AIs Impact on Marketing Future Trends and Strategies

**(02:02)** Kate: Thanks, David, and thank you for getting out of bed today for us! It’s great to see some familiar faces on the call. I’ll give a quick background on myself, why I reached out to David, and what I hope to discuss. I was a brand marketer for about 15 years and worked with Paul at A&E Networks. After 20 years in media, I lost my job last year, which led to an epiphany two days later that my AI side project should actually be my career. 

I enrolled in a Caltech certification program, learning Python, calculus, data science, and machine learning foundations. I wanted to understand AI at a core level, the same way I knew media, so I could build a bridge between marketers and tech. Now I have a consultancy focused on helping small and mid-sized companies develop automation roadmaps, innovation strategies, and AI integrations. We’re currently a team of three, helping companies adopt AI without the scale or budget of larger firms.

**(04:37)** Faisal: That’s impressive, Kate. Taking an intensive AI course at Caltech must have been challenging, especially if you don’t have a technical background. How did you find it?

Kate: I had no technical background at all, which is partly why I chose Caltech. They were more open to diverse backgrounds than other programs I considered, which required a tech foundation. Thankfully, I took it in 2023, so ChatGPT helped me through the Python coding.

**(05:44)** Today, I wanted to discuss AI’s impact on the future, as it’s something I think about often. Our weekly meetings do a great job of keeping up with current tech trends and use cases, but it’s helpful to take a step back and consider where all of this is heading. I’m hoping we can explore that together today.

**(06:17)** I’ve put together a deck I plan to present to a VC firm, outlining current AI trends and potential future impacts on marketing. I’ll walk through these slides in about 20 minutes, and then we can open it up for discussion since solutions to these challenges will likely come from all of us.

**(07:30)** Here’s the presentation. Can everyone see it?

**(07:40)** As a brand marketer, I’ve always aimed to keep my brand in the present while having an eye on the future. Today, tech is moving at such a fast pace that it’s difficult to get a handle on what’s happening. But I’ll share my thoughts and predictions. 

**(08:06)** A quick introduction to my consultancy, A7 Partners—we help businesses navigate this new “seventh era” of human history, where AI and synthetic experiences are becoming central. We work on strategy, tech solutions, communications, and advisory services for marketing teams and agencies, helping them embrace and leverage AI.

**(09:10)** To start, I looked at some high-level predictions for AI. Here are three I found relevant from Forbes’ top 10 AI predictions for 2030:

1. **Ubiquitous AI Interaction**: AI will become so integrated into daily life that it’ll be constantly present and usable.

2. **Evolving Definitions**: Terms like AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) will become outdated as AI permeates everything.

3. **NVIDIA’s Role**: NVIDIA has dominated the AI chip market, but more companies will enter, and the competition will drive advancements in computing power, making AI more accessible.

**(11:38)** Where is AI technology headed? We’re still in the early days, but some big changes are coming:

- **Agent Capabilities**: Soon, AI will do tasks autonomously. Instead of just suggesting flights, it will book the flight for you, knowing all your preferences.

- **Multimodal Integration**: AI will soon be able to see, hear, and understand the world around you. This has profound implications, as AI can use real-world data to improve in real time.

- **Broad Adoption**: AI adoption is increasing, and soon it will be as common as using the internet.

- **Advancing Intelligence**: We’ll move from AI to AGI, where AI systems can match human intelligence across a variety of tasks. Eventually, we may reach superintelligence, where AI surpasses human intelligence.

**(14:41)** These advancements will disrupt the internet as we know it. For example, traditional search may erode. Instead of users clicking on links and encountering ads, AI will summarize the information for us, changing the landscape of digital advertising. I think entertainment will stay strong, but other areas, especially information search, will shift dramatically.

**(15:55)** With this shift, we may start marketing to bots. Right now, we market directly to consumers, but in the future, AI could become a layer between us and our audiences. Imagine a “shadow internet” optimized for AI to crawl, with embedded keywords or tags that prioritize a brand in an AI’s response.

**(18:36)** This could also destabilize our existing consumer data models. If a large portion of consumers shift to using AI for information, they drop out of traditional data sets, which changes the insights we’re used to.

**(19:17)** A concept that’s emerging here is **Share of Model**, similar to share of voice, but it tracks how often a brand appears in AI responses. This term was coined by the Brandtech agency Jellyfish, which is developing a proprietary model to measure it. They analyze how often a brand surfaces in AI-driven results for its category and track ways to improve its visibility.

**(20:38)** Bias and privacy are also critical. AI models have been trained on biased data, simply because bias exists in society and is embedded in available data sets. We also need to raise awareness around privacy, as many people don’t realize they shouldn’t put sensitive data into ChatGPT. Part of my work involves building AI policies for companies so they can experiment safely, knowing their data is secure.

**(23:20)** Privacy issues are a concern. For example, the New York Times sued OpenAI for generating summaries of their articles, which were behind a paywall. Similar situations could arise if sensitive data accidentally becomes part of a public model’s training data. We need to help people understand what’s safe to input and how to protect data from being misused.

**(23:57)** So, with all of these changes, what should marketers do? I tell clients to create their “tomorrow strategy,” focusing on areas most relevant to their business:

1. Start with use cases that align with your business and build a roadmap from there.

2. Embrace synthetic marketing experiences, moving beyond traditional channels.

3. Track and optimize your share of model.

4. Develop a clear AI policy, so employees understand what’s safe and encouraged.

**(27:38)** With that, I’ll stop here and open it up for questions.

**(27:57)** David: Thanks, Kate. You’ve covered so much! I think these issues will stay relevant for years to come. You’ve highlighted a lot that we’re already seeing evolve, like marketing to bots. It’s fascinating to think about what stays the same and what changes, particularly around search behaviors.

**(31:28)** Paul: A question came up around the legal side of using AI. Do you have any thoughts on the legal implications?

Kate: Sure. The legal landscape is still being shaped, and it really depends on the specific application. For content creation, the main issues involve copyright and IP. For instance, if an image I generate resembles the work of a specific artist without their permission, that artist could have a legal claim. The question of IP—who owns content generated by AI—is also unresolved. Right now, the U.S. doesn’t have a solid answer.

**(33:26)** Jason: Many people use AI to do the same things faster or cheaper, but some want to innovate with it. How are your clients approaching AI in terms of efficiency versus innovation?

Kate: That’s a great question. I’d say last year, most people were focused on efficiency, but this year there’s a shift. Automation is almost a baseline expectation, especially in marketing. But now, we’re starting to see clients ask how they can turn AI into a strategic advantage or even create new revenue streams by building AI-driven products.

**(36:39)** Alex: Could you expand on “share of model”? It seems like it could lead to an arms race for optimizing AI-driven search, similar to SEO.

Kate: Yes, I think we’re likely to see something like SEO but for AI. Once someone figures out how to influence these models, it will open up a new frontier in brand visibility. Marketing will have to adapt to this new AI-driven “ecosystem.”

**(39:10)** Jay-Z: Bigger brands seem resistant to AI, preferring human creativity, while startups are more open to it. Do you find that company size affects AI adoption?

Kate: I’d say so, but it’s also about culture. Some companies are highly experimental, which helps. But even large companies like JPM

organ have tried and failed with AI projects that ultimately couldn’t compete with existing models. Smaller companies can be more nimble, experimenting on a smaller budget to get proof of concept quickly.

**(42:38)** Mandy: With traditional media changing, how do you see brands reaching consumers in the future if traditional ads become less effective?

Kate: Great question. I think entertainment will remain strong, with streaming platforms embracing ads. There’s also room to innovate with synthetic experiences, like AI-driven branded experiences. The media mix will evolve, but the key is staying adaptable and open to new channels.

**(45:39)** Dax: How do you approach tech solutions for clients when the decision-makers are sometimes not the marketers but the CTOs or CEOs?

Kate: Good point. I work directly with CMOs to build a strategy and arm them with the insights and benefits to bring to the rest of the C-suite. This approach empowers them to advocate for AI at the executive level.

**(48:02)** Gene: I’m not sold on “share of model” as a primary metric yet. We’ve found tools like BlueOcean, which offers real-time brand insights, more effective for tracking brand health.

Kate: I think “share of model” is still evolving, but it’s interesting to think about. Perhaps it will eventually be a component of broader brand health metrics like BlueOcean’s.

**(50:29)** KW: Kate, I’m in healthcare, and I think my clients would love to hear your insights. Can we connect?

Kate: Absolutely, let’s chat!

**(52:10)** David: Thanks, Kate, for sparking such a great discussion. We’ll be continuing with more on these topics soon. Tomorrow, we have a special edition with Augie Studio, and next week we’ll host a startup showcase with Progress Partners, featuring AI and marketing startups. Thank you, Kate, and thank you everyone for joining!