Why leaders should learn to value the boundary spanners
Entrepreneurial talent who work with other teams often run into trouble with their managers. Here are ways to get the most out of your ‘boundary spanners’...
Brain Circuits
6 new roles for marketing managers utilizing AI
As AI systems become increasingly adept at generating creative content across multiple modalities, Michael Yaziji identifies six new roles the marketing manager can undertake to become the orchestrator of an infinitely productive AI team.
1. Insight curator
AI offers nuanced insights tailored to your unique challenges and opportunities, so your role shifts from information gatherer to insight curator. Focus on contextualizing the AI’s findings within the broader strategic vision of the company. (For instance, when the AI flags a sudden surge in eco-friendly product searches, your task is to determine whether this represents a fleeting trend or a fundamental shift in consumer values that should reshape your long-term branding strategy.)
2. Omnichannel orchestrator
AI can quickly generate numerous campaign ideas, each customized for different audiences and platforms, combining text, images, videos, and even interactive AR experiences. Your task is to orchestrate these diverse elements into cohesive, immersive brand narratives. You become the arbiter of brand authenticity, ensuring that the AI’s output maintains the human touch that resonates with consumers.
3. Digital architect
As marketing technology evolves into a complex ecosystem of AI-powered tools, you will become a digital architect, designing and managing this ecosystem, and ensuring that data and insights flow seamlessly between systems to create a unified marketing strategy. You set the strategic direction for this ecosystem and continuously refine its parameters to align with business objectives so that it can respond to real-time trends and events.
4. Emotional interpreter
With AI increasingly used to analyze and predict consumer sentiment and behavior, the human touch becomes crucial in interpreting emotional nuances and cultural context. Your role here is that of emotional interpreter, bridging the gap between data-driven insights and human empathy.
5. Decision-making guide
As AI systems take on more complex decision-making tasks, your focus shifts towards setting high-level goals and ethical guidelines, steering AI systems toward optimal outcomes while maintaining brand integrity and customer trust.
6. Relationship builder
With AI executing more creative tasks, you need to focus on the aspects of marketing that remain uniquely human: building relationships, navigating ethical dilemmas, and infusing campaigns with human creativity and emotion.
Key learning
The AI revolution is redefining roles across all business functions. The future marketing manager – like their counterparts in finance, operations, HR, and beyond – will be the conductor of a grand symphony of human and artificial intelligence, leveraging AI’s vast capabilities while providing uniquely human qualities.
Authors
Related
How to prevent employee burnout through a growth mindshift
When we feel stressed, we’re more likely to operate from a place of fear and fall back on a mindset that is fixed, judgmental, and focused on polarities – behaviour that soon...
How can AI enable your business strategy?
Artificial intelligence is perhaps the most far-reaching technology ever created. Google’s AI business strategist Gopi Kallayil recommends asking yourself three key questions regarding your business strategy and identifies three AI capabilities you...
Tell me more: how to boost your leadership skills by learning instead of directing
Many leaders feel compelled to motivate their teams to perform by being highly solutions-focused – but learning rather than directing often leads to better results. Consult the following checklist to guage whether...