Is AI really the story of our time—or is humanity?

In this special conversation at the MMA’s CMO & CEO Summit, former OpenAI Head of Go-to-Market Zack Kass joins host Greg Stuart to explore what he calls the “next renaissance”: a future where intelligence becomes abundant, AI agents reshape how consumers make decisions, and marketers must rethink how they create value. Zack argues that AI is not simply another software application—it’s foundational infrastructure that will transform how people work, shop, and interact with brands.

They look at why fears of mass job loss may be overblown, how marketers can identify their place in customers’ “automation boundary,” and why brands need to prepare for a world where AI agents—not humans—may be navigating websites and making purchasing decisions. Zack also shares his optimistic view of technological progress, his concerns about society’s obsession with convenience, and why the future belongs to organizations that understand both human needs and machine intelligence.

For further reading:

The Next Renaissance: AI and the Expansion of Human Potential by Zack Kass

Future MMA events: https://mmaglobal.com/events

Listen on your favorite podcast app: https://pod.link/1715735755

Justin Inman, founder and CEO of Emberos, is entrenched in the world of influencing what AI says about brands. He shares why responsible optimization — not gaming the system — may determine which brands thrive in the next era of AI-driven discovery. Plus, why marketers need to think about authority, structure, and narrative consistency and how AI visibility may predict real-world business outcomes like box office revenue.

For further reading:

AI Visibility Startup Emberos Raises $1.2M in Pre-Seed Funding: https://www.adweek.com/media/emberos-ai-justin-inman-funding/

Beyond The Slop: Why AI Brand Visibility Depends On Signal, Not Volume: https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbesbusinesscouncil/2026/03/31/beyond-the-slop-why-ai-brand-visibility-depends-on-signal-not-volume/

Listen on your favorite podcast app: https://pod.link/1715735755

Alex Sherman, CEO of Bluefish, says brands need to start treating AI like a true marketing channel, not just another variation of SEO. As consumers shift from search engines to answer engines like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Microsoft Copilot, Sherman explains why it’s no longer enough to simply “show up”—brands need to control how they’re represented, what data models learn from, and how they influence AI-generated recommendations.

He breaks down how Bluefish works with major brands to close the growing “content gap,” optimize for machine-readable data, and measure performance across new AI KPIs like visibility, favorability, and influence. Plus: why the marketing funnel isn’t dead but accelerating, how companies are moving from playing defense to offense in AI, and what the rise of agentic commerce could mean for the future of paid media.

For further reading:

Marketing in the Age of AI Answers: https://www.adexchanger.com/adexchanger-talks/marketing-in-the-age-of-ai-answers/

This startup knows what AI is saying about your brand: https://www.fastcompany.com/91387950/this-startup-helps-big-brands-look-good-to-ai

Listen on your favorite podcast app: https://pod.link/1715735755