On Tuesday, September 15th, EMARKETER held its annual “The Future of Digital” summit. Angela Mertz, EGC’s VP of Integrated Media, attended this event. Here is a detailed summary of the topics discussed and the insights they revealed. I spent yesterday at EMARKETER’s The Future of Digital event, and while AI was obviously everywhere, my biggest takeaway was actually pretty simple: AI isn’t replacing marketing. It’s changing the way people move through it. The Human-Machine Customer Journey Consumers are increasingly using AI to research, compare, and narrow their choices. EMARKETER describes this as a “new human-machine customer journey,” with AI having its biggest influence in the middle of the funnel. But consumers are still doing their own research, visiting brand and retailer sites, and ultimately making the decision themselves. That creates a new challenge for marketers. Search taught us to ask: “How do I get found?” Social media made us ask: “How do I earn attention?” Today, AI adds another question: “How does my brand get recommended?” And this is where brand becomes even more important. A Matter of Trust One of the themes I heard repeatedly throughout the day was trust. Consumers are more likely to trust an AI recommendation when it’s a brand they already know. Brand sites, expert sources, earned media, and review and third-party credibility all still matter. These signals help AI understand a brand, but they also give consumers somewhere to validate the information that AI gives them. EMARKETER’s report reinforces this. Their recommendation to marketers is to keep product information, FAQs, availability and reviews accurate and consistent, while building credibility through publishers, creators, communities, and customers, among other trusted sources. Generative engine optimization (GEO) becomes part of this equation. It’s no longer enough to wonder about where your brand ranks in search. We also need to understand what machines “see” when they uncover your brand, and whether you are appearing in the AI conversations that matter and which sources are influencing those answers. But one of the more refreshing messages from the day was: “Don’t chase AI just because it’s AI.” The True Value of AI There was a lot of conversation about tool fatigue and finding the right role for AI within an organization. One observation that stayed with me was the idea of using these tools to provoke us and not necessarily create the final outcome. AI can help us research audiences, analyze data, identify patterns, and get to insights faster. The value right now may be less about replacing people and more about helping them do things we simply haven’t had enough time to do. This same line of thought applies to media. Connected television (CTV), social media, search, and other established channels aren’t suddenly going away. In fact, EMARKETER expects CTV to continue growing as audiences shift from traditional television, measurement improves, and live events continue to command attention. What is changing is how we measure the role those channels play. There was a lot of discussion around incrementality and media mix modeling, particularly for upper-funnel media. Return on investment (ROI) can’t be the only measure. We need to understand how exposure contributes to new customers, brand growth, and longer-term digital outcomes. So, maybe the biggest takeaway from The Future of Digital is that 2027 isn’t about choosing between AI and everything that came before it. It’s about connecting it all. Takeaway Build the brand, create demand, and be discoverable. Make sure AI understands who you are. Measure how the pieces work together. And use AI where it can make the people who are doing that work smarter and faster. That’s a future of digital that feels a lot closer than 2027. — Angela Mertz, VP of Integrated Media, EGC Group You might also like:Angela Mertz, EGC’s VP of Integrated Media, Attends Convergent TV World
