Status Summit Brings Together Leaders from Ulta Beauty, Google, and Liquid Death on How AI Is Redefining Brand Discovery

Invitation-only gathering of 150 senior marketing leaders and more than 30 creators will take place in New York City during Advertising Week New York

WINTER PARK, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Statusphere, an AI marketing platform that helps enterprise consumer brands turn micro-influencers into a scalable, trusted growth channel, today announced Status Summit, the inaugural invitation-only event focused on how AI is changing the way consumers discover, evaluate and ultimately choose brands and products.

The summit will take place October 7, 2026, at Level Ten in New York City during Advertising Week New York, bringing together 150 senior marketing leaders and more than 30 creators from Statusphere’s network. Confirmed speakers include Kelly Mahoney, Chief Marketing Officer of Ulta Beauty; Joshua Spanier, Vice President of AI and Marketing at Google; Benoit Vatere, Chief Media and Digital Commerce Officer of Liquid Death; Mindy Grossman, Partner, Vice-Chair Consello Group, CEO, Board Member, and Investor; Nancy Berger, Founder & CEO of Start With A Good; Adriana Carrig, Founder and Chief Brand Officer of Little Words Project; and Tiffany Haddish, the Emmy, Grammy, and NAACP Image Award-winning actress and comedian.

As consumers increasingly turn to ChatGPT for product recommendations, YouTube for tutorials, TikTok for reviews and Pinterest for inspiration, AI is changing both how people find products and how platforms determine which brands surface along the way. For marketers, this is creating a new imperative: building a strong foundation of credible, relevant human content that helps brands remain visible, understood and trusted across an increasingly fragmented, AI-influenced discovery journey.

“The way brands get discovered is fundamentally changing, and we’re entering a new trust economy where what real people say about a product increasingly influences what platforms recommend and what consumers purchase,” said Kristen Wiley, Founder and CEO of Statusphere. “For marketers, that means creator content has value far beyond a single social post. It is becoming part of the infrastructure of brand discovery. We created Status Summit to bring together the leaders shaping this new ecosystem and give marketers a clearer view of where discovery is headed and how to stay visible and trusted as it evolves.”

The program will examine seven areas increasingly influencing how brands are found and chosen: consumer intelligence, AI-powered discovery, creator content, search, commerce, visual discovery and creative performance.

Attendees will hear proprietary research, real-world case studies and candid perspectives from leaders shaping the next era of discovery. The day will also include curated networking, interactive brand experiences and a live podcast studio where speakers, creators and brand leaders can share their perspectives on how AI, creators and changing consumer behavior are reshaping discovery across categories.

More information about Status Summit, including attendance and founding partner opportunities, is available at statussummit.com. A portion of the day’s proceeds will benefit She Ready Foundation, founded by Tiffany Haddish, to support and empower young people impacted by the foster care system.

About Statusphere
Statusphere is a micro-influencer marketing platform built for enterprise consumer brands to make human-generated content scalable, measurable and brand-safe across social, retail and paid media channels. The platform uses AI to automate and orchestrate large-scale creator programs, from sourcing and vetting influencers to fulfillment, compliance, tracking and rights management. Brands including Express, Parlux, Kendo Brands and LG H&H use Statusphere to drive social SEO, improve product discoverability and generate measurable sales impact online and in-store. In January 2026, Statusphere closed an $18 million Series A led by Volition Capital, bringing total funding to $27 million. For more information, visit www.joinstatus.com.