AI Priority #1 — And the Biggest Headache in Marketing
We've shifted from AI as exploration to AI as infrastructure and integrated system. Here's what that means, and what I am doing about it.
The Signal
In Salesforce’s global survey of nearly 5,000 marketers, AI implementation ranks as both the top priority and the top problem for marketing leaders in 2025. CMOs want the holy trinity — speed, personalization, and scale — but fear blowing up their brand or breaching compliance in the process. Everyone wants AI’s power. No one wants its chaos.
⸻
The Relevance
For scale-ups and challenger brands, this duality hits harder. AI is supposed to be the great equalizer — a way for small teams to compete with big budgets. But without clear guardrails, it becomes a Frankenstein mix of tools, experiments, and ethical gray zones. The pressure to “adopt AI fast” collides with the need to protect the brand, the data, and the humans behind it.
⸻
The Insight
The mistake most CMOs make? Trying to “do AI everywhere.” Real transformation starts with focus, not frenzy. The winners will define a narrow, high-impact roadmap: a few clear, measurable use cases — not a shiny-object buffet. Creative ops, analytics, and customer journey orchestration are where the ROI shows up first. Everything else can wait.
AI is no longer a “project.” It’s a systemic capability — one that touches brand, culture, and operations. The goal isn’t to automate marketing. It’s to augment decision-making.
(Which is why we have built BrandOS™ - a brand operating system built to produce originality at scale, across the whole company, not just marketing.)
⸻
The Shift
We’ve shifted from AI as experiment to AI as infrastructure. The next era of marketing won’t be defined by who uses AI — but by who uses it intelligently. The marketers who build data discipline, creative governance, and ethical frameworks into their workflows will earn both efficiency and trust. Everyone else will drown in dashboards and hallucinations.
⸻
The Opportunity
For challenger brands, this is the moment to architect an AI Operating System for brand-building — one that integrates creativity, analytics, and automation into a living ecosystem. Instead of racing to deploy 20 tools, build one disciplined loop: insight → creation → feedback → optimization.
Smaller, sharper brands can use AI to outthink, not just outspend, incumbents. But only if they treat AI as a capability — not a campaign.
⸻
The Plays
Set a Narrow AI Roadmap: 3–5 use cases tied to revenue or efficiency. Nothing more.
Define Brand Guardrails: Create AI usage policies for tone, voice, and data handling.
Automate Low-Value Tasks: Free humans for creativity, insight, and storytelling.
Measure Human ROI: Track time saved, creativity amplified, and insight gained — not just output.
Build a Living OS: Integrate AI across your marketing stack with one source of truth.
⸻
⚡ Bottom Line:
AI isn’t the strategy. It’s the system that powers it. Marketers who chase tools will drown in noise. Marketers who build focus, guardrails, and discipline will build dominance.
To learn more about BrandOS™ - the operating system designed to integrate your whole business around your brand, and leverage AI to 2x, 5x, or more than 10x your creative output, email me.