65% of CMOs anticipate a radical shift in their role within 2 years. Beyond productivity, discover how AI imposes a total redefinition of the operating model to create sustainable value in 2026.

From Tech Gadget to Core Engine

The era of playful experimentation is coming to an end. The verdict is in via a recent benchmark survey: 65% of Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) say advances in AI will dramatically change their role within the next two years. This figure, derived from Gartner analysis, does not signal a simple software update, but a complete overhaul of how value is created, distributed, and perceived by the market.

Until now, AI has often been confined to the role of a tactical production assistant: generating text faster, creating images on the fly, or summarizing meetings. This is a reductive view that misses the forest for the trees. In 2026, AI will no longer serve just to "do more" within the same structures; it must enable us to "do better" within new structures.

The imperative for leaders is no longer to chase the latest generative feature, but to rethink the very architecture of their organization. How do we move from a siloed structure—often slow and reactive—to a fluid ecosystem where artificial intelligence and human intelligence collaborate to deliver superior value to the client? The answer lies not in the tool, but in the operating model.

Beyond Productivity: Redefining Marketing "Value"

The greatest strategic error today would be to confuse "speed" with "value." Producing 1,000 mediocre pieces of content in an hour using AI creates no value for the brand; it creates noise and degrades the customer experience.

According to an insightful analysis by PwC, the real stake of AI is to enable marketing "to matter more". Value creation in 2026 is defined by the capacity to deliver hyper-personalized relevance at scale, impossible to achieve with yesterday's artisanal methods.

From Standardization to Surgical Precision

In traditional models, personalization was a luxury costly in human resources. With the strategic integration of AI, it becomes the baseline operational standard. Value no longer resides in the raw creative asset (which tends to become a commodity), but in its contextual intelligence:

• Moment Intelligence: The right message at the right time, adapted to the specific channel.
• Brand Consistency: Maintaining a strong, undiluted identity across a multitude of touchpoints.
• Decision Agility: Reacting to weak market signals in real-time, not three weeks later after ten validation meetings.

This is where the operating model must pivot: it is no longer about managing stocks of static content, but steering flows of dynamic experiences.

The "Integrated Model": Breaking Silos to Unleash Value

To reach this level of performance, the siloed organization—social media on one side, web on the other, CRM elsewhere—is obsolete. The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) calls for a complete reengineering towards integrated models.

AI is only effective if it traverses the enterprise from end to end. Imagine an uninterrupted value chain where customer data informs creation, which is automatically adapted, then validated and distributed without friction.

The Rise of Autonomous Agents in Operations

By 2026, Gartner projects that generative AI will evolve into systems of autonomous agents. These agents will not be simple passive tools awaiting a "prompt," but proactive actors in the operating model.

They will take over repetitive but essential cognitive tasks:

• Automatic verification of asset compliance (Brand Safety).
• Adaptation of technical formats for each distribution platform.
• Predictive analysis of consumption trends to suggest creative angles.

This frees up human capital for what creates true differential value: strategy, empathy, breakthrough creativity, and ethical supervision. The operating model of 2026 is a symbiosis: the machine ensures Scale, the human ensures Meaning.

The "Chaos Debt": The Silent Enemy of Value

However, integrating this firepower without structure leads to disaster. A study by SAS & Coleman Parkes on AI adoption reveals that while enthusiasm is high, real transformation sometimes struggles to materialize. Why? Because of what we call "Chaos Debt."

The acceleration of production by AI generates a volumetric explosion of assets. Without a centralized system to orchestrate this flow:

• Teams drown in managing contradictory versions.
• Validation becomes a paralyzing bottleneck, cancelling out the initial time gains.
• The quality perceived by the final customer degrades due to lack of control.

Even as CEOs continue to invest massively, as reported by The Wall Street Journal, they now expect these investments to translate into visible operational excellence. Value can only bloom in a structured and governed environment.

MTM: The Orchestrator of Operational Excellence

For AI to deliver its promise of value, it needs a conductor. This is precisely the role your central platform must play. In this context, MTM does not position itself as a simple storage tool, but as the backbone that structures the organization's collective brain.

It is no longer just about "filing documents," but piloting complex operations in an accelerated world.

Transforming Chaos into Value Flows

In a modern operating model tailored for 2026, MTM allows you to link strategic intent to final execution:

• Collaboration Fluidity: By centralizing exchanges and validations in the same place as the assets, MTM eliminates communication friction. Creative and marketing teams no longer waste energy searching for information in scattered emails; they transform it into campaigns.
• Agile Governance: Workflow automation maintains high quality standards even when production volume explodes under the effect of AI. This is the guarantee that every piece of content published respects the brand's DNA, thus securing the company's intangible value.
• Total Visibility: To create value, you must know what you are producing and at what pace. Centralized piloting offers a panoramic view of projects, allowing managers to permanently align production with the company's strategic objectives and avoid resource waste.

2026 Roadmap: Reconfiguring the Organization for Value

How do you concretely prepare your organization for this near future? Here are the three pillars to evolve your operating model starting today.

1. Audit Data and Flow Maturity

Before implementing complex AIs, audit your current flows. Are your assets accessible? Is your metadata clean and standardized? The value of AI depends directly on the quality of the data it manipulates. A high-performing operating model begins with impeccable data hygiene within your ecosystem.

2. Interoperability as the Golden Rule

Value is born from connection, not isolation. Your technological ecosystem must no longer be a collection of closed tools. Your project and asset management solution, like MTM, must be designed to interconnect with your creation and distribution tools. It is this interoperability that will allow future AI agents to navigate fluidly within your ecosystem to automate low-value tasks.

3. Redefining Human Roles

Support your teams in the evolution of their missions. The manual "doing" will progressively give way to "getting done" (piloting AI) and "controlling." The value added by your collaborators will shift towards strategic supervision, creative curation, and emotional intelligence—areas where AI remains behind but where humans excel.

Operational Architecture: Your New Competitive Advantage

The AI imperative for 2026 is not technological, it is organizational. The technology is available, ready to use. What will differentiate leading brands from the others is the capacity to build an operating model capable of domesticating this power to serve a clear vision.

Creating value tomorrow means accepting to profoundly transform our ways of working today, moving from a logic of artisanal production to an intelligent orchestration of human and synthetic talents.

To go further in structuring your teams and flows, discover how our solutions for Brands and Agencies facilitate this critical transition.

FAQ: AI and the Redefinition of Operational Value

How does AI change the definition of "value" in marketing?

AI shifts value from simple production (the ability to create an asset) to relevance and agility (the ability to create the right asset, for the right person, instantly). Value no longer lies in the technical creative effort, but in the precision of execution and the ability to personalize the customer experience at scale.

Why is the current operating model unsuited for the AI of 2026?

Current models are often linear and siloed, designed for human production at a moderate pace. AI imposes an exponential pace and requires transversal data flows. Without a redesign towards an integrated and agile model, AI only accelerates internal chaos without creating perceptible value for the final customer.

What is the role of "Autonomous Agents" in this value creation?

According to Gartner's analyses, autonomous agents will take over complete processes (data analysis, format adaptation, pre-validation), and no longer just isolated tasks. Their role is to free humans from "operational friction" so they can focus on brand strategy and innovation, where value creation is maximized.

How does a platform like MTM contribute to value creation?

MTM acts as a central orchestrator. By centralizing validation flows and ensuring the proper circulation of information between stakeholders, the platform transforms the raw speed of AI into mastered agility. It ensures that production acceleration does not come at the expense of quality or brand consistency.

How should teams be prepared for this model shift?

We must move from a culture of pure execution to a culture of piloting. Training should not be limited to technical tools but encompass an understanding of data flows and global content strategy. Teams must learn to become campaign architects, using AI as a lever to amplify their creativity rather than as a replacement.

Sources

• Gartner (November 2024): Survey Finds 65% of CMOs Say Advances in AI Will Dramatically Change Their Role in the Next Two Years. Read the press release
• PwC: Marketing in the AI era: To matter more or cost less. An analysis on value creation vs. cost reduction. Read the study
• Boston Consulting Group (BCG): Transforming Marketing with AI: From isolated tasks to integrated models. Read the publication
• Gartner Insights: Generative AI for Business (Projections on autonomous agents). Consult insights
• TechRadar / SAS & Coleman Parkes: GenAI is no longer a future consideration (Adoption and ROI). Read the article
• The Wall Street Journal: CEOs to Keep Spending on AI Despite Spotty Returns. Read the article