Heartfelt Data: Using AI to Enhance, Not Overpower, Your Marketing

I love disclaimers.

Disclaimer I: This article tilts towards B2B marketing, a landscape I’ve traversed exclusively for some time now while marketing AI. While these reflections are rooted in the B2B Tech and SaaS space, the broader themes of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and human-centric marketing stretch far beyond, into consumer-driven industries—where data is abundant, but intuition often plays an equal, if not larger role.

Disclaimer II: These reflections on the impact of AI in marketing, and the changing role of the marketer, are neither conclusive nor exhaustive. They are simply my thoughts as they stand today—I offer them in the spirit of inquiry, not certainty, and with the hope of opening a wider conversation.

I will cover key AI developments that are shaping the marketing industry, discuss the importance of counter-balancing the automation of our roles, and offer insights into how marketers can retain (read- augment) their unique value.

When it All began: November 2022

November 2022 was not just another busy month on my marketing calendar.

On November 30, 2022, OpenAI publicly released ChatGPT, its large language model that then felt like a seismic shift in AI development. In a matter of days, Gen AI—once the domain of tech enthusiasts and data scientists—broke free from its niche and became popular with marketers. The numbers spoke for themselves: within just five days, ChatGPT had garnered its first million users, propelled by social media showcasing different use-cases.

For marketers and creators alike, a door had opened, revealing entirely new ways of approaching content creation with human-machine interaction. Blog posts, social media content, data-driven insights—all could now be generated and refined in minutes. For the first time, AI had become accessible to a broader audience.

And yet, this was only the beginning.

How ChatGPT Opened the AI Floodgates

Within the next year, as ChatGPT took center stage, a cascade of AI innovations followed, and they’re still coming. Suddenly, AI wasn’t just about chatbots or generating text; it was everywhere, rapidly evolving into a multimodal powerhouse capable of handling not only text, but images, video, and audio as well. For us marketers, just as we were getting comfortable debating the merits and pitfalls of Generative AI, another wave of models launched—each one more powerful, more sophisticated, and with increasingly audacious promises.

Here's a quick recap of how everything went down:

A Quick recall of AI Milestones in 2023–2024 (Relevant to Marketers)

• November 2022 – ChatGPT (OpenAI): ChatGPT 3.5 launches, rapidly gaining millions of users. Marketers use it to automate content creation, manage customer inquiries, and personalize campaigns.
• January 2023 – Stable Diffusion (Stability AI): An open-source image generation model, this tool allowed us to create visuals from text prompts. Suddenly, AI wasn’t just writing—it was drawing.
• March 2023 – Mid Journey V5: A refinement in AI-generated art, Mid Journey became the go-to for brands needing custom visuals without design teams.
• April 2023 – GPT-4 (Open AI): The next iteration of Open AI’s model brought multi-modal capabilities, enabling marketers to combine text, images, and even video into their workflows.
• June 2023 – Runway Gen-2: This AI system introduced video generation from text prompts, making it possible for brands to create video content without needing traditional production resources.
• 2024 (Jan- ongoing) - From Content to Campaigns: This year, Generative AI had fully evolved into a multi-modal powerhouse, where one single marketer can not only create just text or visuals but an entire integrated campaigns with Gen AI features handling everything from audience insights, segmentation, targeting and campaign execution. Checkout this vid from Salesforce on using Einstein Co-pilot on Salesforce Marketing Cloud.

What seems like a lifetime ago, happened in less than two years. The three most used items in any marketer's campaign toolkit - Content, Images and Video can now be built using prompts. The multi-modal nature of Generative AI has now taken over a marketer's campaign tool kit!

What else is being automated with AI?

Marketing Analytics and Insights

Nearly every marketing analytics platform now integrates Generative AI and Natural Language Processing (NLP), fundamentally changing how marketers interact with data. Instead of sifting through complex dashboards, marketers can now extract insights, charts, and tables simply by asking questions in plain language.

Account-Based Campaigns & Personalization

AI-powered predictive algorithms are transforming how marketers approach Account-Based Marketing (ABM). These algorithms analyze from past wins and losses, providing plausible account fitment and pipeline predictions. In addition, intent-driven platforms have become sought after, offering insights into what a particular prospect or account is actively searching for.

Social Media

AI is also automating tasks such as content scheduling, audience segmentation, ad targeting, and even customer interactions. Tools like Hootsuite and Sprinklr utilize AI to schedule posts at optimal times, personalize content for different segments, and analyze audience behavior in real time. AI-powered chatbots also handle routine customer inquiries, while real-time sentiment analysis keeps marketers informed of their brand's standing across platforms.

Lead Nurturing

Platforms like Adobe Marketo and HubSpot are leveraging AI to elevate lead nurturing efforts. AI segments lead, personalizes email content, and automates follow-up sequences based on real-time user behavior. Additionally, platforms like Eloqua automate lead scoring and email follow-ups, helping marketers focus on high-potential leads while still maintaining consistent engagement throughout the sales funnel.

As the marketing tech stack continues to evolve, it’s becoming evident that AI has the potential to automate both creative and mundane tasks alike. But this shift raises a deeper, more philosophical question:

Are there areas where marketers must bring skills that AI simply cannot replicate? Areas where a marketer’s touch—our intuition, empathy, and understanding—becomes irreplaceable. Is there an actual need for marketers to develop skills to counter-balance AI-driven automation?

Counter-balancing AI: Why?

It is really easy for a marketer to get busy. By offloading tasks, AI will allow marketers the necessary time to invest their energy into what matters most in marketing: understanding customer behavior, crafting emotional connections, and driving innovative marketing strategies.

Good marketers are notoriously adaptive, possessing a visceral ability to step into someone else’s shoes, learn from their perspective, and speak their language. This innate flexibility is what sets exceptional marketers apart.

Sharp Marketers don’t just observe customer behavior; they feel it, intuitively understanding needs, desires, and pain points from the inside out. It’s this adaptability that had allowed them to continually shift and evolve, especially in a landscape shaped by rapid technological change.

Future iterations may further refine their AI's ability to understand and emulate human creativity, but for now, the collaboration between human intuition and AI capabilities is what seems to make makes the most sense. AI can sift through data and identify patterns, but only a human can interpret the nuances of motivation, intent, and emotion that drive decision-making.

Counter-balancing AI: With What?

What Marketers Should Focus On: Beyond AI Automation

Automation alone doesn’t make a great marketer. Recently, especially in the B2B space, there’s been a growing emphasis on upskilling to become T-shaped marketers or full-stack marketers—who have deep expertise in one or two key areas, but also possess a broad understanding of other marketing functions. This versatility allows them to not only excel in their specialty but also contribute meaningfully across the marketing spectrum. I feel with technology the distance between different functions would shrink and many marketers would be move towards full-stack marketers.

I like building structures and frameworks to put my thoughts at ease.

Below table highlights different marketing functions, their AI potential and which areas marketers could explore to counter-balance AI.

Let's pick two examples -

Customer Journey Mapping:

AI can track and analyze touchpoints across the customer journey. A marketer can hypothesize and unearth the emotional and behavioral drivers behind those touchpoints. For me, Frameworks like Jobs to be Done (JTBD) have helped me align data with deeper customer needs, allowing me to position and message.

Thought Leadership:

In my own experience, AI-generated content often lacks the nuance and originality. The ideas we bring to the table—ideas rooted in personal experiences and professional expertise—give writing substance.

My Own Reflection on Using AI in Marketing

AI has undoubtedly enhanced my efficiency, but the most valuable lesson I’ve learned is that it’s not about doing everything for you. Instead, it’s about working alongside AI—using it as a tool to elevate what we’re already good at.

When I first used the Einstein feature in my CRM to automate insight generation for my existing customers segments, it wasn’t just the time saved that surprised me; it was the space it opened up for deeper thought. I had assumed, like many, that AI would simply lift the weight off my shoulders. But what I soon realized was that, in fact, it required me to think more carefully, more deeply, about the very prompts I was feeding it.

Marketers can imagine Gen AI as a curious but unsure apprentice—immensely capable, but prone to hallucination if left without guidance. Yes, it can generate, expand, and connect ideas but only if we feed it with the right-thinking framework which create the right semantic associations. Generic instructions, and it wanders into generic, well-trodden outputs. Too specific, and its outputs exhausts themselves on a narrow ridge of tokens. The challenge with Generative AI is in orchestrating the prompting process, setting AI in the right direction and providing purpose behind each command.

What I am discovering is the beauty of this symbiosis.

In the end, your AI creations will be only as good as you are. The more you sharpen your craft, the more you would guide AI to push it pushes boundaries, a self-fulfilling cycle that stretches the limits of what’s possible for both.

Conclusion

AI is a disruptive force - a mega trend. And it is here to stay. Whilst the soul of marketing—the empathy, the emotional depth, the intelligence that stirs people to act—remains a distinctly human craft. That craft is here to stay as well.

As AI continues to evolve, marketers continue to embrace it—but also need to cultivate the skills that set us apart. Human intuition, big-picture thinking, and the ability to form genuine connections are the areas where we shine.

So, let’s use AI as an enabler, but never lose sight of the heart behind the data. Where do you think AI is learning all of this?

Ruminations on AI ethics, data privacy and fair use in next editions....