How can a CMO build an AI value prop WITHOUT AI washing? Doug Straton, CMO of Bazaarvoice, joined me for this robust conversation.
You’ll hear about:
- What makes an AI value prop actually defensible
- Moving from a ‘selfish’ AI approach, where individuals automate their own jobs, to an approach that puts the business and its processes first
- How relentless simplicity in org design wins, especially in an environment where CMOs need to defend their org investments to the Board (“Can I explain this to someone in 30 seconds?”)
- The charter of the new role of ‘Head of Marketing Strategy and AI Transformation’ — to make sure the processes serve the business, not the people on the team – THEN automate the process
- What it’s like to go from the B2C world to the B2B SaaS world – and when to wear your ‘insider’ hat versus your ‘outsider’ hat
- A context-heavy interview approach that gets candidates to dig in and explain ‘This is where I can help you’
Notable Quotes:
- “There are SaaS companies that are fully powered by engineers that have been able to design very clever solutions but have not necessarily really understood their customer. It takes years for them to figure out product market fit. They’ve got something that sounds like an interesting idea, but they have to test it over a very long period of time. That modus operandi is extinct.”
- “Probably the biggest move I made is I put in a Director of Marketing Strategy and AI Transformation. The job spec is very much like a marketing engineer, and that person makes sure that for all the work streams that we have, there are processes built, and the processes are strong and the processes serve the business, not the people on the team. And once we know that the process is strong and it serves the business and not the team, THEN we automate it. And only then, because if you automate chaos, you’ll just get automated chaos. You’ll get more content, for example, if that’s what you’re trying to create, but it won’t be any good.”