AI is everywhere, and it is hard to decipher what the truth is and what's the hype. We are bringing together three experts from the agency and in-house marketing teams, who will share examples and cases of AI applications and discuss their understanding of how their respective functions are evolving. This will be a great platform for professionals to understand how their current and future roles are evolving and how they need to show “value” in this evolving AI world.
Mitali Banerjee is a senior marketing executive with over 15 years of global leadership experience driving growth, profitability, and cultural relevance for luxury, fashion, and beauty brands. She/He brings a proven ability to translate vision into execution—designing strategic roadmaps and operational frameworks that accelerate brand equity, spark consumer demand, and deliver measurable commercial impact.
Throughout her/his career, Mitali has led global-to-local brand transformations, spearheaded multi-market launches, and architected omni-channel campaigns that resonate culturally while generating sustained business results. She/He thrives at the intersection of creativity and commerce—partnering across creative, product, and commercial teams to ensure flawless execution without compromising prestige or consistency.
In addition to brand and marketing leadership, Mitali has been a strong voice in the AI space, helping leaders, clients, and teams understand the breadth and depth of opportunities emerging with new technologies. She/He has led panels including Creativity and AI with Solomon Page, Building Trust with Gen AI in partnership with FreePik, and How Strategists Are Currently Using AI at WPP Open. Most recently, [Name] helped launch Dell’s first AI PC, further underscoring her/his ability to connect innovation with business impact.
Known as a results-driven leader, Mitali has built high-performing teams, managed complex global portfolios, and guided organizations through change with clarity and precision. Her/His focus is on delivering end-to-end brand and marketing excellence—strategy, execution, and measurable growth.
Kelly Ricci is a high-impact communications and brand strategist with nearly 20 years of experience shaping narratives, elevating executive visibility, and guiding organizations through transformation, growth, and cultural relevance. She specializes in transforming visionary ideas into business-defining moments that create meaningful, lasting impact.
A global-minded leader, mentor, and creative strategist, Kelly is fueled by curiosity and an entrepreneurial mindset, shaped by completing experiences across 7 continents and all 50 U.S. states. Her cross-industry expertise spans fashion, sports, entertainment, and consumer packaged goods, with extensive experience in both agency and in-house roles.
As a trusted advisor to executive leadership at companies including Banana Republic/Gap Inc., Endeavor, American Express, and Anheuser-Busch InBev, Kelly delivers bold, insight-driven communications strategies that bridge culture, community and commerce. Her specialties include internal and external communications and media relations, crisis response, corporate positioning, thought leadership, talent and creative marketing, integrated brand storytelling and experiential activations.
Throughout her career, Kelly has executed partnerships with some of the world’s most influential organizations, including the NFL, NBA, the Olympics (Paris 2024), NCAA, and the U.S. Open and top artists such as Justin Timberlake, Post Malone, Kendrick Lamar, Drake, Maluma, and Virgil Abloh. She has driven engagement across high-profile events like the Super Bowl, Grammys, NBA All-Star Weekend, Coachella, Governor’s Ball, Lollapalooza, Art Basel, SXSW, and global fashion weeks.
Most recently at Banana Republic/Gap Inc., Kelly played a pivotal role in revitalizing the $2B+ brand, aligning creative storytelling with consumer insights and strategic partnerships. Her work generated over 30 billion impressions and contributed to a 5% sales increase in 2024. She also secured a $4.5M partnership with Warner Bros. and HBO’s White Lotus (Season 3) garnering 3B impressions, driving cross-platform activations and talent integrations that amplified the brand’s new positioning. Celebrity partnerships under her leadership garnered over 3 billion impressions, with organic engagement surpassing 500K per post and engagement rates 126% above average.
Alexandra (Ali) Saland is a seasoned marketing leader with over 22 years of experience in developing and implementing B2C and B2B strategies. She transitioned to the agency side 5+ years ago, working for a small firm to develop omni-channel strategies for Baker Hughes, Chemours, Expedia and UMB Bank. Ali joined Essencemediacom in 2022 as the Global Strategy Director on Dell Technologies, overseeing the Consumer and Gaming lines of business across 17 markets and has recently been involved in small business, B2B and sustainability initiatives. Ali currently leads strategy on the JPMorgan Chase account at WPP media, working across 8 lines of business including consumer banking, credit cards, home lending, wealth management, sports and entertainment, travel and connected commerce.
Ali has played a leading role on her account at WPP Media in educating the team and clients on AI, both in terms of understanding and navigating the landscape itself, as well as real (business) use cases of agency owned AI tools within the strategy function. From finding efficiencies in the day-to-day to getting to the big picture and creative thinking faster, i.e., a strategist’s bread and butter, Ali subscribes to the belief that machines can support us but will never replace strategic thinking; AI is driving inspiration, innovation and innovation.
Café Co-Lab's are small, weekly networking groups focused on specific topics. They are an opportunity for co-lab members to connect, share resources, and engage with other members.
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