Bring your experience. Challenge your thinking. Apply what you learn.

The Residency is built on a simple principle: meaningful professional development happens when fresh thinking meets real-world application, enriched by the collective experience and wisdom.

  • Recently promoted marketing managers, directors, and senior professionals looking to strengthen their strategic judgment, connect marketing decisions to broader business priorities, and take on AI transformation.

Who Will Benefit

  • Brand, digital, innovation, and business strategists who want to integrate AI-informed intelligence into their work, develop stronger strategic recommendations, and build support for their ideas.

  • Aspiring professionals who want to navigate organizational complexity, influence stakeholders, and build the confidence and capabilities to lead meaningful change.

  • "I need to feel like I'm running toward something instead of reacting to change."

    Marketing Professional

  • "Marketing professionals want to move beyond experimenting with AI tools toward making better strategic decisions."

    Marketing Professional

  • "I'm expected to have the answers, even when the world around us is changing faster than we can make sense of it."

    Marketing Professional

  • "I want to learn from people who've been there. Not just those who've figured it out, but those who've struggled with the same challenges and can share what they've learned along the way."

    Marketing Professional

  • "I'm looking for a community where I can be honest about what I'm facing, challenge my own thinking, and have conversations I can't always have with my colleagues."

    Marketing Professional

Program Objectives

MODULE 1 | STRATEGY

From Marketing Brief to AI-Powered Strategy

This module challenges participants to identify the business problems behind marketing requests and build AI- and future-proof marketing strategies. Participants apply new strategic frameworks, market and customer intelligence, and AI-informed analysis that can support stronger decisions.

What you'll explore

  • Reframing marketing requests into strategic business challenges

  • Applying systems thinking and strategic foresight

  • Using AI to support research, insight generation, and evaluation of alternatives

  • Exercising professional judgment when insights are incomplete or uncertain

What you'll work on

Apply the frameworks and tools to the professional challenge you bring to the Residency.

Outcome: A practical strategic toolkit applied to your own business challenge.

MODULE 2 | INFLUENCE

From AI-Powered Strategy to Organizational Buy-In

Even the strongest recommendations can stall without organizational support. This module explores how decisions are made and how marketing leaders can build influence. Participants learn to translate strategic thinking into a credible business case and communicate its value to different stakeholders.

What you'll explore

  • Understanding decision-making dynamics

  • Building a business case that connects strategy to business value

  • Developing an executive-ready narrative

  • Navigating objections and building cross-functional alignment

What you'll work on

Transform your Module 1 recommendation into a persuasive narrative and identify the people, conversations, and decisions required to move it forward.

Outcome: An executive narrative and stakeholder influence strategy.

MODULE 3 | LEADERSHIP

From Organizational Buy-In to Change Leadership

Securing agreement is only the beginning. Bringing a strategy to life requires leadership, trust, and the ability to help people navigate uncertainty and change. This module explores how to build trust and introduce new ways of working. Make your leadership contribution visible as change takes hold.

What you'll explore

  • Understanding the human dynamics of organizational change

  • Building trust and credibility across teams

  • Anticipating resistance and navigating competing priorities

  • Mobilizing stakeholders and sustaining momentum

What you'll work on

Develop a practical 90-day roadmap outlining the conversations, relationships, priorities, and actions needed to advance your strategy.

Outcome: A practical 90-day change leadership plan.

TWO WAYS TO PARTICIPATE

Choose the experience that works for you.

The experience depends on active participation, thoughtful preparation, and a willingness to engage with perspectives that may challenge your own. You don't need to arrive with a fully defined strategic problem.

Hybrid Cohort

Wednesdays · 6–9 PM ET · IBM Office
Participate in live, facilitated sessions from wherever you work or live.

Online Cohort

Thursdays · 6–9 PM ET · MS Teams
Combine in-person learning in Toronto with online components.

A woman holding a certificate and smiling on a rooftop with Toronto skyline and CN Tower at sunset in the background.

Program Curriculum

Module 1 | From Marketing Brief to AI-Powered Strategy

  • Use AI and systems mapping to read the market and ask better strategic questions.

  • Apply strategic foresight to examine assumptions and risks and forecast the market.

  • Recommend a sound direction despite incomplete information.

Module 2 | From AI-Powered Strategy to Organizational Buy-In

  • Turn a complex marketing argument into a concise executive narrative with a clear decision request.

  • Identify formal authority and informal influence within the organization.

  • Handle objections and build cross-functional commitment without relying on formal authority.

Module 3 | From Organizational Buy-In to Change Leadership

  • Introduce new tools and ways of working; address resistance and uncertainty.

  • Translate your expertise into visible leadership value and communicate your contribution.

You will earn:

Certificate of completion from the American Marketing Association Toronto Chapter awarded to Emily Hatfield. Features a Toronto skyline during sunset with the CN Tower, and has signatures and a gold seal at the bottom.

Certificate of Completion from the world’s largest industry association to boost your resume.

A large group of diverse people posing together behind a red rope barrier at an event. The backdrop features logos of Scotibank, AMD, and Balmoral, indicating a formal or corporate event setting. There are professional lighting setups overhead illuminating the group.

Access to AMA’s networking, learning, and selected professional chapter events.

A group of diverse people walking along a tree-lined path in a park on a sunny day.

Community of like-minded professionals and mentors.