MSI Forum: When AI Disrupts — Rethinking Data, Insights, and Modeling

Artificial intelligence is reshaping the foundation of marketing and analytics. It is no longer limited to automation or prediction tasks; AI now influences how data is generated, how consumers behave, how insights are modeled, and how decisions are made. Generative AI not only produces content at scale but also creates new forms of data, new consumer behaviors, and entirely new market dynamics. Consumers are increasingly turning to AI systems instead of traditional search engines. AI-generated media is inundating traditional production pipelines. Additionally, the feedback loop between machine and human behavior is speeding up, challenging fundamental assumptions about causality, insight creation, and the very role of marketing.

Join the The Marketing Science Institute (MSI), and the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF), for a two-day forum on February 11–12, 2026, at UCLA in Los Angeles, CA. Researchers, analytics leaders, and marketing executives will gather to explore the frontier of AI’s impact on marketing – where emerging tools, behaviors, and models are challenging traditional assumptions and shaping new possibilities.

Hear the latest work around five key threads driving this disruption:

• Synthetic Data for Marketing Research
  How should marketers and researchers assess data that no longer originates from real-world consumer behavior?
• Consumer Response to Generative AI
  What does it mean to understand the consumer in a world where AI is part of the thought process?
• LLM-Based Search and Information Discovery
  How will the shift to large language models impact advertising, search engine optimization, content strategy, and the entire digital ecosystem?
• AI-Generated Advertising and the New Video Economy
  What are the implications for attention, media pricing, and creative strategy?
• AI and the Future of Marketing Analytics
  How should marketers reconsider their analytical tools, organizational skills, and the role of human judgment in AI-enhanced insight generation?

Each session will conclude with an interactive discussion, including 10 minutes of dedicated Q&A, to ensure both academic and industry perspectives shape the conversation. We invite you to participate in this important dialogue on the future of marketing.

The full agenda will be announced soon.

The Luskin Center reservation portal is now open, and you can book your February stay.

The room rate is $299 and expires on January 9.