Hightouch co-CEO Tejas Manohar told Zac Wang that AI needs context and high-quality data to distinguish between what is right and wrong, and that as AI-generated ads flood the market, taste will be the differentiator for brands. Manohar founded Hightouch six years ago after seeing a pattern across large brands like DoorDash, Warner Music Group and Domino’s, which wanted one-to-one personalization but faced platforms that lacked customer and business data. Hightouch connects marketers to data in Snowflake or Databricks to run targeted marketing. On centralization, Manohar noted it has always been a concern, with walled gardens and AI interfaces disintermediating brands, and brands must figure out how to utilize those platforms while gaining a direct customer relationship and owning their data. The biggest topic for CMOs with AI is ensuring it is truly on brand, which involves not just colors and styles but content compliance, legal guidelines, accurate product representation, and adherence to creative systems.