Ready or Not: AI’s Inevitable Upheaval in the Marketing Realm #AIintheSky – Dan Sanchez

I recently launched a new experimental show format with my friend Marc Angelos called “AI in the Sky.” Our goal is simple: in a world where AI seems to be looming over everything like an ominous cloud (hence the name), we want to make these developments approachable and practical for marketers.

For those who missed our first episode, I wanted to share some key insights from our conversation about several important AI developments that are reshaping marketing right now.

Enterprise AI Is Taking Center Stage

The first trend we discussed was how AI companies are pivoting toward enterprise solutions. Anthropic recently released Claude 3, which is specifically focused on enterprise needs. Meanwhile, Microsoft’s Copilot and other enterprise-focused AI tools are gaining traction.

As Marc pointed out, “It’s almost like they smell money.” While individual creators jumped on AI early for efficiency and workflow improvements, large enterprises were caught off guard by how quickly the technology advanced. Now they’re scrambling to integrate these tools into their systems.

But this raises an important question: who should own AI within an organization?

Who Should Own AI in Your Organization?

Marc believes marketing departments should own AI initiatives: “That’s where you can get the most efficiency. It’s where you’re going to build connection with the customer… AI is just built for that.”

I have a slightly different take. After recording a dedicated episode on this topic with Courtney Baker, I’ve come to believe that AI is going to impact everything – from services to accounting, fulfillment, and manufacturing. It’s so pervasive that the CEO needs to be the one leading the charge company-wide.

The competitive edge with AI comes from data, which requires working across departments. Marketing can and should be the model department for AI adoption, but true transformation requires cross-organizational collaboration.

As we discussed, large companies may eventually create dedicated Chief AI Officer positions, but in the meantime, marketing leaders should position themselves as internal AI champions and thought leaders.

The Rise of AI Agencies

Another fascinating development is the emergence of AI agencies – the modern equivalent of what social media marketing agencies were a decade ago.

These agencies typically offer three core services:

Chatbots: Creating customer service interfaces as an entry-level offering
AI Workflows: Helping companies make their processes more efficient
Custom AI Buildouts: Developing custom GPTs and other AI applications tailored to a company’s specific needs

What’s particularly interesting is how these agencies are starting to automate thinking work – not just mechanical tasks. As I mentioned to Marc, “I’m taking hard thinking work… and automating what used to take someone. It’s not a step that you could have used with a machine before.”

This is where AI becomes truly transformative. It’s not just intelligent automation (IA) performing repetitive tasks; it’s beginning to handle creative thinking, storytelling, and strategic planning.

If you’re in marketing right now, you should be studying these developments closely. The skills required for this new field feel similar to marketing operations – defining inputs, processes, and desired outcomes – but with an added layer of AI capabilities.

AI-Generated Books: Opportunity or Threat?

One of the most surprising tools I discovered recently is Inkflow.io – an application that claims to generate a 20,000-word book from just a title prompt. For $100 (plus OpenAI API costs), it will create an entire book for you.

I decided to experiment with it by creating a book called “The Practical Guide to DIY Home Video Studios: How to Build Yours in Five Days” – a topic I know well.

The results? Let’s just say the book wasn’t good. It was filled with generic advice, poorly formatted numbered lists, and sections that missed the mark entirely. I’d give it a solid F grade.

But this experiment points to something important. As Marc noted:

“We’re going to get content shock in the book world. There’s going to be 1000 books a week that no one’s going to care about. And if you have nothing of importance to say, you’ll be able to say it faster and easier now.”

The real value will come from books that incorporate:

Genuine experiences that AI can’t replicate
Strong opinions that go beyond generic advice
Compelling storytelling that connects with readers

For marketers, the opportunity lies in using AI to accelerate the book creation process while still injecting human expertise and perspective. I’m planning to use my podcast content as the foundation for a book, leveraging AI to help organize and synthesize the material while adding my personal insights throughout.

AI Video Is Evolving Faster Than Anyone Expected

Perhaps the most dramatic development we discussed is the rapid advancement in AI-generated video. When OpenAI released Sora just a few weeks ago, it shocked everyone with its quality.

“I thought this was at least a year away,” I told Marc. When I saw Midjourney 6 launch in December, I assumed we were about a year away from seeing comparable quality in video. Sora arrived much sooner than expected.

The implications for marketing are enormous. As Marc put it: “Writing was always a marketing strength. Video required production, required money… You can now do this out of any company’s back room janitor closet.”

But this technological leap creates a strategic challenge: how do you use AI-generated video to build authentic relationships with customers?

We both agreed that live content – like the conversation we were having – gives marketers a competitive advantage in an AI-dominated landscape. People crave authenticity, and there’s something about live interaction that AI can’t replicate (at least not yet).

The Need for Brand Personality in an AI World

This led to an interesting discussion about company personalities and mascots. As AI makes it easier to create consistent characters and visual representations, companies need to decide: will they use real people as the face of their brand, or create artificial personas?

“These companies will have to decide for business purposes, what’s the personality of the firm? Literally, the voice, male or female? Literally, what does it look like?” Marc explained.

I suggested that companies might be better off creating obviously non-human mascots rather than hyper-realistic AI humans: “I’d be more afraid as a company to put out something that looked human. I’d almost want to run in the other direction and cartoonify it or make it a robot.”

This gives brands the ability to create a distinctive personality without falling into the “uncanny valley” that might make customers uncomfortable.

What This Means for You as a Marketer

So what should you take away from all these developments? Here are my key recommendations:

Position yourself as an AI champion within your organization, even if you don’t own the entire initiative
Study what AI agencies are doing and consider which of their services you could bring in-house
Focus on authentic experiences and perspectives that AI can’t replicate
Experiment with AI video, but balance it with live content that showcases real human interaction
Think strategically about your brand’s personality and how it should be represented in an AI-driven world