How AI is transforming customer experience in retail in 2026

Using AI in marketing but still feel like you’re falling behind? Between ChatGPT, Claude and another new tool every week, knowing where to focus can feel overwhelming. Dr Lauren Ingram, founder of Next Big Thing joins Katie Street on Marketing in the Madness to share how marketers can build confidence with AI and get more from the tools they already use. Drawing on her experience at Meta, Amazon and Wispr Flow, Lauren explains why going deeper with one AI platform can help, how to make time for learning and why saving time should give us space to think. They also explore what’s holding women back from using AI, why representation matters in the decisions being made and how to bring some curiosity and fun back into learning new technology. Chapters:00:00 Meet Dr Lauren Ingram01:30 From Meta to building a women’s tech community03:28 What’s holding women back from using AI?07:21 Knowing your worth and charging for your expertise14:16 Representation in AI decision-making18:48 Choosing an AI platform and giving it context24:14 Making time to learn without burning out30:04 Why even AI insiders feel behind31:25 ChatGPT vs Claude and the 90/10 approach34:39 AI tools for marketing and creative work40:20 A different way to think about AI43:19 AI Girl Gang and making technology feel fun again Now we want to know: which AI tool do you use most and what would you like to get better at? Let us know in the comments. Subscribe to Marketing in the Madness for more conversations with the people shaping marketing’s future. Audio version available on:Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2UUIgMdZ6FdSCrux5BY7PI?si=c48bdbecb5be4a6eApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/marketing-in-the-madness/id1688996981 Lauren Ingramhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/ingramlauren/ Katie Streethttps://www.linkedin.com/in/katiestreet/https://www.instagram.com/streetmate/ Marketing in The Madnesshttps://www.linkedin.com/company/marketing-in-the-madness-podcast/https://www.instagram.com/marketinginthemadness/ Street Agencyhttps://street.agency/https://www.instagram.com/street.agency/https://www.linkedin.com/company/streetagency/

Can an advert reach the right person without interrupting what they’re doing? AudioMob is building its business around exactly that. In this episode of Marketing in the Madness, recorded at HumanX in Amsterdam, Katie Street meets Christian Facey, CEO and Co-founder of AudioMob, to explore how AI is changing audio advertising, audience targeting and business growth. Christian explains how AudioMob lets people keep playing mobile games while audio ads run in the background. He shares how the company uses interactions, such as listening, clicking or muting an advert, to predict audience interests without accessing people’s microphones. With a network that can reach over a billion people, Christian also explains how AudioMob uses AI to check ads at scale and grow without a proportional increase in headcount. They discuss the AI “second brain” helping employees prepare for pitches and research potential customers, plus AudioMob’s expansion into podcasts and music streaming. If you work in marketing or want to understand how businesses are putting AI to work, this episode offers a look inside a company already doing it. 00:00 Marketing in The Madness at HumanX01:56 How AudioMob’s in-game audio ads work03:00 AI audience targeting without microphone access04:04 From Google and Meta to founding AudioMob05:30 Reaching over a billion people06:44 Using AI to check ads at scale07:40 Growing a business with AI08:28 Building an AI “second brain”09:13 More content and the human element09:47 Expanding into podcasts and music streaming10:15 What inspired Christian at HumanX12:05 Follow Marketing in the Madness Subscribe to Marketing in the Madness for more conversations with the people shaping marketing and AI. Christian Faceyhhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-facey/ Katie Streethttps://www.linkedin.com/in/katiestreet/https://www.instagram.com/streetmate/ Marketing in The Madnesshttps://www.linkedin.com/company/marketing-in-the-madness-podcast/https://www.instagram.com/marketinginthemadness/ Street Agencyhttps://street.agency/https://www.instagram.com/street.agency/https://www.linkedin.com/company/streetagency/

In this episode of Marketing in the Madness, Katie Street sits down with Mikayel Vardanyan, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer at Picsart, recorded live at HumanX in Amsterdam. Mika explains how AI is making content creation more accessible and helping marketers turn their ideas into finished work. They explore what this means for creative teams, why video production is seeing such a big shift and how AI agents could help founders and small businesses do more themselves. They also discuss how content creation connects with distribution, including workflows that generate ads, publish them and use performance data to improve the next round. 00:00 Marketing in the Madness at HumanX01:32 Meet Mika, Picsart’s Co-Founder and COO02:44 What should creatives keep control of?05:42 Turning your creative vision into content06:48 How AI is opening up video production08:18 What happens to creative jobs?11:01 Connecting content creation with distribution14:14 How Picsart’s AI agents work15:52 AI tools for founders and small businesses17:54 Finding inspiration and getting started18:31 What’s next for Picsart and AI creativity? Subscribe to Marketing in the Madness for more conversations with Katie Street and the people shaping the future of marketing. What part of your creative workflow would you hand over to an AI agent? Let us know in the comments.

Why does so much LinkedIn content sound like everyone swallowed the same corporate dictionary? Recorded live at Ideas Fest, Katie Street is joined by comedian and creator Adam Faulkner to talk about using humour on LinkedIn, building a personal brand and making B2B content people actually want to read. They take on the posts we all recognise: the “humbled and delighted” announcements, the business lessons from a week on holiday, the overnight success stories and the DMs that open with “quick question”. Adam shares how comedy sketches about LinkedIn helped him build an audience and win work with brands. Katie and Adam also explore where funny ideas come from, why relatable content gets shared and how to show people what you do without turning every post into a sales pitch. Chapters00:00 Why LinkedIn matters for business07:03 Why humour stands out17:03 Adam’s most successful LinkedIn content20:24 Finding your own funny angle26:24 The LinkedIn posts that make us cringe36:55 What makes a bad LinkedIn DM?43:00 Turning engagement into conversations50:25 Building a personal brand through your work Subscribe to Marketing in the Madness for more conversations about marketing, content and the people changing how we work. Audio version available on:Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2UUIgMdZ6FdSCrux5BY7PI?si=c48bdbecb5be4a6eApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/marketing-in-the-madness/id1688996981 Adam Faulknerhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/adamjfaulkner/ Katie Streethttps://www.linkedin.com/in/katiestreet/https://www.instagram.com/streetmate/ Marketing in The Madnesshttps://www.linkedin.com/company/marketing-in-the-madness-podcast/https://www.instagram.com/marketinginthemadness/ Street Agencyhttps://street.agency/https://www.instagram.com/street.agency/https://www.linkedin.com/company/streetagency/

AI can help marketers work faster, but without human judgement, it can also get us to the wrong answer quicker. Recorded backstage at The Leaders Lab, Katie Street speaks with behavioural science expert Richard Shotton about why understanding human behaviour matters more than ever in the age of AI. They explore why people often judge creative work more harshly when they know AI was involved, the obvious signs that make AI-generated content feel lazy and why better AI tools can sometimes lead to worse work. Richard also explains how marketers can use AI effectively while keeping the human experience, intuition and expertise that give the work its value. In this conversation: 00:00 Why behavioural science still matters00:21 Using behavioural biases to improve AI01:15 Why people judge AI-made work more harshly02:24 How to communicate the value behind AI-assisted work04:38 Why good AI output starts with a good brief05:21 Can better AI lead to worse work?06:35 Will attitudes towards AI-generated content change?07:48 The key takeaway for marketers Subscribe to Marketing in the Madness for more honest conversations with the people shaping marketing, technology and business. Audio version available on: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2UUIgMdZ6FdSCrux5BY7PI?si=c48bdbecb5be4a6e Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/marketing-in-the-madness/id1688996981