Forbes January 27, 2026
A Fortune 500 CMO called me last week with a familiar problem dressed in new language. Her CEO had mandated that every department demonstrate “AI transformation” within 90 days or face budget cuts. Marketing, she was told, would need to justify its existence in an AI-first world.
“What’s our moat when AI can do everything we do?” she asked.
I told her to flip the question: What’s your moat when AI can do everything everyone does?
The answer, supported by 20 years of empirical data, is hiding in plain sight.
Brand equity remains perhaps one of the only sustainable competitive advantages that AI cannot replicate, commoditize or disintermediate.
The $10.7 Trillion Proof Point
First, a definition. Brand equity is the...
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