AI is everywhere. But marketers haven’t cracked its full potential yet.

“We’re asking the wrong questions,” said Dan Gardner, cofounder of creative agency Code and Theory. “Mainly because we don’t know what the right questions are.”

• Gardner, who also spoke at the Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council event, noticed a striking contrast to the conversations at Cannes Lions last month.
• “At the CEO Council, there was more honest confusion. Like, ‘I don’t know what we should be doing,’" he said. "And then I go to Cannes...and all the CMOs seem to have an answer.”

That disconnect reveals the deeper uncertainty and complexity in how companies are approaching AI—particularly in marketing.

Efficiency is not the end game

It’s tempting for brands to latch onto AI as a tool for immediate gains—namely, efficiency.

But “efficiency is a race to the bottom,” said Gardner.

• “So if efficiency is the only question, then every business is going to have little differentiation.”
• While marketers may feel like they’re embracing AI—via ChatGPT or custom GPTs—the last mile, where AI truly transforms marketing, still hasn’t materialized.
• “You don’t see a material ROI yet. True value realization isn’t there,” said Gardner.

The shift from utility to empathy

Marketing has a special relationship with AI because “[AI] is so magical,” according to Gardner. But there’s so much more that marketers can be doing with it.

The real opportunity for AI lies in being able to take experiences that are currently falling flat and add more emotional relevance for consumers, according to Gardner.

• Travel, for instance, is “not emotional, it’s not inspirational,” he said.
• AI—especially when agentic and generative capabilities are combined—can help to change that.
• “AI can fill in the gaps based on consumers’ needs, wants, and desires,” he said. “For me, when I go on vacation, my need is to have a great time and make sure I spend a lot of time with my family. Imagine a system, or system of connecting systems, that could deliver me that experience.”

Ideally, the next chapter of AI is about unleashing creativity—not just maximizing efficiency.

“The internet is moving from information technology to emotional technology,” Gardner said. “There’s so much opportunity here that is unbelievable. If you are a creative...this is a golden [moment].”