Thanks to everyone who joined our AI + Marketing Show & Tell live session. We had a bunch of folks show up and share practical examples of how they are using AI in their own roles, workflows, and teams. Ideas ranged from turning Google Notebook into a behavioural scientist, to building personas for sales prospects, to using AI to help navigate internal politics. I learned a lot.
During the session, I also shared a few observations from my experience training and working with marketing teams on AI. Some tips I’ve found helpful for breaking down barriers, so people can start adopting AI more intentionally and with greater success:
I’ll be hosting a few more of these training and sharing sessions over the coming months, so keep an eye on the newsletter or reach out and I’ll make sure you’re included.
Smarter Personal AI Adoption
During the AI + Marketing Share & Tell, the people that seemed to be getting the most value from AI often did a few things consistently. They personify it so it has a clear role in the work (my skeptical assistant, my editor, my researcher). They also build small prompting habits that improve outputs (e.g., “before you start, ask me three questions that will help you complete this.”). Here are a few other tips from that came across my feeds this week:
Kamil Blanc: Shares a “Human API” concept. Use a reusable block of context about you, your role, your audience, and your preferences so the chatbot has better direction for most professional requests.
Jack Clark: Using agents to “multiply yourself.” He shares examples of multi-agent workflows that can scan papers and summarize with minimal supervision, like a set of autonomous colleagues.
Ethan Mollick: Be intentional about what you delegate to AI. Before you hand something off, do a quick trade-off check. How long would it take you to do it yourself? How long will it take AI plus your time to guide it, review it, and fix it?
AI Reshaping Advertising
Over the next year, it’ll be interesting to watch how AI reshapes paid media. Shoppers are already using AI chatbots alongside traditional search, and brands are starting to think about GEO alongside SEO for organic visibility. The open question is what “paid” becomes inside these AI experiences.
BCG frames the landscape in three buckets: Search embedded AI, Assistant native AI, and Retail and commerce AI. We’re also getting more hints about how ads could work in ChatGPT. The pitch is that ads won’t influence organic answers, but organic answers may influence which ads are eligible. That’s pretty fuzzy, and it risks blurring the line between an “answer” and an “ad,” which Seth Godin flags as a serious trust problem.
On the creative side, the Super Bowl will be a useful test. Some brands are openly sharing how they’re using AI in production. Others are emphasizing that their ads are “human-made” by showing the behind the scenes process. For now, that’s likely a hedge against data showing consumers (and creative professionals) often dislike creative that feels obviously AI generated. My bet is this “AI shaming” phase won’t last long, and budgets will move quickly once these AI media platforms scale. But I’m skeptical we’ll see meaningful commerce happen directly inside AI chatbots anytime soon (despite OpenAI relationship with Shopify) assistants anytime soon as ads, answers, and inventory start to blend.
Fresh Research & Reports
Journalism, Media & Technology Trends (Reuters): Publishers are leaning into video and original reporting as social referrals keep dropping: down 43% from Facebook and 46% from X over three years. More decline is expected as AI chatbots take over discovery. Google AI Overviews show up at the top of about 10% of US searches.
AI & CEO Leadership (BCG): CEOs fall into Followers, Pragmatists, and Trailblazers. Trailblazers are the most AI-forward, with most spending 8+ hours a week building AI expertise, and they’re more confident and excited than peers.
State of AI in the Enterprise (Deloitte): Many companies are stuck in the “proof of concept trap,” prioritizing safe pilots over scaling. A key issue is change management: 84% haven’t redesigned jobs around AI capabilities.
The State of AI in Marketing 2026 (Jasper): The biggest blocker to scaling AI in marketing is legal, compliance, and brand review. 27% cite legal/compliance as the top reason they’re not scaling AI, over 3x higher than 2025. What’s the point of producing more content quicker if approvals can’t keep up?
Cool Beans
Apple AI Pin? Rumour has it that Apple is working on an AI pin with dual cameras, microphones, and a speaker. OpenAI is also rumoured to be launching AI-powered earbuds later this year.
Weird Tech Patents: Love this index of images pulled from real tech patents. Looks like someone beat me to launching my Inflatable Dog Immobilizer App idea.
Just Scream: Speaking of being late to the party, this site looks like it is from 2021: a place where people upload audio of themselves screaming. You can browse and listen to 27,000 plus entries, with categories ranging from Hope to Circle of Life.
BTW, it’s always nice when someone likes or subscribe to my newsletter. I just received this notification – you are in good company.
