I can write, design, build, research, and analyze at a level I couldn’t have imagined two years ago. Work I would have needed several specialized people to help me produce, I can now get much further on myself.
I’m not saying I do all of it as well as those specialists. But I can do more than I’ve ever been able to do in my career. That’s genuinely exciting.
Then I think about what that means for the people whose work is changing. Including the people on my own team.
I’m excited about AI. I also understand why it’s making people anxious. Those aren’t contradictory positions.
It’s not just another tool to learn
I see the pressure on our people and on client teams. Marketing, operations, IT, legal, finance, data. Different jobs, similar worries.
Will AI take my job? Will I keep my job but have to relearn how to do it? How am I supposed to keep up with all of this and still get my work done?
As a business owner, I have my own version. What if a better-funded competitor figures this out faster than we do? What if they can deliver something we can’t?
I understand the urgency. I also think those of us running businesses need to be careful about how much of our anxiety becomes someone else’s assignment.
“We need to do more with AI” isn’t much of an assignment. It gives people something to worry about without telling them what to do.
I don’t have a prediction for you
I still see a need for experienced judgment. A creative director who knows what a design is missing. A developer who knows whether the code is ready to use. A writer who knows what’s worth saying.
But I don’t know what a marketing team will look like in two years. That’s also why “don’t worry, AI won’t replace you” feels too easy. I can’t promise anyone that their work won’t change. I can take their concerns seriously without treating them as resistance to progress.
Sitting this out isn’t the answer, either. I think if you don’t learn to use this technology, you’re very likely to get steamrolled by people who do.
That means becoming a better AI orchestrator, not learning every tool. Give clear direction, check the work, and know when you need deeper expertise.
The advice I’d give another marketing leader or business owner is the advice I need to follow myself.
Give people something smaller than “keep up”
- Pick one useful thing to improve.
Don’t ask every department to reinvent itself. Pick a recurring task: preparing a report, reviewing a document, or getting a first draft ready. Test whether AI actually helps, including the time it takes to check and correct the output. A faster first draft isn’t much of a win if someone spends the afternoon fixing it.
- Make learning part of the workday.
If learning AI matters to the business, give it time on the calendar. An hour a week to test an approved tool on an appropriate task is a reasonable place to start. Decide what can wait to make room for it. This shouldn’t become another assignment people have to take home.
- Share the failures, not just the impressive demos.
Show the team what worked, what needed fixing, and what wasn’t worth using. Be clear about what’s an experiment and what’s now expected. People shouldn’t have to guess whether a tool you forwarded is interesting reading or their new job description.
The Monday Morning Version
Ask your team where AI is helping, where it’s adding work, and what they need time to learn. Then choose one thing to test together. Not ten.
I don’t want us to miss what this technology makes possible. I also don’t want every new capability to become another reason people feel behind. Keep learning. Keep testing. Get better at directing the work, not just generating more of it.
We don’t have to learn everything at once. We do have to keep learning.