This article was based on the interview with Rupali Jain, Chief Product Officer and Kevin Li, SVP of Product at Optimizely by Greg Kihlström, AI and MarTech keynote speaker for The Agile Brand with Greg Kihlström podcast. Listen to the original episode here:
The marketing technology landscape continues to evolve at a rapid pace. Artificial intelligence is no longer a futuristic concept, but a tangible force reshaping how marketers operate, strategize, and connect with their audiences. While the allure of AI-driven efficiency is undeniable, its true potential lies in unlocking new avenues for growth and innovation. This requires a strategic mindset, a willingness to embrace change, and a platform capable of orchestrating the complex interplay of humans and intelligent agents.
Optimizely’s recent announcements at Opticon 25 offer a glimpse into this agentic future of marketing. Their focus on an Agent Orchestration Platform, complete with out-of-the-box agents and an open ecosystem, highlights the importance of not just adopting AI, but integrating it seamlessly into existing workflows and across the entire marketing technology stack. This approach empowers marketers to move beyond isolated AI features and harness the power of intelligent automation across the entire customer journey.
Beyond Efficiency: Strategy Takes Center Stage
While the efficiency gains of AI are compelling, Jain emphasizes the critical role of strategy in navigating this new landscape: “Marketers need to get really clear on what their strategy is and really align execution. Because now you can trust the execution…If you don’t have a strategy, the execution will not deliver the things you want.” This highlights a crucial point: AI empowers execution, but it doesn’t replace the need for strategic thinking. In fact, it makes it even more important. With the ability to move faster comes the increased risk of misdirected efforts. Marketers must define clear goals, validate hypotheses, and align teams around a shared vision to truly capitalize on the potential of AI.
The Power of Context and the “Iceberg” Metaphor
Li introduces a compelling metaphor to describe the impact of AI on marketing: the iceberg. He notes that marketers often only have time to optimize the visible parts of their efforts, neglecting the valuable but time-consuming tasks that lie below the surface. AI, he argues, has the power to change this dynamic. “How is it not just about efficiency of existing things that you can see today…but also really get at how do you fundamentally change the way that you operate as marketing and doing the things that you literally honestly is like, ‘well, I didn’t think that was possible.’” This reframes the conversation around AI from mere efficiency to transformative change. It’s not just about doing things faster, but about doing things differently – unlocking new possibilities and tackling previously unattainable goals. He also notes that providing the right information to the AI tools is critical to success.
Embracing the Evolving Consumer Landscape
The rise of generative AI and conversational interfaces like ChatGPT has introduced a new dynamic to the consumer journey. People are increasingly turning to AI-powered tools for information and decision-making, creating what Jain describes as a “dichotomy of machines and users.” This requires marketers to adapt their strategies and content to cater to both audiences. “Machines can read structured data,” Jain points out, emphasizing the importance of optimizing content for machine readability while still maintaining its appeal to human readers. This means embracing structured data, focusing on clear and concise language, and providing answers to common consumer queries in a format that AI can readily understand and utilize. The ability to leverage generative AI and SEO strategies together may be one of the best ways that brands can leverage these technologies together to create powerful content that drives better engagement and better ROI.
The rise of AI in marketing presents a pivotal moment for enterprise leaders. It’s a time of both immense opportunity and potential disruption. The key to success lies in adopting a strategic mindset, embracing a platform approach to AI orchestration, and staying attuned to the evolving needs and behaviors of consumers. By focusing on clear strategic goals, leveraging AI to unlock new possibilities, and adapting to the changing consumer landscape, marketing leaders can not only survive but thrive in this exciting new era.
The tools are evolving quickly, and it will be interesting to see how things look even a year from now, and it’s likely that the leaders in this space will be the ones who have a platform approach. This enables a best-of-breed approach to continue to use the best AI tools possible for any given marketing activity.
