“AI will be the most transformational technology of our lifetime,” said Sam Garfield, industry strategy, Adobe. “Adobe is really digging in on that.” That was the overwhelming theme of the CES 2025 Gen AI Personalization: Advancing the Promise of Digital panel. Moderated by Linda Cronin, EVP, global media, Monks, Garfield was joined by Michelle Garcia, SVP, marketing, Paramount+, and Jacob Abel, head of marketing operations, strategy, media, Delta Air Lines, to dive into Generative AI and how it can help scale, improve personalization, and drive revenue in 2025 and beyond.
Both Abel and Garcia agreed: machine learning has been used for years—AI is not a new creation. At Paramount+, for example, the streaming app always seems to know what you want to watch next or what kind of shows to recommend for future viewing—an impressive feat for a catalogue ranging from Spongebob to Star Trek.
What is new, said Abel, is how marketing departments react to the Gen AI information. At Delta, it is an informed reaction, relying on a team to provide governance and make sure what the company is doing with AI is intentional. The use of Gen AI requires a huge investment in time and resources, so a plan is imperative to ensure AI is being used ethically and correctly.
Garfield, referencing a quote from a podcast he had heard earlier, noted, “2023 was the year of wow, 2024 was the year of how, and 2025 is going to be the year of now.” At Adobe, the company is intentional in how they integrate Generative AI into each and every product. The tools need to be there, and now that they have been integrated and Adobe is comfortable with the outputs, 2025 is a year where Adobe can scale up and provide more.
He pointed out that Gen AI tools in any vertical need to be commercially safe AI tools. Brand safety is a big challenge, and Adobe’s GenStudio for Performance Marketing checks brand safety guidelines. Adobe aims to ensure that everyone it works with feels comfortable with what they work with.
Every business, said Abel, has the opportunity to get to the 1:1 level. Thus, personalization is a top priority for both Delta and Paramount+ in 2025. The number of places Delta, for example, wants to communicate paired with where its customers want Delta to communicate with them is exponentially growing. Abel hopes scaling up with more knowledge and data behind Gen AI will get the right message to the right person at the right time.
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Garcia turned to an example from the Paramount+ movie IF. The creative team at Paramount+ had a social campaign where people explained what their imaginary friend (IF) would be and look like. The team used AI to create those IFs and bring them to life, increasing engagement and interest in not just the movie, but Paramount+. “That is something that couldn’t be done at the speed and scale without that [Gen AI] tool,” Garcia said. In 2025, Garcia pondered how Paramount+ can take that unique win and scale it up to do it again.
In closing, each of the panelists told attendees what they most looked forward to in the year ahead. “I’m really excited about the video aspects,” Garfield opined, whose Adobe Firefly now has a video model. For media companies, video is the rage, so Garfield is excited to see how fast it will move. Garcia is excited for the scalability and the possibilities of how Paramount+ can further superserve its massive viewership. Abel referenced Delta Concierge, announced Tuesday in the Sphere at the keynote, and how AI will bring value that Delta customers can feel, not just see, in the travel experience.
