The industry is transforming in real time as AI growth impacts workflows, output and career paths from one moment to the next. Industry leaders are continually refining uses of AI platforms, best practices for prompting and how to communicate new tech initiatives to teams. As Ad Age honors trailblazers in innovation with the 2026 Tech Power List, reporters and editors share their tips for where AI use can go right and wrong in marketing.

This ICYMI roundup features Tech Reporter Asa Hiken, News Editor E.J. Schultz, Creativity Editor Tim Nudd, Influencer Reporter Gillian Follett and Senior Agency Reporter Lindsay Rittenhouse. They offer tips and tricks for topics ranging from consumers' primary AI fears to worst-case brand scenarios and the new talent pipeline conundrum.

Listen to each episode in its entirety:

~Your AI ad playbook: red flags, hard lessons and brand wins, with Asa Hiken

~What's driving marketing impact: lessons from award-winning campaigns, with Tim Nudd

~Decoding 2026 hype vs. reality for marketers, with E.J. Schultz and Adrianne Pasquarelli

~'Fruit Love Island' brand lessons: skip this viral trend, with Gillian Follett

~Agency hiring in the AI era: What grads need now, with Lindsay Rittenhouse

The checklist for effective marketing leadership has grown exponentially more complex—balancing trust and efficiency, growing loyalty in an age of skepticism and ensuring transparent agency relationships. Ad Age reporters share advice on all of these topics, and more, in this special edition of Ad Age Insider, which surfaces critical insights for CMOs across recent episodes.

This ICYMI roundup features Creativity Editor Tim Nudd, Reporter Erika Wheless, News Editor E.J. Schultz, Senior Reporter Brian Bonilla, Reporter Ewan Larkin and Executive Editor Judy Pollack. Together, they make the case for why the power of the idea is more important than ever in an AI-saturated market, what Gen Z brand loyalty actually requires from marketers and what questions every CMO should be asking their agency right now.

Listen to each episode in its entirety:

~What's driving marketing impact: lessons from award-winning campaigns, with Tim Nudd

~Winning Gen Z brand loyalty—quality, service and community, with Erika Wheless

~Decoding 2026 hype vs. reality for marketers, with E.J. Schultz and Adrianne Pasquarelli

~How to win new business in 2026, with Brian Bonilla

~What are media rebates? Agency transparency in the hot seat, with Ewan Larkin

~How to win the Ad Age A-List, with Judann Pollack

Consumer Trends Reporter Erika Wheless discusses the top factors that influence brand loyalty with Gen Z—including product quality, sustainability and customer service. Plus, the brands Gen Z considers luxury from Coach, Louis Vuitton and Gucci to Nike, Adidas, Lululemon, Amazon and Target. She breaks down tactics brands are using to translate product quality into marketing, brand missteps that have been called out by young consumers and tips for building brand loyalty with Gen Z.

Dig deeper on the topics mentioned in this week's episode:

~The data on how brands can build loyalty with Gen Z

~How brands have successfully implemented product quality messaging

~How rising gas prices are impacting brands

~Get tickets to Ad Age's Small Agency Conference

~Listen to Ad Age's Marketer's Brief podcast

Media Reporter Brandon Doerrer breaks down the trends defining this year's TV upfronts, including top questions to look out for from NBCUniversal, Disney, Amazon, Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery and more. He discusses how factors from outcomes-based measurement to agentic AI buying tech and short-form video formats in streaming will play into negotiations. Plus, how CMOs can ensure transparency around principal media buying in dealmaking.

Dig deeper on the topics mentioned in this week's episode:

~2026 TV Upfronts calendar

~What agentic AI means for upfront negotiations

~TV measurement changes impacting the upfront

~Magnite's agentic media buying test with Disney

~What to ask about media transparency and the upfront

~Apply for the Ad Age Mid-Size Brand Leaders award

~Listen to the Marketer's Brief podcast

Senior Agency Reporter Lindsay Rittenhouse breaks down the complex entry-level job market, with examples of how agency leaders are rethinking junior work as AI automates tasks traditionally done by early-career hires. She digs into what skills recent grads need on their resume right now, the gap employers are finding in formal marketing education and how to stand out as the number of applicants far outweighs opportunities in the current market.

Plus, data that shows why the ad industry isn't struggling as much as Wall Street thinks it is, and how the CEO-CMO relationship has evolved.

Dig deeper on the topics mentioned in this week's episode:

~How agencies are reshaping junior-level roles and training in the AI era

~How to land a junior ad agency job—what leaders say works as roles change due to AI

~Listen to Ad Age Insider's 2025 episode on AI and entry-level roles to hear how much has changed

~Get tickets to Ad Age's Small Agency Conference

~Listen to Ad Age's Marketer's Brief podcast

Creativity Editor Tim Nudd breaks down trends and lessons from award-winning campaigns for Nike, The New York Times, ChatGPT, Anthropic and more. From comedy's comeback to experimental experiential and a focus on exceptional craft, he reveals what CMOs need to know from the 2026 Ad Age Creativity Awards. And he shares a few close-calls that led to surprising prizes awarded by this year's juries.

Plus, why brands like Ugg, Owala and Claude are gaining equity with Gen Z. And how to win Ad Age's new Mid Size Brand Leaders award.

Dig deeper on the topics mentioned in this week's episode:

~See Ad Age's 2026 Creativity Award winners

~See Ad Age's 2026 A-List winners

~Listen to Ad Age's Marketer's Brief podcast

Tech Reporter Asa Hiken gives a vibe check on how advertisers are feeling about OpenAI two months after it launched ads on ChatGPT, and how the AI company is stacking up against competitors Google's Gemini and Anthropic's Claude. Plus, he gives advice for developing a brand AI strategy as products develop, and reacts to a live test of how paid ads may influence organic chat results.

Dig deeper on the topics mentioned in this week's episode:

~The state of ChatGPT ads post-launch

~Why ChatGPT's Instant Checkout faced challenges

~Lessons from OpenAI sunsetting Sora

~Listen: AI search strategy 101

~Apply for Ad Age's Mid-Size Brand Leaders award

~Listen to the Marketer's Brief podcast

Senior Engagement Editor Mark Fischer interviews Ad Age's communities and Substack strategy leaders Sabrina Sanchez and Parker Herren on how brands are turning consumers into brand builders. Learn how brands are meeting audiences where they are, designing repeatable, low‑lift interactions and choosing platforms that teams can sustain.

Sanchez and Herren also outline first steps for marketers and agencies: audit existing audiences, prioritize trust and feedback loops, and treat community as a long‑term distribution and relationship strategy.

Dig deeper on the topics mentioned in this week's episode:

~Subscribe to Ad Age's Substack

~More on Ad Age's The List community

~If you're an early-career professional and want to sign up for Ad Age's NextGen community, send an email to [email protected]

~Applications for Ad Age's Small Agency Network will reopen this summer. Stay tuned at AdAge.com for more information

~Read Ad Age's NextGen Marketing Playbook

~How brands can help Gen Z find fulfillment beyond curated feeds

~Listen to Ad Age's Marketer's Brief podcast

Brain rot content has become a staple of virality on TikTok. But brands eager to jump into trending conversations should be wary of "Fruit Love Island" and similar AI-generated posts. Users will be far less kind to corporations than their peers. Influencer and Social Media Marketing Reporter Gillian Follett breaks down the "Fruit Love Island" trend, why it's become so popular and what it reveals about brands on social media. Plus, the shift of content toward entertainment and brands that have successfully tapped into emerging formats.

And, what you need to know about Kristen Cavallo's return to the ad industry as well as CVS Health's creative and media agency reviews.

Dig deeper on the topics mentioned in this week's episode:

~What brands need to know about "Fruit Love Island"

~Creator takeaways from this year's NewFronts

~Submit for Ad Age's Small Agency Awards

~Listen to Ad Age's Marketer's Brief podcast

Senior Reporter Jon Springer breaks into the rise of identity marketing, including how soda brands like Poppi, Dr. Pepper and Diet Coke are winning with Gen Z. Plus, how all marketers can incorporate better social listening and fan engagement to turn their branding into cultural currency.

And why ChatGPT's Instant Checkout ad product flopped, and Apple's plans to bring brands to Maps.

Dig deeper on the topics mentioned in this week's episode:

~Why the drinks people carry matter more to marketers now

~Takeaways from Ad Age's NextGen Marketing Playbook

~Behind the rise of alcoholic sports drinks

~Summer alcohol marketing trends to know

~Listen to the Marketer's Brief podcast

As the industry gears up for a week of presentations from YouTube, Meta, TikTok, Tubi and more, Ad Age reporters break down the topics trending at this year's NewFronts, from AI and agentic tools to creator amplification. Hear how to decipher hype from reality, how digital ad dollars are being spent in 2026 and why these presentations matter to the industry.

Plus, why Publicis is calling out the Trade Desk.

Dig deeper on the topics mentioned in this week's episode:

~2026 NewFronts trends

~2026 NewFronts calendar

~Inside Q2 media budgets

~Listen to the Marketer's Brief podcast