Who is Dorien Aerts?
Dorien is the Cloud & AI Go to Market Lead for Microsoft Belgium and Luxembourg. She is driving this business together with marketing, sales and partner teams. High on Dorien’s agenda is diversity and inclusion, and how marketing can play a role. Dorien has a passion for technology and advises start-ups on their marketing strategy in her spare time. Before joining Microsoft, she was the CMO of mobile virtual network operator Mobile Vikings. She started her career at Mediahuis.

Very often, we only realise the impact of a novelty, an evolution, or a habit afterwards – or, if we’re lucky, somewhere along the way. This leads us, as humans, to never cease trying, re-trying, and – yes – trying again ‘to find our way’ with it. Caught in a balancing act. More than ever these days, since the world is changing at a rapid pace. We are guinea pigs, on a continuous quest to navigate between paradoxes.

Take the Kids Unplugged Initiative I learned about recently: It was created to delay smartphone use among children. It’s not a plea against technology, but an invitation to consciously reflect and act on the impact a smartphone, and more specifically social media, can have on children. Also bol.com’s offer for a ‘startphone’ taps into this trend.

Or consider Management Professor Frederik Anseel’s contribution in De Tijd (November 2025), who suggests to use AI in education when technology can deliberately raise the bar: for more interactive scenarios, stricter feedback, and faster and parallel iterations. And switch AI off when it makes learning lazy.

Similarly, I feel marketing in 2026 is more than ever about navigating paradoxes.

Automation versus authenticity

AI-driven automation has become the backbone of marketing. In a lot of organisations, campaigns are optimised in real time, content is generated at scale, and predictive analytics guides decisions.

However, while automation delivers speed and precision, customers want human connection as well. They want the brand they interact with to feel real.

The balancing act? For marketers to use AI for repetitive tasks and insights, but to keep humans at the heart of storytelling. Authenticity cannot be automated.

Personalisation versus privacy

Customers expect a hyper-relevant experience, but at the same time they are increasingly protective of their data. With third-party cookies gone and global regulations tightening, brands must navigate a fine line: delivering personalisation without compromising trust. According to this article in CMSWire, 81% of consumers avoid brands they don’t trust with data. This means privacy-first strategies are now a competitive advantage, not a compliance checkbox.

The balancing act? For marketers to build relevant strategies around first-party data and explicit consent, and communicate transparently about how data is used.

Efficiency versus empathy

Marketing teams have always felt the pressure to deliver faster campaigns, with leaner budgets, and higher ROI. Efficiency is essential, but empathy is irreplaceable. Consumers want brands that understand their context, values, and emotions.

Efficiency without empathy leads to tone-deaf messaging and transactional relationships. Empathy without efficiency risks operational chaos.

The balancing act? Pair a search for more efficiency with human insight to create messages that resonate emotionally. To me, this is also directly linked to the never-ending discussion on direct versus indirect metrics, short versus long term goals, or acquisition versus brand awareness. In my opinion both need to co-exist in an effective marketing approach.

Will marketers be able to master the balancing act in 2026? Not necessarily. And to me, it’s also not needed. The message I mainly want to land is the following: Amidst all those paradoxes, in a constantly changing world, while trying, retrying and trying again, marketers are shaping the next novelty, evolution and habit. Be aware of that impact, dear guinea pig marketers, and make the best use of it.

TIP 1: Design for “human interruptibility”

Don’t just automate: Make sure you choose, use or adapt systems to step in and add nuance when needed. For example:

• Build workflows where AI drafts content but you as a marketer can inject cultural context or emotional tone before publishing.
• Treat automation as a co-pilot, not an autopilot: Authenticity often comes from subtle human touches.

TIP 2: Turn privacy into a brand experience

Instead of treating privacy as a compliance checkbox, make it part of your storytelling:

• Show customers how their data choices shape their experience (e.g., “You control what we personalise”).
• Use transparency as a differentiator: Turn consent screens and data dashboards into trust-building moments that reinforce your brand values.

Would you like to discover the other 26 marketers’ and content creators’ visions for 2026? Download the whitepaper here.