Think Summit New York wrapped up yesterday, and it was the best one yet. Two days at The Glasshouse, more than 700 marketers, 225+ brands, and a single question running through all of it: what does it really look like when marketers and AI work together instead of one replacing the other?
We called this year Marketer x Machine, and the best part was how little it stayed in the realm of theory. Here's what stayed with us.
Genuine Marketer Stories
A lot of events talk about AI in broad terms. At Think Summit, speakers focused on the work itself: the tests they ran, the challenges they hit, the results they saw, and the lessons they took away.
Across sessions from retail, travel, finance, and media brands, one theme kept surfacing: the best outcomes come when teams know where technology can accelerate the work and where human expertise still makes the difference.
Albert Yu-Min Lin's Inspiring Keynote
National Geographic Explorer Albert Yu-Min Lin has spent his career using technology to uncover what others couldn't see, from lost cities to forgotten civilizations. But his keynote wasn't really about technology. It was about perspective.
Nine years ago, Albert lost his leg in an accident and found himself wondering whether he would ever be able to continue doing the work he loved. Then a friend showed him a photo of a surfer riding a wave with only one leg. It was a simple image, but it changed everything. In that moment, Albert stopped focusing on what he had lost and started imagining what was still possible.
His story was a reminder that inspiration often comes from the most unexpected places. A single image, a shared experience, or one person's example can completely reshape how we see our own challenges. Technology can help us go further, but it's human stories that often give us the confidence to take the next step.
What We Revealed
Think Summit is where we tend to show what's next, and this year we introduced Programmatic CRM, Movable Ink's new approach to owned channel marketing that applies AI decisioning and dynamic content generation across email, mobile, and web. Instead of building campaigns around predefined journeys and broad segments, Programmatic CRM helps marketers evaluate customer context in real time and deliver the most relevant experience for each individual.
Hibbett and TurboTax walked through what these tools look like inside a real program, with real deadlines and trade-offs.
Our First Ever Workshops
This was the first year we ran hands-on workshops, and the rooms filled up. Instead of hearing about Movable Ink Studio and Tactics, attendees spent time in them, building, testing, and trying things out alongside our team. We'll definitely be planning more of these next year.
Other Noteworthy Moments
The Movable Pink Collective Breakfast came back on Day Two, and the conversation Anjali Yakkundi led on leadership, negotiation, and growing a career was inspiring.
The Swag Store, stocked with adidas, Sephora, and Levi's, did its usual damage to everyone's luggage.
But some of the best moments happened between sessions. With 225+ brands in one place, the hallway conversations were as good as anything on the agenda. Thank you to our partners for being part of it.
Until Next Year…
Whether you joined us in person or virtually, thank you for being part of Think Summit. The event wouldn't have been the same without you.
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