Marketing Association Digital Special Interest Group
9 Dec 2025
1. Looking back, what stands out as the biggest disruption for marketers in 2025, both here in Aotearoa and globally?
Zania Guy: Absolutely AI. Most marketers are still putting their heads in the sand and pretending nothing has changed. But it has. AI has already disrupted the day to day of marketing and the real disruption is only just beginning. What we have seen in 2025 is just the warmup. The pace at which AI is advancing is like nothing we have ever experienced before.
Jobs will change. Skill sets will change. The focus of marketing teams will change. And people who cling to the old way of working will find themselves left behind very quickly. The disruption in 2026 will not be about AI replacing marketers. It will be about AI replacing the marketers who refuse to evolve.
The exciting part is that AI gives marketers the chance to be more clever, work faster, and be more creative and strategic than ever before. When you use AI properly, it strips away the busy work and gives you the time and headspace to actually do high-value marketing.
I am genuinely excited for what is coming. AI is not the end of marketing. It is the beginning of the next chapter for marketers who are willing to learn, adapt and lean in.
