"AI in Marketing: Insights from Marketers That Matter"

After months of preparation, I’m proud to launch Responsible Marketing Advisory’s new AI whitepaper 👏 👏 It is a call to leadership. In moments of big change, tools don't lead. People do. AI is only as transformative as the individuals shaping it - and marketers have a unique role. Not just as adopters, but as architects of this new advancement in marketing intelligence towards responsible growth. Marketers must step forward as the connective tissue between ideas, tools, and human needs. While machines can scale possibilities, only people can steer with purpose, relevance, and care. To see AI as a medium that we can shape with discernment, empathy, and bold intent. To build systems that reflect our values and decisions that stand the test of time. We've designed this paper to walk you through the marketing process, concluding with the responsible legacy we believe should be threaded throughout our use of AI. We trust you'll find our thoughts and recommendations useful, and I look forward to speaking with you about how we can support you through these continual moments of change 🙏

The marketing playbook just got rewritten. AI is no longer just automating tasks, it's predicting customer intent before customers even know what they want. While most brands wait for search spikes and website traffic to guide their next move, smart leaders are using AI to anticipate behaviour patterns months ahead. As someone supporting high-growth executives daily, I see the difference this makes. The leaders winning right now aren't reacting to market signals, they're creating them. They're spotting trends in consumer language, identifying emotional triggers, and positioning their products before competitors even recognise the opportunity exists. Traditional lagging indicators like clicks and conversions tell you what happened yesterday. AI-powered insights show you what's coming tomorrow. For executive teams, this shift demands a fundamental rethink. Your operational strategy can't rely on reactive metrics when your competition is anticipating customer needs with precision. The brands that thrive in 2025 will be those that realise market readiness isn't about responding faster, it's about knowing first. Because in business, anticipation isn't just an advantage. It's how you define the conversation instead of following it. #AIMarketing #ExecutiveStrategy

AI isn’t just reshaping marketing—it’s redefining how teams operate. To stay competitive, companies need specialized AI marketing teams that combine strategy, data, creativity, and technology. From data scientists and AI engineers to content specialists and project managers, every role contributes to smarter decision-making, personalized engagement, and measurable growth. Building the right mix of talent, skills, and adaptability will determine which brands lead the next wave of AI-driven marketing success. #AIMarketing #DigitalTransformation #MarketingStrategy #Innovation #Leadership

PR measurement has always been elusive. We’ve counted clips and impressions, gauged sentiment and share of voice — yet nothing ever quite lands credibly with leadership. Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) might finally change that. When you ask AI for a recommendation — “best skincare for eczema,” “most sustainable logistics providers,” “best innovative AI startups in Europe” — the answers it provides are backed by citations you might not expect. It's rarely the broadsheets and wires from your "top-tier" media list. When queried with specific prompts, AI is more likely to cite trade outlets, Substack newsletters, brand blogs, and niche forums. That's good news for communicators, as these are often more realistic and effective targets for your earned and owned media strategy. There's a new top-tier: sources cited in AI's responses to questions where your brand is (or should be) the answer. Data showing which sources shape AI outputs (and which ones lead AI to recommend competitors instead) together provides a new framework for PR measurement. 💡 For comms pros: How is AI informing your PR strategy? And which new metrics are you using to measure success?

Just back from two days in Munich with The Millennium Alliance, a gathering of CMOs and marketing leaders trying to make sense of what “marketing” even means in the age of AI. Insightful topics and thought-provoking conversations about how hard it is to evolve when tools move faster than organisations, and when “doing more” no longer drives growth — but “doing better” is what truly stands out. Still a lot to unpack, but here are a few ideas that stayed with me: • Storytelling vs. story-making. It’s easy to tell stories; much harder to create them through real experiences and consistent actions. • Hire for heart, train for AI. Technical skills change; empathy doesn’t. • AI won’t fix unclear thinking. As one speaker put it, “if you can’t articulate the business problem, no workflow will save you.” • Personalisation starts with principles. Data is useless without a clear point of view about the customer you want to serve. What struck me most wasn’t the tech talk, it was the reminder that marketing still lives at the intersection of humans, data, and decisions. AI will only amplify what’s already there. #Marketing #AI #Leadership #Transformation #CMO

AI isn’t the strategy. People are. As Brendan Hufford highlights from the latest Content Marketing Institute 2026 Trends Report, 95% of B2B marketers now use AI. But here’s the surprising insight: 👉 Only 9% plan to invest in team development next year. We’re accelerating output, not outcomes. It’s like buying a Formula 1 car and skipping driver training. You can go faster, but not necessarily further. The real differentiator isn’t the size of your AI stack; it’s the depth of your team’s strategic and creative muscle. Because better technology won’t save mediocre systems. And it won’t replace teams who understand customers, context, and brand trust. Brendan summed it up perfectly: “Better technology won’t save mediocre teams. Without skilled, empowered marketers, all AI can do is make mediocrity faster.” In 2026, the organizations that win will be the ones that treat capability-building as a core strategic investment, not a nice-to-have. AI may be the oxygen in the room. But people are still the lungs. 🔗 Original post by Brendan Hufford in comments.

Half the Fortune 500 companies from 2000 no longer exist. The lesson isn't just about change. It's about speed. History moves faster than CEOs remember, and AI is accelerating that timeline exponentially. While executives debate "AI strategy," competitors are already rebuilding their entire operating models around intelligent systems. Here's what's really happening: Most leaders are treating AI like a cost-cutting tool. They're missing the signal entirely. I've watched marketing teams deploy AI for basic automation whilst their industries get redefined by companies using it to eliminate problems altogether. The difference? One optimises existing processes. The other questions why those processes exist. Consider this: Blockbuster didn't fail because it lacked vision. It failed because it solved the wrong problem at scale - perfecting store experiences whilst streaming was already happening. Today's marketing leaders face the same choice. Use AI to polish existing inefficiencies, or use it to fundamentally rethink how brands find, engage, and convert customers. The companies building AI-first marketing systems aren't just gaining efficiency. They're uncovering growth pathways that traditional frameworks simply cannot reveal. The Fortune 500 shakeout since 2000 proves one thing: survival belongs to those who read signals fastest and act decisively. Stop optimising yesterday's playbook. Start building tomorrow's.

Speed without enablement is noise. AI is moving fast. But if your people can’t connect the dots between the tools and the outcomes, you’re not moving forward — just moving faster in circles. In my new Forbes piece, I unpack why “fast” isn’t the same as “forward” — and how performance enablement is the key to making AI actually matter. It starts with alignment. It requires clarity. And it thrives when leaders stop managing performance and start enabling it. https://lnkd.in/gXmcPsfX #AIAlignment #PerformanceEnablement #BusinessTransformation

How to Build a Profitable Personal Brand from Scratch Using AI Many people believe that building a successful personal brand requires huge investments, a big team, or years of experience. The truth is that today, with the strategic use of Artificial Intelligence, you can accelerate this process and turn authority into tangible results. AI doesn’t replace the authenticity of your message, but it amplifies your presence, allowing you to: 🔹 Discover your ideal positioning through data and trend analysis. 🔹 Create consistent, audience-focused content in minutes. 🔹 Test formats and narratives to see what drives the most engagement. 🔹 Streamline your content creation and networking routine by automating operational tasks. The secret lies in combining clarity of purpose with smart tools. When you understand who you want to impact and leverage AI as an accelerator, you don’t just build an audience — you also open the door to real monetization opportunities, whether through consulting, digital products, mentoring, or strategic partnerships. The starting point isn’t the technology, it’s YOU: your story, your vision, and the transformation you want to create. AI simply multiplies your potential. We’re living in a unique moment where anyone can position themselves, grow, and generate results from scratch. Will you use AI as a spectator or as a protagonist? #ArtificialIntelligence #AIForBusiness #Innovation #Leadership #PersonalBrand #ContentStrategy #FutureOfWork

Most product launches don’t fail because of the product. They fail because marketing forgot who the story was for. Too many teams build messaging around features — not human truth. They chase specs, speed, and innovation… while missing the emotional signal that drives real adoption. Here’s what that looks like: ⚡ Clarity replaced by complexity ⚡ Strategy replaced by noise ⚡ Empathy replaced by assumptions ⚡ Story replaced by stats The truth is — great product marketing isn’t about describing innovation. It’s about translating value across the gap between product and perception. That’s where AI changes everything. It doesn’t replace creativity — it amplifies it. AI helps us see patterns, predict sentiment, and connect meaning to data. At GrowSmarter Marketing, we use AI not to automate ideas — but to elevate insight. To build messaging that speaks human, performs digital, and scales with precision. 💡 What do you think causes most product marketing to miss the mark — clarity, timing, or connection? #Leadership #ProductMarketing#AI #MarketingStrategy #GrowSmarter #Innovation #Growth