Go BackWhen AI Becomes the Junior Employee: The Quiet Reordering of Modern Marketing
In boardrooms, lecture halls, and creative studios across the globe, a silent restructuring is underway. It is not a market correction or a post-pandemic aftershock. It is part of a broader shift driven by AI and the future of work in marketing, where machines quietly replace the graduate class.
The UK’s Big Four accounting firms recently revealed significant cuts to their graduate intake. KPMG reduced entry-level hires by nearly a third. Deloitte and EY followed closely behind. PwC trimmed its intake by 6%. This contraction reflects a broader trend: graduate job adverts in accountancy have plummeted by 44% year-on-year, one of the sharpest declines across all sectors, according to labour market data. This marks a pivotal shift not only in finance but also in AI and the future of work in marketing, where automation is rewriting the rules of entry.
The shift isn’t limited to the UK. In the U.S., PwC laid off around 1,500 staff in audit and tax: about 2% of its local workforce (Financial Times, May 2025). Why the pullback? The answer lies in automation. AI tools are now handling the repetitive, process-heavy work that used to train junior staff -compliance checks, document reviews, data summaries- delivering results faster and without fatigue. For firms focused on profitability and scalability, AI has become the new entry-level employee, forcing a fundamental rethink of how professional careers begin.
The same is happening also in marketing: tasks that once required a team of three can now be handled by one person in a fraction of the time. Trawling through data, preparing PowerPoint presentations, and revising mock-ups, processes that used to take months, can now be completed in weeks, thanks to generative AI. Junior execution has, in many cases, been outsourced to algorithms.
And yet, the most important insights still require a human touch.
The Age of Asymmetry
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We are living in an age of asymmetric information. Some understand the new speed. Many do not; those who comprehend how AI compresses timelines and eliminates drudgery are scaling faster with smaller teams (which is what is happening in the Big Four but also in our company on a smaller scale). But this arbitrage will not last. Once the industry catches up, expectations will reset. Eventually, clients will realize how quickly things can be delivered thanks to AI, a reality that defines AI and the future of work in marketing. They’ll start demanding faster turnarounds, more output, or lower costs.
And then the game will change again.
Lean teams will no longer be a competitive edge; they’ll be the baseline. The real differentiation will come from what machines can’t do: connecting dots across disciplines, seeing patterns in noise, and unlocking emotional relevance. The value will shift from speed to depth. From automation to insight.
In this new environment, the skills that once got you in the door will not be enough to keep you in the room.
Strategic Thinking as Entry-Level Prerequisite
The job of the junior marketer has been turned inside out. Where once we trained them to execute, we must now train them to think.
One of my earliest roles was with a leading cosmetics company, where speed and action were rewarded far more than reflection or strategy. Understanding the bigger picture -or why a task mattered- was often seen as secondary to just getting it done. But that era is over.
Today, strategic thinking -once the domain of senior leadership- is becoming a baseline expectation. Junior marketers are now expected to interpret data, evaluate relevance, and bring human understanding to technology-driven processes.
Empathy, psychology, systems thinking: these are no longer nice-to-haves. They are the new software of competitive advantage.
AI can handle execution. But the real value now lies in the ability to think critically, connect the dots, and see beyond the obvious.
High-Tech Meets High-Human
The future is not AI or human. It is AI and human. High-tech must meet high-human. At Human-Centric Group, we use AI to gather, distill, and visualise vast datasets. But meaning comes from interpretation, from asking better questions and noticing what the data doesn’t say, and what AI can’t grasp: decoding motivation, understanding why people do what they do, and why they feel what they feel. Right now, AI can quickly uncover the “what.” But it still takes a human to understand the “why.”Because one thing is for sure: AI is brilliant at building the map. But humans must still chart the route.
Redesigning the Talent Pipeline
This shift demands a redesign of the marketing talent pipeline. Universities must teach beyond tools. Organizations must reward curiosity, not just compliance, whether they are agencies, corporations, or institutions. It’s no longer enough to simply follow instructions; what matters now is the ability to ask better questions, challenge assumptions, and think creatively alongside machines. Junior roles must evolve from task-based to thinking-based.
We cannot outsource the “ah-ha” moment. The synthesis. The spark. These are still profoundly human.
The Big Four have shown us a glimpse of the future. But if we are not careful, we risk creating organisations that are efficient but soulless. Powerful but blind.
Marketing’s true power has always been emotional. Narrative. Empathetic. In a world where machines do the heavy lifting, the human must do the deep thinking
About The Author
Matteo Rinaldi is a Senior Marketing Strategy Consultant and Co-Founder of Human Centric Group, with global experience driving double-digit growth for brands like Danone, Carlsberg, Revlon, PepsiCo, and Visa. Having worked across multiple continents, he specializes in leveraging cultural insights for impactful brand strategies. A passionate educator, Matteo teaches marketing worldwide, shaping future industry leaders. Previously, he worked with L’Oréal and Coca-Cola HBC. He is also a best-selling author in marketing.
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