Artificial intelligence is allowing brands to produce more creative work faster and at lower cost, but the technology is also creating a new challenge: deciding which ideas are actually worth pursuing.
That is one of the key findings of Brand Perspectives 2026, a new report from creative production partner MikeTeevee based on interviews with senior creative and marketing executives from brands including HelloFresh, Wayfair, DoorDash, Canva, Intuit, O2 and Verizon.
The report argues that many of the pressures now associated with AI — from increasingly similar-looking creative work to decision fatigue and concerns about the erosion of creative craft — existed in the industry before generative AI became mainstream. AI has simply accelerated them by making it possible to generate almost unlimited ideas, formats and variations.
For brands in the GCC, where businesses are rapidly expanding their use of AI across marketing, advertising and content production, the findings point to a growing tension between the ability to produce more content and the need to maintain distinctive brand identities.
James Hurst, Executive Creative Director at HelloFresh, says the sheer volume of possible creative outputs can make decision-making harder.
“Some teams are suffering from real decision paralysis,” Hurst says, “because they can now create an almost infinite number of variations at almost zero cost and in zero time.”
Mike Pearson, Head of Creative & Promotions at Wayfair, raises a related concern about increasing creative similarity.
“In a world where everyone can create more with the same tools, and often with the same inputs, how do you stop everything looking the same?” he asks.
The issue is particularly relevant as GCC marketers deal with increasingly fragmented audiences across social media, digital platforms, retail channels and emerging AI-powered experiences. More content can help brands maintain a constant presence, but the report suggests that volume alone does not guarantee stronger creative work.
The human filter
Brand Perspectives 2026 argues that the creative industry’s traditional process of generating ideas, filtering them and committing to a strong concept is becoming harder as technology reduces the cost of producing alternatives.
“The question for creative teams is no longer how many options they can produce. It’s how they decide which ideas deserve to exist,” says Ellen Utrecht, Founder of MikeTeeVee.
“The leaders we spoke to are finding valuable uses for AI, but they’re also clear that speed and volume cannot replace taste, judgement or the confidence to make a choice.”
The report also raises concerns about the impact of AI-driven efficiencies on junior creative roles. According to the publication, these positions play an important role in developing the creative judgement, instinct and experience needed to become future creative leaders.
That issue could become increasingly important for the GCC as agencies, brands and production companies build local creative and marketing capabilities while adopting AI tools.
The report also questions whether faster production should automatically be viewed as transformation. AI can reduce the time required to produce creative assets, but companies may still be working within processes designed for a pre-AI environment.
Thomas Ranese, Chief Marketing Officer at Intuit, describes the contradiction: “We’re all saying AI is making us more efficient, but everyone’s working twice as hard as they’ve ever worked.”
From volume to judgement
Despite its warnings, Brand Perspectives 2026 does not argue against AI. Instead, it identifies opportunities to use the technology to remove repetitive work, explore ideas more freely and give creative teams more time for higher-value thinking.
For GCC brands, the implication is that AI adoption may increasingly shift the competitive question from how quickly a company can produce content to how effectively it can identify, develop and protect distinctive ideas.
The report concludes that organisations that benefit most from AI will not necessarily be those that automate the largest share of their creative work, but those that combine the technology’s speed and scale with strong creative standards, talent development and human judgement.
