marketing generalists please stand up

Hey,

When I was looking for my first job in marketing almost a decade ago, I was given a lot of advice to avoid generalist roles at all costs. I was told they were entry-level positions made up of grunt work no one else wanted to do, and that if I wanted real career growth or a decent income, I needed to pick a specialty and start from the bottom.

So that’s what I did.

Over time, I enjoyed that specialty less and less. And when I eventually tried to leave it, I felt I’d effectively pigeonholed myself. The silver lining was that this moment pushed me to enrol at Growclass, where I developed a more holistic understanding of marketing—and, in turn, opened a lot of doors.

That advice I was given wasn’t wrong. It was a reflection of the industry at the time. But honey, the milk has expired.

And listen, there will always be a place for both specialists and generalists. But right now, we’re seeing a perspective shift around the value of generalists, and it’s being driven by a few major forces—the biggest one being AI.

As AI reshapes every marketing discipline, team core competencies are shifting too. As a result, marketers are now expected to widen their expertise and develop fluency across tools and systems.

Because instead of watering one tree, we’re tending to the whole damn forest.

And that fundamentally demands the skillset of a generalist.

Defining what that skillset looks like in 2026 requires untangling misconceptions about what a generalist is or does.

It definitely doesn’t involve half assing everything. Quite the opposite. I’d argue that generalists are specialists in the sense that they have a comprehensive understanding of the entire marketing ecosystem, plus deep knowledge in a few key areas.

These are the marketers who understand the full funnel, how channels interconnect, which data and tech actually matter, and how to lead and prioritize work across teams. They’re orchestrators and master adapters—people with a finger on the pulse of what’s happening inside the organization, what’s shifting in the broader landscape, and what actually creates value.

In 2026, generalists win by making AI one of their core specialties—not just by using generative tools, but by applying them thoughtfully across workflows, processes, and decision-making. AI can help teams execute faster, but it lacks discernment. It can’t prioritize. It can’t explain the why.

Specialization used to be the thing that kept us marketers relevant. Now relevance comes from integration.

That’s what drives impact.

There’s nothing entry-level or inexperienced about generalists. These are the folks who are primed to become incredibly effective CMOs (aka our bosses).

Just throwing that out there.

Talk soon,

Ines

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