AI Is Remodelling Marketing Departments
Things are changing fast!
If you’re in marketing, you’ve probably noticed that roles, workflows, and who “owns” what are changing faster than a new tool rollout (see my poll on who owns sales enablement poll closed, see results here). I started using AI as a shiny copywriting tool early in my career, and now, as a leader, I’m having to rethink how I structure and build teams.
We all know adoption is exploding in marketing and sales. I’ve seen salespeople use AI to listen to sales calls, transcribe and summarize next steps and timelines, and I’ve seen countless marketers use it to write content and creative, all dumped straight to publishing, without human edits. Companies as a whole are using generative AI for all content (technical content in addition to sales and marketing collateral), for email personalization, and doing the heavy administrative work up and down the lead funnel. I’ve started to use AI tools to build GTM engines for clients. Adoption in marketing has more than doubled in recent years (Singla et al, McKinsey & Company). That means teams that used to be “creative + analytics + ops” are now adding AI-fluent roles and shifting responsibilities so that people focus on what humans do best (strategy, judgment, and ethics). At the same time, AI handles the volume of work (drafting, tagging, first-pass analysis, etc.) (Singla et al, McKinsey & Company).
You’re also seeing practical org changes:
More centralization around ops & data. CMOs want cleaner pipelines and fewer handoffs, so marketing ops/data roles are moving closer to strategy roles (or even becoming the same role). Gartner data shows many organizations are centralizing parts of marketing to improve efficiency (Rethinking Marketing Organization and Operations Excellence, Gartner).
New specialist roles. Think “AI prompt engineer” for creative, “automation architect,” or “CX+AI product owner”. These roles don’t replace designers or strategists; rather, they free them to do higher-value work (and keep quality control on-brand). Adobe and others argue that AI is turning content from a cost center into a growth engine, if you manage it the right way (Navigating the age of content abundance, Adobe for Business).
Faster testing cycles, smaller squads. With AI creating assets and variants quickly, teams can run many more micro-experiments. That nudges orgs toward nimble, cross-functional squads instead of big, siloed departments. Deloitte notes GenAI shortens cycle times and powers smarter seller and marketer workflows. (Gill, Deloitte)
What does this all mean? Marketing leaders shouldn’t just hire fewer people; they should start to hire people with the skills to work with AI. And marketers shouldn’t fear for their jobs; they should learn newer technologies. The smart play for organizations isn’t replacing roles with bots. Orgs have to redesign jobs so humans focus on judgment, relationships, and the messy bits of strategy while AI drives scale and speed. Early adopters are seeing real productivity gains. I’ve helped companies cut their administrative time in half, and some teams report massive reductions in turnaround time and much higher throughput when AI is used thoughtfully (Nellis, Reuters).
I used AI to write this blog. I knew what I wanted to write about, and I knew what I wanted to say, but it found all the sources for me, outlined and wrote the whole thing in seconds, instead of the 8 hours of manually researching like I used to do a decade ago. What makes it different is that this blog gives my real-life context and experience, in my rambling voice, which AI can’t quite pull off… yet.
Bottom line: if your marketing team still looks like it did five years ago, it’s time for a conversation. I can help your team re-skill, re-map workflows, and treat AI as a teammate – not a replacement (there’s that m-dash you were all waiting for).
The team that wins will be the one that pairs smart people with smart tools.
