Emma Autio says martech is entering a new phase, one where AI is no longer simply supporting marketing operations, but actively making decisions in real time.
Miltton is a Nordic-Baltic consultancy spanning martech, communications, strategy, geopolitics and brand consulting, and is currently expanding its UK presence from its London base.
Speaking to New Digital Age for the latest in our Martech Focus series, Autio discusses the rise of AI decision engines, the growing importance of trust in personalisation, and why creativity is becoming more valuable again.
AI moves from tools to decision making
According to Autio, the defining current trend in martech is AI’s shift from being a productivity layer to becoming an active decision maker within customer journeys.
“There is really one umbrella topic ongoing, and that is AI becoming the decision maker and not just a feature,” she says.
Autio believes martech is moving beyond workflow automation towards systems that orchestrate customer journeys in real time.
“We are moving from workflows to decision engines. AI is now orchestrating journeys in real time, deciding what happens, when, where and for whom.”
While the industry is focused on the speed of AI development, Autio says the bigger challenge is organisational readiness.
“Our approach is to understand where strategy, regulation and reputation intersect,” she says. “That is becoming increasingly important.”
The rising value of good thinking
For Autio, AI is not replacing expertise, but exposing weak strategy more quickly.
“The value of good thinking is becoming more and more important,” she says.
She argues that generative AI has made it easy to create content, automate flows and launch campaigns, but that does not automatically lead to meaningful customer experiences.
“AI does not kill expertise, but it raises and multiplies the cost of bad thinking,” she says. “Weak strategies become visible much faster.”
Instead, the differentiators are becoming clarity, coherence and strategic intent.
“It all boils down to data quality, experience design and strategic intent,” she says. “It is now very easy to create flows and content, but that does not mean they are coherent or meaningful.”
Trust becomes a design constraint
Autio says one of the most important discussions happening in martech centres on hyperpersonalisation and consumer trust.
Although the technology exists to deliver highly-personalised experiences at scale, many organisations remain cautious about fully deploying advanced capabilities.
“There is definitely innovation hesitation,” she says. “Anything is possible nowadays, but not everything is being taken into execution.”
She believes this caution is particularly strong in Europe, where regulation and privacy concerns are shaping how brands approach AI powered marketing.
“Trust is becoming a design constraint and not just a legal afterthought,” she says.
Autio also questions whether consumers genuinely want hyperpersonalised experiences.
“It would be really interesting to investigate whether consumers truly appreciate hyperpersonalisation, or whether it becomes too intrusive,” she says.
Martech complexity increases for internal teams
As AI systems become more advanced, Autio says internal martech teams are being asked to manage significantly more complexity.
“The overall complexity of the martech ecosystem is growing very significantly,” she says.
Teams must now navigate real-time architectures, AI-driven decisioning, increasingly sophisticated data strategies and evolving regulation simultaneously.
“This is a very big chunk of new things to learn for internal teams,” she says.
While organisations can increasingly manage capabilities internally, she believes there is still a clear role for specialist advisors and consultancies.
“It is a lot for anyone to handle,” she says. “There is still a need for human support to help organisations rethink what all of this is actually about.”
Ultimately, she says the focus must remain on customer experience rather than technical sophistication.
“It is about creating a good customer experience, not just beautiful digital journey flows for agents,” she says.
Strategy and creativity gain importance
Autio believes the rise of AI decisioning is changing the types of skills organisations value most.
“This is the million dollar question,” she says.
Rather than prioritising purely technical expertise, she believes businesses increasingly need people with strategic thinking and creative problem solving skills.
“I want to emphasise good thinking skills,” she says. “The skills needed nowadays are about good strategy and clever creative thinking.”
She also sees opportunities emerging for more diverse talent profiles.
“The companies that are transforming successfully are combining very senior and very junior people, alongside people with non-traditional backgrounds who are clever thinkers and know how to navigate these ecosystems,” she says.
Autio describes this as a more democratic shift for the industry, although she warns that businesses must continue investing in younger talent despite automation concerns.
A renaissance for creativity
Despite widespread fears when generative AI first emerged, Autio says she is increasingly optimistic about the future of creativity.
As AI makes it easier to generate average campaigns and content at scale, she believes genuinely strong creative ideas are becoming more valuable.
“There is a renaissance of the power of good ideas,” she says. “It is now so easy to create mediocre campaigns and experiences, so the really clear, witty ideas are the ones that stand out.”
She argues that brands should spend more time being playful and creatively ambitious, rather than relying on generic AI generated outputs.
At the same time, she says AI is increasing the importance of clarity and communication.
“Being understandable, easy to grasp and having a clear value proposition is definitely needed,” she says.
Autio points to reports that major technology companies are increasingly hiring strong human writers to sharpen messaging and positioning.
“How to crystallise the value proposition of your service or product is one of the most appreciated skills at the moment,” she says.
