Back in July, our friends at Automotive Digest wanted to pick our brains regarding the impact of artificial intelligence on the automotive industry. Naturally, I jumped at the chance to share my thoughts. You can download a PDF of the article here.

Although the Terminator may be coming to the battle field, I do not think that AI will replace marketing. In fact, I see a mutually beneficial relationship between AI and marketing professionals. Like most professions, the days of the “one-trick pony” are numbered. Tomorrow’s marketing professionals will need to be able to adapt to continuously evolving technologies, not just Google Analytics. Creative types will be displaced by those who are more comfortable working with numbers, as well as creating sticky catch-phrases.

The CMO position won’t be reserved for the sales expert or creative genius, as in the past. Instead, the position will likely be occupied by someone who is a master of defining markets using AI, from the nano-scale all the way to global campaigns. They will be an extremely strategic thinker, and will interpret the various machine aggregated signals for the leadership team, making them an essential figure in the c-suite.

Like I said in the article, until machines can market to themselves, a machine will still need a human to market to humans. Instead of getting scared, get excited. The days of spraying and praying with marketing dollars may soon be over.