The Future of Marketing Leadership: Human Creativity in an AI World

At this year’s ADMA Global Forum, I joined Holly Ransom, Tom Goodwin, Dr Kellie Nuttall and Anthony Toovey to discuss the future of talent and trust.

One message kept coming through, on stage and in the AI, Talent & Trust Blueprint we launched with ADMA:

Despite all the AI noise, what marketing leaders value most are human capabilities:

• Creative thinking
• Problem-solving
• Critical thinking
• Collaboration
• Communication

These are the skills that set marketers apart and they can’t be automated.

When we keep investing in creativity, analytical thinking, and empathy, we’re not just protecting the craft we’re opening the door to new ways of leading and shaping what’s next.

Redesigning work, don’t just automate it

The principle is simple:

• Humans should focus on work that requires judgment, creativity, and experimentation.
• AI should take on the repetitive, predictable, rules-based tasks.

But that’s not what’s happening. Not from lack of effort but from the pressure to rush AI deployments.

Again and again, I’ve seen what happens when AI is rolled out before teams truly understand the work or rethink how it should be done:

• Automation lands in the wrong places
• Shadow tools multiply
• Pilot fatigue sets in
• Productivity gains never materialise
• People quietly wonder if they’re falling behind

The solution is visibility.

• Make the work visible
• Separate high-value work from automatable tasks
• Design intentionally: humans here, AI there

Skip this step, and roles blur, creative capability gets sidelined, and teams disengage.

This isn’t a technology gap.
It’s a leadership and design gap.

AI as a creative sparring partner

The real potential of AI isn’t in replacing creativity but in amplifying it. 

Used wisely, AI becomes a “sparring partner” pushing your thinking, surfacing new possibilities, and acting as an advisor.

At ADMA, I shared how the best companies aren’t just automating away tasks but asking: Where does AI free us from the boring, repetitive work, and where can it challenge us to be more imaginative?

Just because AI can do something doesn’t mean it should. The opportunity is to design teams where humans keep the “magic touch,” while AI provokes, advises, and expands what’s possible.

A smarter way forward

That’s why we partnered with ADMA to launch the AI, Talent & Trust Blueprint, Australia’s first national project mapping how AI is reshaping marketing and tech work.

Powered by Reejig’s data, it helps leaders:

• Understand the opportunities and challenges AI presents for marketing.
• Learn how to balance innovation with trust, creativity, and responsibility.
• Gain access to insights shaped by ADMA, ACS, and Reejig’s combined expertise.

If you’re tired of flying blind, this gives you the visibility to lead better.

👉AI, Talent & Trust: A Landmark Report on the Future of Marketing Leadership

Now is the time to redesign work

Let’s stop treating creativity as a nice-to-have. Let’s start designing for the skills that actually move business forward.

Siobhan 💜