companies are underutilizing their marketing tech, and how brands must prepare for a world where AI agents — not humans — are initiating customer interactions. From identity tokens and authentication to agent-to-agent negotiation, we look at what’s coming next and what that means for marketers.

For Additional Reading:

Tealium achieves AWS Generative AI Competency, advancing enterprise AI at scale: https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/02/17/3239448/0/en/Tealium-achieves-AWS-Generative-AI-Competency-advancing-enterprise-AI-at-scale.html

Tealium Adds AI Features for Real-Time Customer Engagement: https://www.cmswire.com/customer-data-platforms/tealium-adds-ai-features-for-real-time-customer-engagement/

The secret to happy customers is… your data layer: https://martech.org/the-secret-to-happy-customers-is-your-data-layer/

More about Jeff: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jefflunsford/

Listen on your favorite podcast app: https://pod.link/1715735755

Konrad Feldman, co-founder and CEO of Quantcast, explains the shift from rule-based “expert systems” to goal-driven, autonomous AI, the evolution of DSPs, the hidden limits of “AI-washed” platforms, and why measurement—not targeting—is the biggest bottleneck holding marketing back. Drawing on three decades of experience in neural networks, machine learning, and programmatic advertising, he shares where he thinks digital advertising is going next.

For Further Reading:

Konrad Feldman on AI Trends: https://marketech-apac.com/expert-up-close-quantcast-ceo-konrad-feldman-on-ai-trends-and-how-marketers-can-leverage-them-for-success/

Why the CEO of Quantcast is Betting on Personalized AI: https://bigthink.com/business/how-ai-will-impact-marketing/

More about Konrad: https://www.linkedin.com/in/konrad-feldman-555132/

Listen on your favorite podcast app: https://pod.link/1715735755

Michael Walrath, Chairman and CEO of Yext, says today’s AI is fundamentally rewriting the rules of search, discovery, and brand visibility. Drawing on his extensive ad tech experience at DoubleClick, Yahoo, Moat, and now Yext, Walrath explains why AI-powered search is so much more powerful than traditional search—and why many current assumptions about GEO, SEO, and advertising are headed for a fast reckoning. Expanding on our episode with Bill Gross, Walrath also argues that inserting ads into AI experiences is the wrong answer, clicks are disappearing, and the future of AI marketing will look more like structured data and affiliate-style value exchange than traditional advertising.

Yext CEO on Search in the Age of AI: https://www.barrons.com/video/yext-ceo-on-search-in-the-age-of-ai/F798C382-AB67-47FD-AA54-4BEA89F5F38F

Yext’s Visibility Brief on Brand Visibility in AI Search: https://martech.org/yexts-visibility-brief-your-guide-to-brand-visibility-in-ai-search/

Listen on your favorite podcast app: https://pod.link/1715735755

Shelly Palmer, professor in residence at Syracuse and expert in all things AI, returns to the show to offer up what trends he saw at CES, and where the marketing industry is going. He explains how fast AI is changing every day, what marketers need to be doing to keep up, and why the technology is still underhyped.

For Further Reading:

CES 2026 Day 1: https://shellypalmer.com/2026/01/ces-2026-day-1-robot-wars/

How to Install and Setup Claude Code: https://shellypalmer.com/2026/01/how-to-install-claude-code/

MMA CMO AI Transformation Summit featuring Shelly: https://mmaglobal.com/cmo-ai-transformation-summit

Listen on your favorite podcast app: https://pod.link/1715735755

Sid Sudhakaran, Head of Data Strategy & Engineering for North America at Kantar, explains the benefits of the company’s ambitious AI assistant: KAiA. He explains how it democratizes data, when chatbots work for marketers (and when they don’t), and the real customer pain points they are tackling each and every day.

For Further Reading:

Embedding Artificial Intelligence in the World’s Largest Companies

Leveraging GenAI for Connected Insights

Kantar forecasts ten marketing trends for 2026 strategic planning

MMA and Kantar unveil how consumers are using AI

More about KAiA

Listen on your favorite podcast app: https://pod.link/1715735755

Bill Gross, founder of Overture (the company that created paid search) and now ProRata.ai, says that generative AI is fundamentally rewriting the rules of search - which means marketers, advertisers, and customers must all adapt to new ways of discovering products. Gross explains ProRata’s business model, how advertising will evolve inside AI-generated results, what a fair-value model for publishers and creators might look like, and how brands can stay discoverable and trusted as attention shifts away from search pages toward GenAI chat models.

For Further Reading:

Generative AI Has a 'Shoplifting' Problem. This Startup CEO Has a Plan to Fix It

ProRata.ai raises $40M and launches new search tool for publishers

ProRata.ai

Listen on your favorite podcast app: https://pod.link/1715735755