Marketers Must Build Their Own AI or Risk Falling Behind Fast
At Cannes Lions 2025, a standout conversation unfolded at Brand Innovators between Alysa Taylor, Chief Marketing Officer for Commercial Cloud & AI at Microsoft, and Liz Bacelar, Head of AI and Advanced Analytics at Under Armour. This wasn’t another AI-hype panel. It was a strategic deep dive into how marketing leaders must evolve—not just to use AI, but to build it.
The most telling quote may have come near the end of the session. “It’s knowing the applied application,” Taylor said. In other words, theory isn’t enough. Marketers must understand how AI integrates into their daily work—and that starts with community and transparency.
Both speakers encouraged marketing leaders to share their trials and wins—through roundtables, case studies, and peer learning. The AI CMO, they suggested, isn’t just smarter or faster. She’s more connected, more curious, and more willing to get her hands dirty.
