Elizabeth, you’ve built a career at the intersection of marketing and technology. The new study, “When Machines Make Marketers More Human” suggests AI is amplifying creativity rather than replacing it. What does that mean for modern marketing?
Brilliant marketers don’t just use AI to produce more content. They’re finding a strategic balance between technology and human ideation, using AI as a catalyst to make more informed decisions, move ideas from concept to market faster, and amplify – rather than replace – their own creativity.
We call this evidence-based creativity, where marketers merge human imagination with AI-driven insights to produce, test, and scale ideas with measurable impact. Our report shows that this balance is becoming a defining skill set for modern marketers.
In particular, we found that the most in-demand skills for marketers today are data analysis and interpretation (46%), followed by personalization strategy and writing for AI tools (37%). This doesn’t mean every marketer needs to be a data scientist, but it’s no longer enough to
be singularly creative or analytical. The opportunity lies in finding valuable middle ground – pairing the right data with human insight to build emotionally intelligent campaigns that are grounded in lived experiences and human connection.
The study also points to the rise of a new generation of marketers fluent in AI-enabled workflows. What does it mean to be a “full-stack marketer,” and how is that changing how marketing teams operate?
The next generation of marketing leaders will be full-stack: professionals fluent in AI-enabled workflows, skilled in prompt writing, and confident in navigating diverse technology stacks. They will understand how to embed AI tools into everyday operations while keeping human creativity and authenticity at the center of their work.
Nearly half of marketers report using AI copilots in productivity software (49%) and generative tools for content creation (48%), showing what sets standout marketers apart, underscoring how quickly these tools are becoming part of the day-to-day workflow. As marketers’ roles evolve, leaders should focus on empowering their teams to use AI as a creative accelerator while still ensuring humans are in the loop to make the final call on
quality, compliance, and brand voice. At Contentful, we refer to this as a B2H (business-to-human) mindset. AI can help scale and streamline, but it’s humans who bring the empathy, creativity, and cultural relevance that build trust and lasting brand impact.
Despite 89% of marketing teams using AI, many teams still struggle to realize its full potential. What’s holding organizations back from proving ROI?
We’re facing an optimism-execution gap – nearly every CMO (96%) says AI adoption is a top priority, but only 65% are making meaningful investments. CMOs are testing AI with intent, but they haven’t rushed to full deployment yet. They’re balancing the pressure to lead with the challenge of proving impact, and with about 40% of marketers still struggling to measure ROI, many are searching for the right formula to turn early AI efforts into measurable results.
There is an even greater divide when we look at this globally. In the U.S., nearly 40% are pursuing an aggressive strategy and allocating at least $500,000 toward AI. EMEA teams are taking a more modest approach, testing tools selectively and prioritizing governance, brand voice, and quality standards. Despite these differences, one constant is that teams find themselves stuck with complex tech stacks that slow them down instead of enabling speed and creativity.
To close the gap, organizations need to move beyond experimentation into meaningful integration, building AI into workflows with clear roles, guardrails, and measurement. They need tools to reduce friction – we found six to ten is the “stack sweet spot” – and help their teams work smarter and feel confident in the value they bring as roles evolve. That’s how teams will shift from incremental efficiency to real ROI on AI investments.
Marketers today are under pressure to move fast and stay authentic. How can AI help teams balance speed with quality and personalization?
We call this the agility paradox: the pressure to move faster without losing the authenticity and consistency that audiences expect. Marketers want to deliver quality content at scale, but the reality is that personalization is becoming a double-edged sword, with about one-third of marketing teams citing it as both a top challenge and their greatest opportunity. That’s where AI can help. Nearly half (48%) of marketers are turning to AI-powered content tools to scale output and personalize experiences at a much faster pace, freeing them to focus on what only humans can do – understanding emotion, context and cultural nuance.
An easy way to contextualize content at scale is through localization, which can be a huge time sink for brands that serve a global audience and is often a natural entry point for them to introduce AI. Our customer Biogen, for example, uses our AI Actions feature to translate
content in more than 30 languages, which now takes them minutes instead of weeks. Streamlining high-effort tasks like translation has empowered their teams to publish faster and at scale, all while keeping human review and brand consistency in the loop.
A quote or advice from the author
“If you’re just getting started in your marketing career, you should absolutely be embracing technology, learning how to write powerful AI prompts and mastering all of the newest tools. But don’t forget to nurture your creative side. Look for inspiration in art, culture, and the world around you. Being a full stack marketer means you balance facts, data and analytics with emotion, creativity and insight. Your lived experience along with your mastery of AI will be the fuel that propels your career for many years to come.
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Elizabeth Maxson, Chief Marketing Officer, Contentful
Elizabeth Maxson is the Chief Marketing Officer of Contentful, a digital experience platform trusted by more than 4,200 companies around the world. Elizabeth brings nearly two decades of integrated marketing leadership to the role and is focused on driving marketing strategies that leverage AI and personalization to help brands deliver personalized and scalable content to their audiences. Prior to Contentful, Elizabeth served as the Chief Marketing Officer at Tableau, a Salesforce company, where she led go-to-market strategy and drove end-to-end marketing initiatives. In addition to her role at Tableau, Elizabeth has also served as the Head of Marketing at Quip, another Salesforce acquisition, as well as spearheaded Strategic Technology Partnerships marketing, launching critical relationships with industry giants such as AWS, Google Cloud, Alibaba, Apple, and many others. She carries a BAA in Facility Management and Marketing from Central Michigan University.
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