From Silos to Intelligent Creative: Brianna Gays Previews AI and 2026 Marketing at Smartly Advance

Smartly Advance: AI Moves From Debate to Design

AI is no longer an experiment for marketing teams. It's the operating system. As Smartly Advance lands in New York on September 17, leaders from Pinterest, TikTok, Amazon, Snap, Spotify, Reddit, and Meta are meeting to talk about one thing: rebuilding marketing around AI.

"Nine in 10 consumers are using AI today, and nearly 50% use it daily," says Brianna Gays, SVP of Marketing and Communications at Smartly. Eighteen months ago, that was a niche behavior. Now it's default.

The Davos of Advertising Gets Real About Transformation

This year isn't just CMOs trading opinions. CEOs are steering their companies with intent. Time CEO Jess Sibley wants her company at the AI table. Unilever's Esi Eggleston Bracey is pushing teams to lean in "with both hands up."

Gays is clear: the point of Advance is action. "This isn't about prediction. It's about decisions backed by real insight and data."

From Silos to One System: Creative + Media

The biggest shift you'll hear at Advance: org design. Gays expects more brands to merge creative and media into a single, connected system. The old split slows teams down. Consumers move fast. So should your content, your buys, and your feedback loops.

One strategy. One conversation. Creative decisions informed by performance data. Media decisions informed by creative context.

What the 2026 Marketing Org Looks Like

• Integrated pods that combine creative, media, analytics, and product partners.
• AI copilots embedded in planning, production, audience building, and buying.
• Real-time creative testing linked to spend decisions and outcome metrics.
• Clear governance: data access, brand safety, and human-in-the-loop review.
• Ongoing upskilling so every marketer can brief, prompt, and evaluate AI outputs.

Creative Intelligence: The Missing Piece

At the core of Smartly's platform philosophy is "creative intelligence" - the convergence of campaign intelligence, audience intelligence, and creative intelligence into what they call "intelligent creative."

Why it matters: "It's stories that resonate with consumers," Gays says. "Relevant stories inspire loyalty and create brand love. That's what drives business."

Behavior has shifted. Today's consumer doesn't sift through blue links; they query and expect instant answers. Your ads and content should function like responses - precise, useful, and context-aware.

Three Forces Defining Marketing Wins

• Brand Love: Build brands people can't live without - the kind they talk about with friends and post about on social and Reddit without being asked.
• Business Growth: Pressure on ROI is real. Tie creative and media decisions to outcomes. Shorten the cycle from idea to impact.
• Advertising for Good: Better ads fund a free economy. Respect the feed. Tell stories that deliver genuine value.

How to Act Now: A 30-60-90 Plan

You don't need a reorg announcement to get moving. You need a sprint plan.

• Days 0-30: Map your creative and media workflows. Identify the handoffs that slow you down. Pick two use cases to pilot with AI (e.g., variant generation and audience expansion). Define guardrails for data, tone, legal, and brand safety.
• Days 31-60: Stand up a creative intelligence pipeline. Connect assets to performance data. Set rules for real-time iteration (what changes, how often, who approves). Start pairing creatives with media buyers in one daily stand-up.
• Days 61-90: Formalize pods. Shift KPIs from channel-level metrics to outcome metrics. Document what the AI does, what the human decides, and how learnings roll into the next cycle.

Upskill while you build. If your team needs a fast path to AI skills for marketing roles, explore focused programs like the AI Certification for Marketing Specialists or browse courses by job.

Make Intelligent Creative Your Default

Fold data into the brief. Use AI for first passes and variant generation. Let performance inform creative updates daily, not quarterly. Keep the human bar for concept, story, and brand safety.

• Start every campaign with a hypothesis tied to a business outcome.
• Build 5-10 variations to test message, format, and context.
• Route budget to winners in near real time.
• Publish learning docs that inform the next sprint.

Fall Forward: The Mindset Shift

Asked what will separate winners in 2026, Gays doesn't hesitate: embrace AI and change how you think. Don't default to old methods. Use AI as a copilot to get from A to B faster - and often better.

Key trait: not afraid. "This is the time to fall forward." Leaders who instill that mindset will endure.

Why This Matters Now

If you care about what's next - not what's now - be in the room. Smartly Advance convenes leaders building the future of advertising, AI implementation, and org design on September 17 in New York.

Consumers have moved. The platforms have moved. Your organization is the variable. Make the shift before your audience does it for you.