The news: Brands and agencies are embracing generative AI (genAI) to create highly localized and personalized campaigns at scale. At a recent Automattic event, marketing leaders highlighted how new technology makes previously cost-prohibitive efforts feasible.

• Dynamic localization. AI quickly adapts ads for specific markets, swapping talent, packaging, and audio with regional voices.
• Personalized experiences. Agencies are deploying interactive quizzes and virtual try-on features for clothing and accessories.
• Efficiency at scale. GenAI enables the rapid creation of multiple campaign variants, moving beyond one-size-fits-all marketing.

Taken together, these use cases reveal AI isn’t just a cost-cutting tool—it’s a creative accelerator. But leaders stressed that while AI can generate infinite variations and deep customization, it still needs human vision to shape, refine, and guide winning campaigns.

AI drives personalization: Agencies and brands are learning that AI can accelerate ad creation but only creative talent can decide which ideas resonate, what stories matter, and how to translate personalization into brand value.

Use case highlights: 

• Edelman. Artists at the global communications firm build immersive story worlds by moving between AI generation, sketching, and 3D modeling. 
• R/GA. The marketing agency prototypes audience simulations and campaign concepts with AI. 
• Freepik. It uses AI to accelerate production but keeps idea generation and client work in human hands.
• PepsiCo. Operating under strict brand guardrails, it’s testing how AI can localize assets across markets—swapping visuals, packaging, and voiceovers at a fraction of the cost of hiring voice talent and recording time.

The list of AI tools keeps growing: While Gemini’s Nano Banana is the hottest consumer creative tool, brands say they rely on ChatGPT and Adobe Firefly for text and image generation, Runway for video, and Freepik and ByteDance Seedream for image retouching. But all say they depend on human input to deliver usable, camera-ready results. Agencies are realizing the need for training staff on the latest tools to stay competitive.

“I think when we’re talking about these tools, we are also talking about the upskilling that needs to occur for creative professionals to be able to actually use them in the most impactful way,” said Megan Richardson, tech venturing and innovation lead at PepsiCo.

Key takeaway: The advertising industry has shifted from fear to fluency—recognizing that AI fills gaps and scales output but that people decide what resonates. While agencies two years ago feared AI would displace creative jobs, today, they see human craft as the element that gives AI-generated work meaning.

For marketers, the strategy is to invest in AI tools but prioritize upskilling teams to direct them. The winners will be those who keep human creativity at the center while scaling personalization through AI.

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