Consumer Experience with AI: Creativity Meets Code
By Adam Kleinberg
When brands talk about “AI transformation,” the conversation gets stuck in the same place: productivity. Faster content. Faster workflows. Faster output. Useful, sure. But also the least interesting part of what’s happening. What AI is really doing—according to Elaine Barsoom, former Global Head of AI/GenAI Tech Innovation, Partnerships, and Strategy at Nike in a virtual meeting of The Futureproof Project last week—is rewriting the relationship between brands and the people they serve. Not just automating marketing, reinventing it. The transformation is happening at the intersection of creativity, computation, and a new model of consumer connection that doesn’t fit neatly into yesterday’s org charts. Here are the main themes from our Futureproof Project Talk.
The new frontier: Brands must actually understand people again.
The question every brand should be asking right now is not “What can we automate?"
“When was the last time a brand truly understood you?”
Elaine Barsoomformer Global Head of GenAI Tech Innovation at Nike
Not retargeted you. Not recommended something adjacent. But anticipated what you needed before you asked. That single shift reframes everything. Because the next era of marketing won’t be defined by better segmentation—it will be defined by systems that can:
- Sense intent
- Adapt in real time
- Learn from behavioral signals
- Respond with the nuance of a human guide
Brands that don’t learn to predict—not just personalize—will lose relevance at the speed of an algorithm.
The collapse of the middle: Why generalists may be in trouble.
A theme that keeps surfacing: the shape of marketing talent is changing.
Across industries, we’re seeing:
- Creators overwhelmed by tech
- Engineers disconnected from brand storytelling
- Workflows too complex for “Jack of all trades” roles
“You’re either a creator or a coder… the middle ground will collapse.”
Elaine Barsoomformer Global Head of GenAI Tech Innovation at Nike
The organizations pulling ahead are pairing these worlds—creatives training engineers in brand craft, engineers training creatives in AI-driven workflows.
The future won’t belong to generalists. It will belong to hybrid specialists—people who understand how to use AI with precision while still bringing the human judgment, taste, and intuition that machines can’t replicate.
The next real advantage: Learning velocity.
Most companies still treat AI like a faster Photoshop or a cheaper copywriter. But the competitive moat has become learning velocity.
For the first time:
- Tools evolve faster than annual planning cycles
- Consumer expectations shift monthly
- Creative norms refresh every release update
The new rhythm looks like this: Try → Reject → Revisit → Adopt → Repeat.
“The real competitive moat is how fast you learn and adapt—not how efficiently you execute.”
Elaine Barsoomformer Global Head of GenAI Tech Innovation at Nike
Efficiency is linear. Learning velocity is exponential. And only one of those creates lasting competitive advantage.
What AI-native consumer experience really looks like.
Brands everywhere are experimenting, but the ones making meaningful progress have shifted from “AI answers” to “AI understanding.”
This looks like:
- Intent engines instead of chatbots
- Systems trained on brand DNA, not generic models
- Post-purchase journeys that learn, not just respond
- Co-creation tools where consumers shape the product, not just shop it
We’re moving beyond the old idea of personalization. What’s happening now is participation—inviting consumers into the experience instead of just pushing content at them. AI isn’t just a faster way to make things; it’s becoming a genuine growth engine, expanding what brands can create with people, not just for them.
Adoption is a fear problem, not a tech problem
The most candid insight of the session wasn’t technical—it was unmistakably human.
A lot of the hesitation around AI comes from a very human place. People worry they’ll be replaced. They worry they’ll break something. They worry about protecting IP. And underneath it all, there’s that quieter fear of not being “good enough” at the new stuff yet.
The companies getting unstuck are doing a few things right:
- Legal as co-experimenters, not gatekeepers
- Train-the-trainer communities, not top-down mandates
- Role-specific literacy, not one-size-fits-all workshops
Because AI transformation isn’t about access. It’s about acclimation.
AI as a growth engine—not a content machine.
This is the shift most leaders are still underestimating, often without realizing it.
“AI will be an engine for growth. That’s where the real ROI is.”
Elaine Barsoomformer Global Head of GenAI Tech Innovation at Nike
The real win isn’t the content AI can generate—it’s the opportunity it unlocks. New products, new experiences, new business models, even new rituals between brands and the people they serve. That’s the frontier marketers should be paying attention to.
We’re entering a world where creativity finally meets code—and the companies ready to reimagine the relationship (not just the workflow) will break away from the pack.
The human edge becomes the differentiator.
“You have to know what good looks like,” Adam Kleinberg said—a point Elaine Barsoom amplified by reminding us that an engineer may think something looks great, but have no idea whether it actually meets brand tone.
AI can execute. But it can’t judge. Remember this.
Taste, intuition, emotional intelligence, narrative sensibility—those edges are human. And as AI fills in the middle, the edges matter more than ever.
We are moving toward agentic commerce—fast.
Consumers will soon:
- Ask an agent what to buy
- Compare products through an AI intermediary
- Transact inside LLM environments
- Rely on AI to curate, validate, and recommend
The funnel is collapsing into a single, fluid conversation—and brands that aren’t preparing for agentic experiences are already playing catch-up.
“If brands aren’t thinking about agentic AI experiences, they are in the losing seat.”
Elaine Barsoomformer Global Head of GenAI Tech Innovation at Nike
AI must be thought of as a new operating system for creating value. The companies that will pull ahead are the ones willing to rethink how they understand, serve, and learn from the people they exist for. And as creativity finally meets code, the marketers who can confidently blend human craft with machine intelligence—rather than treating them as opposing forces—will be the ones shaping what comes next.
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