The Australian Centre for AI in Marketing (ACAM) recently released its Marketing Team of the Future whitepaper, a project designed to help marketers navigate rising uncertainty around AI and the rapid shifts reshaping their roles — or, as the paper describes it, ‘AI anxiety’.
The paper, which ACAM launched in partnership with Adobe at SXSW Sydney, focuses on the need for marketers to evolve culturally as well as technically, adopting a mindset that prioritizes chasing the customer – not the tool.
To learn more, we caught up with ACAM co-founder Douglas Nicol, who says the paper originated from conversations with CMOs and creative leaders feeling varying degrees of AI anxiety — a response he links to the human brain’s aversion to uncertainty about the future of work.
Over the course of our interview, Douglas expands on the intent behind the paper, why leadership must evolve as part of the same transformation, the challenge of resisting the urge to replicate flawed legacy processes in automation, and more.
What inspired the creation of ACAM’s ‘Marketing Team of the Future’ whitepaper, and what gap was it aiming to fill in the current AI conversation within marketing?
In talking to lots of CMO’s and creative people, I could see that there are varying degrees of AI anxiety at play. Part of the reason for that anxiety is the uncertain future for people’s careers in an AI-enabled world. The human brain hates uncertainty and responds with a fight-or-flight trigger.
A great way to deal with AI anxiety is to picture the future and start to visualize what your career and your team’s careers look like in two years’ time. That was the genesis of this whitepaper.
Most discussions about AI in the workplace focus on roles that might be replaced, but what about a substitute for leadership itself? What discussions are happening in leadership circles around that?
We made a deliberate decision not to include a depressing list of jobs that won’t exist in two years’ time. We have focused on the redefined marketing roles that almost anyone can evolve into. Leaders need to evolve as part of that journey, as this is as much a human transformation as it is a technology transformation.
The paper highlights nine guiding principles for building future-ready teams. Which of these do you think presents the biggest challenge for marketers to adopt?
I think number 3, ‘Don’t just replicate the past’ when automating marketing processes. Often, marketing programs are plagued with imperfection, so why would you want to hard-wire something sub-optimal into your automation plan?
We have focused on the redefined marketing roles that almost anyone can evolve into. Leaders need to evolve as part of that journey, as this is as much a human transformation as it is a technology transformation.
AI is the opportunity to re-imagine a better way to create marketing ROI, and this is time-intensive, hard work. The AI automation bit is relatively easy. Beware of the status quo.
You describe the marketer of the future as an “AI conductor.” What does that look like in practice, and what skills will define that role?
The core of good marketing in two years’ time will be the symbiotic relationship between a human and AI agents. That relationship can be good if you understand how to conduct and lead the AI to deliver high-quality outcomes.
The core of good marketing in two years’ time will be the symbiotic relationship between a human and AI agents.
AI conduction is a bit like being a marriage counsellor between humans and AI, without any screaming or tears (hopefully).
How do you balance efficiency gains from AI with the need to preserve creativity and brand trust, two elements at the heart of marketing?
We face an unprecedented deluge of AI slop across all channels, often with high production values and lots of cool personalization. The opportunity for human creativity is to break new ground, think of totally new ideas in the category, and rise above the slop.
AI creative is, in many ways, derivative of everything that has gone before in terms of creativity. It is not so good at delivering the big creative leaps forward. That’s where humans still have a superpower.
The paper stresses ethical and risk governance as a core marketer “superpower.” Can you talk more about that and how teams can practically embed that mindset into their operations?
Brands face very high levels of risk around brand trust as AI becomes more customer-facing. Not becoming a lawyer, but a brand’s ‘Trust Guardian’. You help steer clear of bias, copyright, misinformation, scams, and brand risk in your AI marketing, so your work always stays responsible and on-brand. This is the new face of brand management.
Looking ahead, how do you envision the most successful marketing teams operating, and what will distinguish the leaders from the left behind?
We have identified an elite group of 6% of marketers who are working at an advanced level and delivering great Return on AI Investment (ROAI).
The defining characteristics of this group are: A strong positive cultural orientation towards AI; Ability to fail and learn fast, and understanding the role of human soft skills in the mix to deliver incremental value to the business.
Quick Hits
Most useful app or tool you’ve started using recently:
The new SORA app from OpenAI, its content-making ability with minimal prompting is awesome.
Book, podcast, or resource you recommend:
How to Think About AI by Richard Susskind.
Something you want to learn or wish you were better at:
Dancing.
To learn more, you can download the whitepaper here.
