The Agile Brand with Greg Kihlström® · 2026-09-09 · 21 min
As companies invest billions in AI and automation to scale customer interactions, are they unintentionally building a wall between their brand and the very people they're trying to serve? Agility requires that as technology accelerates, our ability to listen to and understand the customer must accelerate even faster. Today, we're going to talk about how organizations can maintain and deepen their connection to consumers in an era increasingly defined by technological distance. We’ll explore: - Why the more we lean on AI for efficiency, the more we need to invest in genuine human understanding. - How to translate abstract consumer insights into tangible actions that resonate across the entire organization, not just the marketing department. - The skills and cultural shifts necessary to prepare marketing teams for a future where empathy is as critical as data analysis. To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome Melissa Blunte, Director, Consumer Experience at Georgia-Pacific. About Melissa Blunte Known for: A “get it done” attitude.
Athos Commerce CMO Gary Lombardo on why only 14% of shoppers see one consistent brand80 / 100
Linnworks CMO Hilary Smith on the manual work hiding inside "automated" operations
Marketing AI Institute's Mike Kaput on AI pilots vs. AI capability: only about 25% of organizations are scaling with a strategy
From Opticon 2026: Federated Hermes' Melissa Ryan on what a replatform exposes in your content
From Opticon 2026: IFPA's Jim Rucinski on running a global digital experience with two people