We've spent a decade talking about black boxes. But the future is glass. Last mo
By Melissa Burdick · February 25, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
We've spent a decade talking about black boxes. But the future is glass.
Last month, I sat down with Mark Eamer VP Advertising Sales at Amazon Ads at CES for a conversation about where advertising, AI, and retail media are actually heading.
We’ve all heard plenty about 'black box' AI: powerful, but opaque.
What stood out to me in our conversation was Mark’s reframing: a move toward what he called a 'glass box' approach. Still incredibly powerful - but transparent. You can actually see how the intelligence is working.
Yes, AI should automate the heavy lifting.
Yes, it should optimize faster than humans ever could.
But brands don’t want to blindly "trust the machine."
They want transparency.
They want to understand why decisions are being made.
They want the ability to say: yes, do that, or no, not that.
For him, AI that accelerates decision-making WITHOUT removing human judgment is where real adoption happens.
That framing felt especially important as we head into 2026, when AI will be everywhere,
but trust will be the real differentiator.
This was just one of many sharp insights from our conversation. Can’t wait for you all to see the full interview soon!