Decoding AI for Marketing

Vikrant Batra, cofounder of Maximon.ai and former CMO at HP, says that if you aren’t already well on your way in your AI journey, your marketing organization is in serious trouble. He details why he left his former corporate employer to strike out in an AI business, how fast change is coming, and why the financial side of companies will be coming for the marketing department - if they haven’t already. And he shares why traditional marketing organizations and artificial intelligence are on a collision course. For Further Reading:Learn more about Vikrant Batra: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vikrant-batra/Maximon:  https://www.maximon.ai/ Listen on your favorite podcast app: https://pod.link/1715735755

Mark Polyak, Chief Product and Technology Officer at MINT.ai, says that embedding agents is transforming every step of the advertising resource management process. He explains how his background in counterterrorism helps shape his approach to AI and data integration today. Plus, he shares how MINT.ai is using multi-agent systems, synthetic data, and emerging protocols like MCP to help marketers do their jobs better. For Further Reading:Learn more about MINT.ai: https://www.mint.ai/Building Effective Agents (Anthropic): https://www.anthropic.com/engineering/building-effective-agents Listen on your favorite podcast app: https://pod.link/1715735755

Doug McColgin, Director of Marketing Strategy at UScellular, says that AI tools aren't enough to build an effective marketing strategy. As more and more companies adopt AI, the playing field will be leveled when it comes to productivity gains. But McColgin thinks AI can be used in more creative ways to differentiate from your competitors. He explains the tests his organization has done, and how two foundational frameworks—Clay Christensen’s Jobs-to-be-Done and Eliyahu Goldratt’s Theory of Constraints—can shape smarter, more strategic AI adoption - focusing on problems, not products. For Further Reading:Jobs to Be Done Theory: https://www.christenseninstitute.org/theory/jobs-to-be-done/Theory of Constraints: https://www.tocinstitute.org/theory-of-constraints.html#:~:text=Eliyahu%20Goldratt,with%20infinite%20sales%20or%20profit Listen on your favorite podcast app: https://pod.link/1715735755

Jen Kattula, CMO at Microsoft Advertising, has been testing out ways to improve the jobs of marketers through AI - while at the same time trying to improve organizational effectiveness. She shares use cases from Microsoft, how she thinks about agents and human intervention, and the hurdles around getting people trained up and in the habit of using AI. For Further Reading:More about the AI Agents Hackathon from Microsoft: https://microsoft.github.io/AI_Agents_Hackathon/Navigating AI and Marketing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oKvEZCW_V03 Ways Marketers Can Accelerate Their Creativity with AI: https://www.adweek.com/sponsored/3-ways-marketers-can-accelerate-their-creativity-with-generative-ai/ Listen on your favorite podcast app: https://pod.link/1715735755

Paul Roetzer, founder and CEO of Marketing AI Institute and Smarter X, left his agency world behind and now spends his days training marketers on how to better use AI to move their organization forward. When it comes to AI adoption at marketing organizations, there’s still a wide range of adoption - and Roetzer shares what he’s seen in terms of what trips people up, and where they should be putting their resources. Plus, how the agency model is changing, and some of his favorite tools and tricks. For Further Reading:Check out Paul’s podcast: https://youtu.be/qu74v4zBDjQ?si=69DTuXfVUapXHnsI Listen on your favorite podcast app: https://pod.link/1715735755

Sadie Thoma, director of US B2B marketing at Google, and Derek Rodenhausen, managing director and partner at Boston Consulting Group, say that artificial intelligence is having a major impact on marketing - especially when it comes to the consumer journey. They partnered on new research that shows that the four main consumer behaviors today are streaming, scrolling, searching, and shopping - and that they are often done in tandem. Thoma and Rodenhausen share more insights from their research that can influence marketers across industries as they reshape their organizations in a world of AI. For Further Reading:The Blueprint for AI-Powered MarketingIt’s Time for Marketers to Move Beyond the Linear FunnelHow Tombras used Google’s Gemini to create over 6,000 hyperlocal ads for PODS Listen on your favorite podcast app: https://pod.link/1715735755

Michael Lacorazza, CMO of US Bank, and Mike Barrett, Founder and CSO at Supernatural AI, set out to break the mold: to partner together on an advertising campaign for the large financial institution using innovative AI methods and achieving fast results. If you’re interested in how to partner with AI agencies to take your work to the next level, listen to this case study about “The Power of Us” campaign, and walk away with lessons for your own organization. For Further Reading:U.S. Bank CMO: Relationships Fuel Marketing TransformationInside the Campaign: How US Bank Used Artificial Intelligence to Fast-Track Its Latest AdsNate B Jones Substack Listen on your favorite podcast app: https://pod.link/1715735755

Shiv Singh, co-founder of AI Trailblazers and the author of Marketing with AI For Dummies, knows that there’s still a huge range of adoption in the marketing space when it comes to artificial intelligence. He shares tips for those still early in their journey, and predictions for 2025 when it comes to how the marketing industry will be further upended by the technology. For Further Reading:Check out Shiv’s substack2025 AI Predictions You Can’t Afford to MissMarketing With AI for DummiesConsortium for AI Personalization Listen on your favorite podcast app: https://pod.link/1715735755

Abhay Parasnis, founder of Typeface, is making a big bet on where artificial intelligence will truly reshape the marketing industry. After experience at Adobe and other large organizations, Parasnis ventured out on his own in 2022 to work on a tool to solve the fundamental problem in marketing today, the “content paradox.” He explains why there’s a gap between data and cloud technologies, and the ability to use those to effectively make and distribute content. He walks Greg and Rex through some of the cutting-edge functionality that Typeface offers its partners. For Further Reading:Abhay Parasnis showcases Typeface on CNN “De-coded” w/Host Anna StewartAdobe Alum takes AI-enables marketing beyond the promptTransition from solo acts to a complete symphony with AIAbhay Parasnis Keynote at VivaTech 2024 Listen on your favorite podcast app: https://pod.link/1715735755

Shelly Palmer, Professor at the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University and CEO of The Palmer Group, reports on the AI marketing trends he is most excited about coming out of this year’s Consumer Electronic Show in Vegas. He talks about what’s over and underhyped - from superautomation and agents to content creation and beyond. And we’ll hear predictions as to how AI in marketing is evolving in 2025. For Further Reading:Read Shelly’s blog from CES: https://shellypalmer.com/2025/01/ces-2025-ai-everywhere-all-at-once/?mc_cid=9308fe7c89&mc_eid=6a852a63e9Subscribe to Shelly’s newsletter: https://shellypalmer.com/subscribe/ Listen on your favorite podcast app: https://pod.link/1715735755

Ashok Kalidas, Chief AI Scientist at Kantar, helps Fortune 500 companies think about the cutting-edge technologies they need now and the best ways to implement new AI and ML tools into their organizations to take their marketing strategies to the next level. He explains the technology behind some of Kantar’s latest use cases and where he thinks the industry is going next. For Further Reading: Learn more about Ashok: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashokkalidas/?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Egoogle%2Ecom%2F&originalSubdomain=inAI at Kantar: AI at KantarKantar’s AI Innovators Summit: https://www.kantar.com/campaigns/ai-innovators-summitA webinar on Kantar’s research revealing the strong correlation between brand penetration and consumer attitude: Unlocking Brand Growth: New Insights from the Fusion of Attitudes and Behaviors Listen on your favorite podcast app: https://pod.link/1715735755

Jacqueline Woods is the Chief Marketing Officer at the software company Teradata. She has a unique vantage point as both a CMO herself and as someone who works with other companies every day to better leverage technology, data, and artificial intelligence. She explains how companies can think more strategically about their AI implementation, where personalization is heading next, and the most effective use cases for impacting customers. For Further Reading: Learn more about Jacqueline: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacqueline-woods-361477/Trust Me I’m a Robot: How AI Can Improve Brand Stickiness (Fast Company): https://www.fastcompany.com/91194920/trust-me-im-a-robot-how-ai-can-improve-brand-stickinessCustomer Complaint Analyzer Demo Video: https://www.teradata.com/insights/videos/customer-complaint-analyzer Listen on your favorite podcast app: https://pod.link/1715735755

Jeremy Fain, CEO and Co-founder at Cognitiv, is on a mission to better predict consumer behavior with the help of artificial intelligence. The deep-learning advertising platform was founded in 2015 and has since built tools to help brands connect with their customers in a more precise way - a necessary capability for marketers now and into the future. He walks us through the use cases that are most effective for them now and what the next few years might look like. For Further Reading: Learn more about Jeremy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fainjeremy/Tech-Savvy Marketing: How to Stay Ahead of the Curve (Forbes): https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbesagencycouncil/2021/08/30/tech-savvy-marketing-how-to-stay-ahead-of-the-curve/AI Is Giving Advertisers a Chance to Reclaim Their Brains (AdWeek): https://www.adweek.com/sponsored/ai-is-giving-advertisers-a-chance-to-reclaim-their-brains/ Listen on your favorite podcast app: https://pod.link/1715735755

Omar Rodriguez-Vilá is a professor of marketing at Emory University and a partner at MarCaps, and was previously a practitioner at Coca-Cola. He’s looked at the ways some of the best marketing organizations out there have changed their structure and habits in the wake of the AI revolution, and he has data to share. He argues that great marketing leaders in today’s environment need to both explore and exploit for strategic advantages, and other ways to change your marketing culture to see real results. For Further Reading: Learn more about Omar here: https://www.mmaglobal.com/speakers/omar-rodriguez-vila-phdIs Your Marketing Organization Ready for What’s Next? (HBR): https://hbr.org/2020/11/is-your-marketing-organization-ready-for-whats-nextOmar’s Presentation at POSSIBLE 2024: Organizing for New Growth – How do You Prepare the Organization to Leverage the Potential of GenAIhttps://youtu.be/Y2sOhGSO0FY?si=FlZtcXGibHeb3-0H Listen on your favorite podcast app: https://pod.link/1715735755

Adam Brotman, co-founder and co-CEO at Forum3, an AI lab, has spent his whole career helping brands embrace technologies to lead them into the future. Now, with his co-founder Andy Sack, he’s taking what he’s learned about places like Starbucks and J. Crew and building and testing tools around artificial intelligence that can help marketers at every size organization. In this episode, he talks about their AI marketer product for SMBs, Spok, lessons he learned from getting Starbucks to embrace mobile pay, and how he thinks organizations can and should change in the coming years to become AI-first companies. For Further Reading: Learn more about Spok, an AI marketer product: spok.appLearn more about Forum3: forum3.com Listen on your favorite podcast app: https://pod.link/1715735755