Digital Marketing Redux // February 28, 2026
Modern Retail Podcast: Marketing is experiencing an AI reckoning
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On this week’s episode of the Modern Retail Podcast, co-hosts Gabriela Barkho and Melissa Daniels are joined by executive editor Anna Hensel to dive into the ways AI is shaking up marketing workflows and outputs.
Faced with higher customer acquisition costs and an increasingly discerning customer base, some brands are finding that AI can help better target customers, while others are exploring how it can enhance their creatives. But there’s also a hesitancy to replace human talent or entrust mission-critical operations to programs and services that are still new and potentially subject to rapid change as technology evolves.
Their conversation gets into:
- How AI is fundamentally changing marketers’ workflows,
- The tension between quick, efficient turnarounds and maintaining brand values and authenticity,
- Where teams are saving time using AI.