Talking Heads 2024 – Corporate Heads
Aurora askedPakistan’s leadingadvertisingagencies to answerthree questions:
Here’s what the corporate agency heads had to say:
1 Does AI enhance the creative process? Please explain why and/or why not.
2 Now that AI is seemingly capable of generating an entire process that goes from ideation and artwork to the campaign, how is the concept of originality being redefined?
3 The one AI innovation you are waiting for.
Fayaz Ahmed Abro
Head, Marketing & Brands,
Progressive Group
1 AI has created many new opportunities. People should adapt and grow with the times.
2 AI cannot replace emotional intelligence and creativity. These human qualities drive the innovation and connections essential to building relationships and understanding complex social dynamics.
3 AI innovations that enhance collaboration, making it easier for teams to communicate and brainstorm ideas, fostering a more creative and productive work environment.
Ambar Ahmed
Lead, Communications,
Daraz Pakistan
1 Misinformation and the influx of mediocrity. AI-generated content has impacted the quality of communication on social media and even in some publications. Skilled writers are rare or undervalued. AI amplifies the spread of false information, making it harder to ensure clear, accurate messaging in today’s media landscape.
2 Anything that requires deep human understanding or ethical judgment. True progress challenges conventional wisdom – something a model trained on public data cannot achieve. Relying on AI for such decisions limits innovation and overlooks the nuanced thinking needed to drive advancement in businesses.
3 AI-powered preventive healthcare solutions that assist individuals in managing their health early on, offering tailored advice to improve and maintain their well-being.
Hasan Saeed Akbar
Head, Marketing & Communications,
JS Bank
1 AI helps craft some great creative expressions. We have run ad campaigns using only AI, and the results were off the charts.
2 AI is great at analysing data. What it cannot do (yet) is reflect human empathy or replicate the human touch needed to craft narratives that resonate on a personal level.
3 An AI tool that does not create content based on random generation but understands regional and cultural references to create imagery that connects with local markets rather than a one-size-fits-all approach
Shaza Rais Akbar
Communications Lead, BSPAN,
Lipton Teas and Infusions
1 AI has accelerated content creation and audience engagement but demands constant adaptation to emerging tools. Balancing speed with authenticity is more challenging than ever.
2 Emotional intelligence and strategic storytelling remain uniquely human. AI can analyse trends, but crafting narratives that resonate with empathy and cultural nuance requires human insight and intuition.
3 An AI platform that integrates real-time data with predictive analytics, allowing communications leaders to address and manage reputation risks before they escalate.
Rabia Alavi
Marketing Lead,
Alkaram Studio
1 AI has made it challenging to distinguish authentic creativity from automated output. AI tools often overshadow the value of human insight and originality.
2 Personal and emotional connections that foster the relationships vital to communicating with consumers. Strategic decision-making, where human judgment and an understanding of the brand’s ethos are irreplaceable.
3 An AI innovation whereby we can decipher consumer patterns to predict trends, enabling us to refine our communication strategies and make smarter, better-informed strategic decisions.
Madiha Sarim Alvi
Head, Marketing & Corporate Communications,
HABIBMETRO
1 Marketing is about the exchange of values, and like any other innovation, AI has brought new values with it. It is about keeping pace with changing times.
2 AI has not been able to replicate human emotions, although this may be around the corner. AI only presents what is already out there and lacks that ‘oomph’ that comes with something new.
3 An AI model that brings revolutionary leaders and thinkers back from the dead, so our current mechanical and profitability-oriented global leadership can learn the concept of Return on Humanity (ROH).
Muhammad Zohaib Ayaz
Head of Marketing,
Dewan Motors
1 AI has raised the bar for creativity. It handles routine tasks, so there is a constant drive for innovation and original ideas.
2 AI cannot replace human intuition or emotional storytelling.
3 An AI that integrates emotional intelligence with the creative process, allowing it to better understand and predict audience reactions beyond data-driven insights.
Hamayoun Bashir
Marketing Director,
Haier Pakistan
1 AI generates vast amounts of data, making it difficult to sift through relevant information.
2 Genuine understanding of human emotions and nuanced social cue interpretation.
3 Multimodal interaction: Integration of text, voice, images, videos, and gestures for better natural and intuitive human-AI interaction.
Rohail Bashir
Vice-President & COO,
DWP Technologies
1 AI has introduced increased complexity in system integration and security concerns. Remaining updated with evolving AI technologies and customising solutions for clients has become more challenging and time-consuming.
2 Emotional intelligence and empathy. AI cannot understand or replicate the nuanced interactions required for leadership or counselling. Critical thinking, particularly for problem-solving, depends on human intuition and judgment.
3 An AI that revolutionises problem-solving and creativity by functioning like human intelligence; where technology can complement our strengths instead of just automating tasks.
Mariam Durrani
Director, Marketing & Brands,
Pakistan Cables
1 The volume of data has increased exponentially, making it difficult to assess data credibility. It is also increasingly difficult to ensure the ethical use of data.
2 Authenticity, empathy, and emotional intelligence cannot be replaced by AI.
3 An AI innovation that will end world poverty and hunger, uplifting humanity at large.
Wajahat Ejaz
Director, Brands,
National Foods Limited
1 AI and machine learning enhance data analytics and consumer insights. They also challenge marketers to be more creative, original, and emotionally connected to avoid mediocrity and stay ahead of AI-generated ideas.
2 AI cannot replace marketing and sports. Skills like creativity, originality, emotional intelligence, ethics, and gut instinct will remain irreplaceable.
3 Real-time consumer demand forecasting in complex markets, product innovation, and campaign success predictors.
Sakib Eltaff
CEO,
Al-Ghazi Tractors Limited
1 AI is a welcome addition to the workplace but also adds layers of complexity by overwhelming users with generic data and removing the human element in responses that require empathy and intuition.
2 Human creativity and the emotional intelligence required to connect with people and understand their needs.
3 An AI platform that offers intuitive collaboration with humans, especially in problem-solving, where technology complements our strengths instead of just automating tasks.
Qurratulain Farrukh
Head of Marketing,
Wavetec
1 With AI generating excessive data, itsometimes becomes overwhelming toidentify what is relevant. Keeping up withAI advancements helps us identifyskills gaps in our teams.
2 Strategic thinking andvision to take organisationsto greater heights, adaptingand implementing ideas orstrategies based on intuitionand experience – qualitiesthat AI may not yet provide.Crafting a brand story in thiscomplex market requirescreativity and insights that AIcannot replace.
3 A customer insight enhancement tool.
Tanweer Ahmad Haral
Group Head, Marketing & Investment Advisory,
UBL Fund Managers
1 Mainly yes, partly no. In one way, AI helps create effective marketing content. On the other hand, it misses the essence of financial services and investment products, which need to reflect the psyche and nuances of the target audience.
2 Creativity with human feeling and an understanding of the target audience. How to increase the efficacy of marketing messages through AI remains to be seen. I have not come across any effective tool as of yet.
3 AI in the decision-making process and better service delivery to clients and citizens. The services of the Government of Pakistan to its citizens are still in the stone age. There may be shifts in job trends with AI increasingly used, but the market is dynamic enough to create jobs in new sectors.
Talha Hashim
Marketing Manager,
Spotify, UAE, Pakistan, Bangladesh & Sri Lanka
1 AI has made our job easier. Reclaim.ai has been helpful in managing my time, and ChatGPT is a smart tool that can be used wisely to complete certain operational tasks.
2 Emotional intelligence (essential for understanding consumer emotions) and the ability to interpret cultural trends. AI is limited to data-driven, statistical, and logical inputs.
3 A central hub (like Google for AI) that consolidates all available AI tools in one place. This would spare us searching through numerous tools to find the right one for a specific task, making it easier to choose the best capabilities for our needs.
Nadeem Iqbal
Marketing Manager,
Honda Atlas Cars, Pakistan
1 AI is transforming Pakistan’s automotive marketing through automated data analysis, customer targeting, and content creation, challenging marketers to adapt and master these advancements to stay competitive.
2 AI cannot replace critical decision-making driven by leadership and management. It cannot replicate creative strategy development or the emotional connections essential for customer bonding.
3 Innovations in video and content production that increase efficiency while enhancing customer experience and engagement through advanced analytics like behaviour and preference prediction.
Hamza Jafri
Head of Marketing,
Hamdard Laboratories (Waqf), Pakistan
1 AI adds complexity to decision-making, especially where human judgement and empathy are key factors, like healthcare and education. Balancing AI’s automation with Hamdard’s mission of preserving traditional values remains challenging.
2 AI cannot replace human compassion and empathy in healthcare, where the healer-patient connection is vital. Nor can it replicate the visionary leadership needed to uphold values, culture, and mission-driven legacies.
3 AI innovations that integrate Unani medicine with modern research, offering real-time feedback by analysing treatments that use historical knowledge and data, bridging ancient wisdom with modern science for public health.
Farhan Javed
Group Director,
Graana & IMARAT
1 AI can oversimplify complex and creative processes, making it a double-edged sword. While it speeds up repetitive tasks, it often applies generalised algorithms that can miss the nuances needed to craft original content. AI-generated ideas or scripts may lean towards being formulaic, requiring oversight and manual intervention to refine the content. This introduces the risk of homogenising creative outputs, making it harder to distinguish content. AI-generated insights occasionally yield irrelevant or tangential data, which means sifting through information to find what is actually valuable. Balancing AI’s efficiency with maintaining creative integrity has become a challenge.
2 AI relies on historical data and established patterns, limiting its ability to create something genuinely new. It might be capable of rapid iteration, but true innovation often emerges from human intuition, a quality AI lacks. AI falls short in areas requiring emotional intelligence and nuanced moral judgment. Human empathy, built through lived experience and cultural understanding, shapes how we connect with others – something AI struggles to replicate. In customer relations or leadership roles, decisions must balance logical solutions with compassion and ethical considerations. These nuanced choices are not strictly data-driven but shaped by empathy, ethics, and the subtleties of human interaction.
3 Advanced AI-driven personalisation, capable of adapting to evolving individual preferences. This would deliver content that resonates with each user uniquely. This vision of AI as a true creative partner will bring the precision and personalisation needed to enhance customer experiences.
Sara Kayani
Head of Marketing & Communications,
Mobilink Bank
1 AI brings its fair share of hurdles, yet it unlocks unparalleled efficiency. The challenge lies in mastering the tool and making it work in the race for innovation.
2 AI cannot capture the personal touch, customer obsession, and the audacity to dream big. Human quirks and gut feelings turn wild ideas into reality.
3 AI that makes financial transactions ultra-secure. Imagine moving money as effortlessly as sending a text, with AI as your trusted financial navigator.
Sonya Kayani
Regional Communications Director,
Greater Middle East & Central Asia, Tetra Pak
1 AI-generated content often feels repetitive and saturated with trendy terms, making it uninspiring. Maintaining creative storytelling that resonates on a human level amidst AI-driven automation remains a challenge.
2 AI cannot replicate the emotional depth or tailor content with the cultural specificity necessary for diverse regional audiences.
3 AI innovations that balance automation with authentic human storytelling, enhancing engagement without sacrificing creativity.
Muhammad Shahid Khan
Head of Operations,
JW-SEZ Group (ENVIRO) (Royal) (RD)
1 AI has made my work easier with advanced visual tools that streamline official communication and design processes, enhancing efficiency and creativity in marketing.
2 AI cannot replicate the human element in handling after-sales services or nurturing vital relationships with retail partners. AI falls short in contributing to official internal meetings, where personal interaction is essential.
3 An AI tool that enhances real-time customer feedback, providing instant insights into product performance and user satisfaction.
Saad M. Khan
Senior Director & Franchise Lead,
PepsiCo International, Pakistan and Afghanistan
1 Over-reliance on AI is creating data privacy challenges.
2 Human resource management and franchise management.
3 A tool that automates human-centric consumer insights generation along with tangible action plans.
Arif Lakhani
Co-Founder,
Qist Bazaar
1 AI creates unrealistic expectations, with some believing it can fully replace human judgment.
2 Empathy and strategic vision. AI cannot replace the ability to connect with people on a personal level or have the foresight to set bold directions and inspire teams toward long-term goals.
3 An AI that combines real-time insights with human empathy to better serve the underserved and marginalised, enabling personalised solutions, anticipating needs, and driving financial inclusion where it is needed most.
Ayesha Leghari
Country Director,
Population Services International (PSI), Pakistan
1 AI has made it more complicated to judge the quality of resources in the short term. Only over the long term can one fully identify the real contribution to the organisation. It is becoming increasingly difficult to verify the integrity and originality of documents, images and written texts.
2 Emulating human empathy and the role of situational context in decision-making. This is critical to efficient decision-making when holistic information is processed by individuals about their environment when making key decisions that may not be black and white. A classic case would be the legal context, HR decisions, or decisions to grow one individual over another in an organisation for a variety of positive or negative reasons. Marketing is another function AI cannot emulate, as it requires a large number of external factors about society, culture, and the micro and macro climate to execute a marketing plan. AI cannot contextualise the sensitive nature of societal cues.
3 Using AI as an advanced version of RPA (Robotic Process Automation) would be extremely productive for repetitive tasks that require contextual information before execution. Better image generation would make storytelling and presentation much more productive.
Fauziah Mahmood
Divisional Head, Marketing,
Bank of Khyber
1 AI has made working much easier. It has facilitated content writing, project management, and data analytics. AI is a flexible tool that can churn out the best results if you know your prompts.
2 AI still needs input, and humans are still learning to master the art of input. It will be an evolution in learning how to use AI for our individual needs. The idea that AI will replace jobs is regressive. AI is making life easier just like digital printers made life easier. AI will create jobs for people who know how to manipulate it to their benefit.
3 The visual outputs need more work. Text-to-image or text-to-video outputs are still at an early stage, and the vision is not exactly translated in the output.
Zain Ashraf Mughal
Managing Director,
Super Asia Group
1 AI has introduced complexity by necessitating a deeper understanding of technology integration. It requires balancing human creativity with automated processes, particularly when managing large teams and diverse businesses.
2 AI cannot replicate the emotional intelligence needed for team leadership or the creative intuition that fuels distinctive brand strategies.
3 AI tools that can personalise creative outputs while preserving human originality, especially in branding and customer experience management.
Muhammad Bilal Mukhtar
GM Marketing,
Dolmen Mall Lahore
1 AI handles repetitive tasks, allowing me to focus on creative and strategic work, making my workflow smarter, not harder.
2 Human creativity and emotional depth.
3 AI that anticipates user needs, managing daily life by learning preferences, habits, and schedules without needing constant commands.
Qawi Naseer
Country Managing Director,
L’Oréal Pakistan
1 AI tools are incredibly helpful for streamlining tasks and enabling one to focus on higher-level tasks and strategic thinking.
2 AI cannot replicate the depth of the human mind and its multi-functional and multi-faceted ability to think, process, and ideate. The strategic nature of thought required (gut feel) in more nuanced or challenging situations cannot be replaced by AI. Another irreplaceable capability is emotional intelligence and human empathy.
3 An AI that democratises access to information and lowers the barriers to learning. One that ensures that content generated for learning is reflective of and rooted in the diversity of world views, as opposed to generating narratives based on a more Western perspective.
Maria Rashdi
Head of Corporate Communications & PR,
Shan Foods
1 The assumption is that AI can do anything better and faster, but there is huge room for error where AI-generated information can go wrong if one does not know how to use it effectively.
2 Adding purpose and heart to work can only be done by humans.
3 Tools that can process data with relevant context and generate multi-format content.
Ehtisham Rasool
Director,
ST Group (Golden Cooking Oil)
1 AI enhances competition andstandards in the workplace. Ithas made decision-making morecritical, as bias in data can leadto misunderstandings betweenteammates, impacting efficiency.
2 AI cannot think outside thebox or incorporate diverseperspectives, which limits its abilityin strategic planning.
3 Integration of AI into work systems to ensure accountability andethical decision-making.
Mohammed Adil Sami
EVP & Head of Marketing,
Meezan Bank
2 AI cannot replicate humancreativity and emotionalintelligence without human input. Building meaningful relationships withcustomers requires human feeling, insights and understanding.
3 AI solutions that combine real-time data with advanced predictive capabilities, integrating research and customer polls that accurately anticipate customer needs and deliver personalised solutions. AI cannot replicate humancreativity and emotional intelligence without human input. Building meaningful relationships with customers requires human feeling, insights and understanding.
Syed Muhammad Raza
Marketing Manager,
Seasons Canola
2 AI cannot replace the human touchin creative strategy development oremotional intelligence.
3 An AI innovation that will enhancepersonalisation, automatecomplex data analysis and optimisedecision-making.
Nida Shamim
Manager IT,
Philip Morris Pakistan
2 The human factor cannot becompletely replaced. AI can assistbut cannot fully replace strategicdecision-making and ethical judgment.
3 AI-driven personalised learning and upskilling systems, with real-timeeducational content adapted to individual learning styles and preferences.
Waheed Zafar
Director,
Naurus
1 Most AI data comes from the web andneeds to be fact-checked, which meansmore work.
2 The human touch. AI can never replaceethics, morality and emotions.
3 AI should be able to tell us more about ourpast (fact-checked) rather than our future.
Syed Abuzar Zaidi
Business Unit Head,
Sunridge Marts
2 Human reasoning and creativity.Soft skills, such as teamworkand effective communication, areirreplaceable by AI.
3 A CEO who never changes theirstatements at regular intervals.