AI & Tech: Brand Accelerators & Villains

The newest generation of marketing talent is redefining what influence, creativity, and performance look like. Their successes highlight the growing opportunity provided by innovation, while raising concerns about the speed of change and its impact on brand safety.

Forbes’ latest list of honorees demonstrates how quickly good ideas and savvy individuals can achieve success and scale. Whether it is Posh reshaping the customer experience for its event promotion, or Rella using AI to accelerate creative analysis, or creators like Katie Fang and Joe Mele magically turning personal content into multimillion brand deals - the common thread is velocity, made possible through technology.

AI and related technologies and processes have made it possible to build brands and deliver influence at a pace previously not possible. However, with the power and speed of AI related developments, comes the risk of also running afoul of brand safety guidelines.

This duality is reflected in AIS’s 2026 Industry Pulse Report, where marketing and media professionals express both enthusiasm and unease about the rapidly shifting media landscape. While 61% say they are excited about AI’s potential in advertising, an overwhelming 83% believe the surge of AI-generated content on social media introduces real risk.

The need for clarity is driving demand for stronger verification, with more than 80% of respondents stating that third-party tools will be essential to identify and classify AI-generated assets across social and digital video platforms at the required scale. As advertisers move into 2026, the conversation is no longer about whether AI will shape campaigns, but how to ensure that it does so in ways that strengthen brands, rather than compromise them.

Advertisers continue to prioritize digital video and social channels, but scrutiny has intensified. Most marketers say brand safety and creator suitability are critical when advertising near video content. Reputational risk has expanded beyond traditional adjacency concerns to include deepfakes, AI-generated misinformation, and creator-driven volatility. The pressure to protect brands while maximizing reach will continue to be one of the advertising's most pressing challenges.