Episode notes
AI can optimize every impression. It can personalize every message. It can tell you exactly what’s working. So why is trust getting harder to earn?
In this episode, McKinsey joins us to unpack a tradeoff at the heart of modern advertising: the more precisely you target, the more fragile your brand can become. We examine how personalization, performance and brand consistency are being reshaped in an AI-fueled market, and what leaders must rethink to scale impact without losing control.
Featured experts
- Craig Macdonald, Partner, Media and Advertising at McKinsey & Company
- Richie Naylor, Partner, Kyndryl Consult, Kyndryl
Conversation highlights
Please note the transcript has been modified for clarity and length.
Tom Rourke (Host): What is the “runaway train” risk in advertising when AI becomes more autonomous?
Craig Macdonald: The industry has not solved this yet. A lot of AI work has focused on efficiency—not necessarily better quality. You can create a lot more content with a lot less, but that doesn’t mean it’s better. If a system is only told to get attention or drive clicks, it may start producing divergent messages for different people. Over time, that can become the death of a brand, because when you’re all things to all people, you’re nothing. (Hear the full response at 07:07)
Tom Rourke: Looking ahead, what does progress look like for AI in media and advertising?
Richie Naylor: Humans are moving away from simpler tasks in media development and becoming more strategic about what they create and how they position it. They’re inputting into a decision engine. Strategy is what that decision engine captures, and the decisioning layer supports everything from sales to journalism to customer experiences. We’re moving from designing journeys to defining rules and guardrails—and that is a more strategic activity. (Hear the full response at 19:07)
More to the story
Explore Kyndryl’s communications and media insights to see how leading organizations are delivering personalized, always-on experiences while modernizing the systems behind them.
Learn how Kyndryl’s Agentic AI Framework helps organizations scale AI with the governance and control required for real-world impact.