Five sessions at Navigate: Now and Next 2026 Singapore delivered the same uncomfortable conclusion from five different angles: the bottleneck in marketing is no longer technology. It is us.

Insights and key take away points from the CEO Conversation event with Michelle Mitchell, CEO Cancer Research UK which was held under Chatham House rules.

The companies that will win in marketing are not those with the most tools or the most data, but those that can cut through internal complexity, connect technology to real business outcomes, and keep human judgement at the heart of every decision.

The discussion explored how marketing effectiveness is being weakened by short-term optimisation, fragmented measurement, and over-reliance on AI-driven efficiency, while reinforcing the need for stronger brand building, long-term thinking, and clearer strategic discipline.

A reflection from Navigate: Now and Next (Hong Kong), shaped both behind the scenes and on stage. Drawing on planning discussions and the event itself, this piece explores where marketers are converging on what matters most - from AI and trust to the balance between brand and performance.

An event takeaway from Navigate: Now & Next 2026 Singapore, exploring why the biggest marketing challenge of the AI era is not the technology itself, but how marketing functions are designed to use it

The marketing leaders getting the most from AI aren’t the ones with the best tools or the biggest budgets. They’re the ones who are personally, visibly and continuously learning.

Fourteen senior marketing and business leaders across APAC share their honest perspectives on the tensions defining modern marketing leadership, from AI and measurement to brand building and organisational complexity, in partnership with Ekimetrics.

In a recent Global Conversation event, fraud victim Tracy Hall, argues that trust is being exploited at industrial scale by AI-powered scammers, and that marketers must treat trust as a measurable, designed-in feature of every customer touchpoint.

Marketing is embracing AI but with mainly surface-level usage. The reality of this means a function best placed to benefit from AI, is quietly missing it entirely. Joe Hildebrand explains.