#118: GDPR and EU AI Act impact on marketing in practice: What changes for email, AI content, cookies, and ads

On a quiet January morning, over coffee, a single sentence captured the mood of modern marketing: “It feels like the rules keep changing, but no one tells us what the new rules are.”This episode is about those rules.As GDPR tightens enforcement and the EU AI Act comes into force, marketing enters a new phase—where data, AI, and personalization are no longer shortcuts to growth, but regulated responsibilities. Consent must be clear and provable. Cookies must be fair. AI-generated content must be disclosed. And algorithms that decide who sees what now come with legal accountability.This isn’t about killing AI or personalization. It’s about ending black-box marketing. If AI shapes targeting, profiling, or decisions, the responsibility sits with brands—not tools or platforms. And these laws don’t stop at Europe’s borders.In this episode, we break down what GDPR and the EU AI Act change in practice for email, AI content, cookies, ads, and automation—and why transparency, consent, and explainability are becoming the strongest performance levers of 2026.The future of marketing isn’t less data or less AI.It’s more responsibility, more clarity, and more trust—by design.(00:00) Intro(01:04) GDPR is seven years old and continues to change - but not necessarily simplifying things(06:47) The EU AI Act gets a makeover, and soon it will matter(08:24) What do the changes to GDPR and EU AI Act mean for the marketing toolkit?(14:17) Whom do GDPR and the EU AI Act hold responsible - companies or users?(16:06) Are GDPR and the EU AI Act applicable outside of the EU?(16:43) A few takeaways for brands and marketers(19:20) Should this worry brands and marketers?