AI gives every marketer access to similar tools. So, how’s that going to help your brand stand out?
Live from the Marketing Vanguard stage at Brandweek 2026, Jenny Rooney sits down with Mastercard’s EVP of global brand strategy and innovation, Cheryl Guerin, to talk about how brands can differentiate themselves when technology becomes table stakes.
Cheryl gets into how Mastercard uses AI to eliminate routine brand work and free its people for higher-order thinking, why Priceless has survived nearly three decades of cultural change, and why real agility sometimes looks like saying no.
What you’ll learn:
- How Mastercard uses automation to free brand experts for higher-order creative work
- Why Priceless has remained relevant across nearly three decades of cultural change
- Why saying no is becoming a critical part of brand agility
- How “passions experts” help Mastercard identify cultural opportunities earlier
- Why emerging talent can create different economics and stronger relationships than obvious superstar bets
- Why purpose-driven work has to connect brand ethos, constituent needs and business impact
This episode is part of a special vidcast series that was recorded live during Brandweek 2026 and presented in partnership with Tatari.
About our guest:
Cheryl Guerin has spent nearly 26 years at Mastercard across a wide range of roles, including regional marketing leadership, products and services, P&L responsibility and global credit before returning to the area she describes as her heart: marketing.
Over that time, Cheryl has helped evolve the Priceless platform through major shifts in culture, technology and the business itself, leading initiatives such as the True Name card and Touch Card. Her perspective is grounded in a simple challenge: keep the brand relevant as the world changes without losing the human truth that made it matter in the first place.
Episode Highlights:
[02:03] AI Cannot Differentiate Your Brand — Cheryl’s Brandweek 2026 AI take cuts straight through the hype. If everyone eventually has access to similar technology, the tool itself cannot become the advantage. Mastercard is already using AI to absorb routine brand questions, with its brand assistant handling roughly 75% of work that used to be answered manually. But the win is not simply efficiency. It is giving experienced brand people more time to think about harder questions around creativity, trust and the future of the brand.
