Adobe Summit 2026 wrapped up in Las Vegas, and our team returned with a lot to think about, and most importantly, a clearer sense of the current landscape for most marketing and creative teams.
This was our third year attending, and the evolution has been striking. A year ago, the room was buzzing about prompts, GenAI and personalization. This year, that felt like old news. While AI was still very much at the forefront, the conversations had moved to orchestration, agentic systems, the content supply chain, the consumer journey — how organizations are building systems around AI, moving past a simple focus on end products.
Here’s what stood out to us.
1. The recurring theme wasn’t AI alone. It was people, processes and technology.
When this kept surfacing session after session, we looked at each other and thought: That’s our thing. People, processes and technology are essentially the foundation of how Cella’s consulting team approaches any implementation.
The point being made, from multiple directions, was: AI tools are only as good as the structures around them. Before you automate a workflow or roll out a new platform, zoom out. Who are your people? What is your process? What technology are you actually working with? And critically, what does success look like from the user’s perspective?
Implementing technology requires education and people who know how to use it. It requires a defined process so you know when it makes sense to bring AI into a workflow and when it doesn’t. And it requires bringing people along carefully, because implementing too much change at once is one of the more reliable ways to lose them.
The teams getting real results from their tech investments tend to be the ones who did that harder, slower work first, not just the ones with the most sophisticated tools.
2. The tools are getting better, but the workflows need improvement.
A stat that stuck with us, and something that our conversations confirmed, is: 76% of marketers say fragmented, outdated processes are what’s slowing them down. Disconnected data, no shared governance, tools that don’t talk to each other. New software doesn’t fix that.
As they say, measure twice, cut once. Companies have one real opportunity to roll something out well, starting by defining clear processes and workflows before implementing the technology. If an initiative leaves people disengaged, winning them back is a lot harder than getting it right the first time.
However, part of what makes this harder is that the goalposts keep moving. Now, the conversation is shifting from GenAI to agentic AI, treating AI less like a tool and more like a resource that works alongside your team. But governance policies are still evolving, methodologies are still being tested, and most organizations are still figuring out what adoption actually looks like in practice.
3. The training gap is real, and the stakes around it are getting clearer
Only 45% of organizations have sufficient AI training and upskilling programs in place. That number is low, but it’s also an opening.
What we heard from clients, and in a session led by Jennifer Manry, Divisional CIO at Vanguard, is that the AI investments of the last few years have run into a wall that isn’t technical. The tools exist. People aren’t using them. And it’s usually not because they don’t see the value.
Manry talked about psychological safety as a prerequisite for real adoption. Employees need to feel genuinely safe to experiment, ask questions, and say when something isn’t working. Without that, tools get adopted in name only.
From what we observed, barriers to adoption are often personal: unfamiliarity, uncertainty, a worry about what it all means for their role. The way to address this isn’t adding more technology but addressing the people aspect of the equation and making adoption feel human and accessible.
Where does your team stand? And what do you do next?
One thing that came through clearly in sessions, in client conversations and at our booth is that teams are at very different places in this journey. And what you need next varies depending on where you’re starting.
You know you need to do something. What’s the first step? Before you commit to adopting a new technology, it’s worth finding out where your people, process and technology stand right now. Our AI Readiness Assessment and Martech Audit help you figure out where the gaps are so when you do move, you’re not guessing.
Your tools are in place. Your people aren’t using them. This is the adoption problem, and it’s more common than most organizations want to admit. Awareness may not be the issue, but confidence often is. Our AI Bootcamp gets teams hands-on with the tools they actually have, working through real mock workflows rather than abstract training.
You have a vision. You need the talent to execute it. Strategy is one thing. Having the right people in place is another. Whether that means placing specialized roles or building out an in-house agency, our services are built for this moment.
You need a thought partner. If you’re working through a larger transformation, martech architecture, workflow redesign, how AI actually fits into your org, our Consulting team works alongside your team to build something that holds.
Stop managing tools. Start driving results. A fragmented ecosystem is a silent tax on your creative output. Cella specializes in streamlining marketing operations and aligning technical infrastructure to ensure your investments actually deliver. Whether you need an expert audit or a full-scale implementation partner, we’re ready to scale with you. Contact us to explore Cella’s strategy services.
