Natalia Zimerfeld, vice president of marketing and communications at Capgemini, argues that senior executives over 50 are the best equipped to lead AI-driven transformation because they have navigated more technological shifts than any generation before them. The French multinational consulting and digital transformation firm’s marketing chief spoke to Valor about why experience matters more than youth when adopting generative AI at scale.
“Senior executives have built the bridge while walking across it—more than once,” Zimerfeld said. With more than 30 years experience in firms including KPMG, HSBC and Citibank before joining Capgemini in 2020, she said her generation has adapted repeatedly: “Anyone who began working in the 1990s and remained professionally active through 2026 experienced the typewriter, the cellphone, the arrival of the internet, social media, e-commerce, and remote work.”
No other generation has faced so many technological shifts over a single career, she said, adding: “That is why this generation should also be the least afraid of this moment.” She said senior professionals can orchestrate transformation processes, reassure teams and explain why preparation matters, something that younger colleagues who entered the workforce already digitally literate cannot do from the same vantage point.
From experimentation to strategy
Zimerfeld said the market has moved through an initial discovery phase—where companies used AI to turn research into bullet points, create charts automatically and produce more content faster—and is now entering a second, more critical stage. “Clients are asking a different question: Fine, but how do I scale it? How do I turn it into strategy? How do I make it generate real business results?” she said.
For global consulting firms with deep institutional knowledge, she said, the moment represents an opportunity. “Learning from the past to apply lessons to the future is no longer a slow, laborious exercise—it is something AI can accelerate extraordinarily.” She added: “This is a challenging moment for those without a history. For those that have one, it is a genuine competitive advantage.”
Marketing’s golden opportunity
The vice president said the major shift over the next 18 months will be turning “noise into clarity.” She said marketing has “a golden opportunity to establish itself once and for all as a strategic area within companies,” adding that “the days when marketing was viewed only in terms of the top of the funnel, campaigns, and brand awareness are over.”
Zimerfeld said she is continuing to learn alongside her team. “I went back to study. I am always studying and reading about AI.” For executives who have already adapted to the internet, social media and remote work, this may be the least intimidating transformation they have faced, because they have already proven they know how to adapt.
Why this matters for executives and strategy
The conversation confirms that senior leaders who invest time in learning AI are not falling behind; they are positioning themselves to direct the next cycle of business transformation. For VPs of marketing specifically, the ability to shift from experimenting with AI to deploying it as a strategic lever is what will separate those who remain cost centers from those who become profit drivers. To build that capability, executives can explore the full AI Learning Path for VP of Marketing or browse AI for Executives & Strategy resources tailored to this audience.
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