Making AI Happen in Your Org
By Adam Kleinberg
The Futureproof Project recently hosted two events that were all about embracing AI in the marketing world. The Project is an invite-only AI Marketing think tank of 100+ senior brand leaders, that’s been curated by Traction for the past year. Leading the charge at these events was Futureproof member, Sunil Subhedar, a growth marketing leader from Canva and Uber. The participants were senior execs from brands like PlayStation, Instacart, Google, Sambazon, Samsung, and more.
Driving Online AI Adoption
Our first event was a virtual gathering with marketing execs tuning in to hear Sunil's insights from his experience building cultures of innovation at Canva and Uber. He broke down his "Crawl, Walk, Run" strategy for integrating AI into your business:
Crawl:
Starting with off-the-shelf AI apps is an excellent initial step. Utilize these applications to boost internal operations and productivity. They offer a simple, automated way to explore AI's potential and ease your team's workload.
- Upside: Quick to deploy and user-friendly, these tools are perfect for introducing AI into your organization.
- Challenges: While beneficial, these applications come with limitations in control and potential security or privacy issues. Emphasize the importance of team training on usage and data sharing protocols.
Walk:
As you become more familiar with AI's applications, the next phase involves investing in tailored enterprise solutions. Utilize your internal data to refine AI outputs and adapt them to your brand's unique requirements.
- Upside: This approach offers enhanced control and allows for the incorporation of proprietary data, aligning more closely with your business objectives.
- Challenge: This phase requires a longer timeframe and a significant increase in resources, including investment in machine learning experts and infrastructure teams to manage extensive computing needs.
Run:
Upon mastering and future-proofing your systems, you're ready to launch sophisticated AI models for your customers. This stage positions your brand as a market leader and innovator.
- Upside: Achieve a major competitive advantage, elevate customer engagement, and establish your brand as a leader in innovation.
- Challenge: This advanced stage involves substantial financial and resource investments and carries a higher risk, particularly regarding user experience unpredictability. Be prepared with a crisis management strategy to proactively address potential issues.
Want to get your hands on the full scoop of what Sunil shared? Just , and we'll send over his complete presentation from this first event. It's packed with insights!
Event 2: The San Francisco AI Adoption Bootcamp Dinner
Now, for the second act: an in-person bootcamp dinner in San Francisco in the private room at Credo. This wasn't just a chit-chat dinner. It was about putting all those great ideas from the first event into real action!
The workshop started off with three rounds of rapid brainstorming around individual pain points, business and team efficiency opportunities, and envisioning potential end to end solutions. We then prioritized, shared findings and held a robust discussion about what it would take to implement. With representatives from numerous innovative companies, the workshop offered a unique chance to gain diverse insights and foster collaborative problem-solving.
Dinner Debrief:
Sunil summarized key takeaways from the events:
- 🚀 Strategic Organizational Design: To fully tap into AI's potential, it's crucial for leaders to allocate the right resources and embrace a culture of learning and experimentation. Dedicate time to cultivate influence across different specialties and position yourself as the catalyst for change.
- 🎯 Business Challenge Alignment: It's not about keeping up with AI trends, but rather pinpointing key business issues and assessing how AI can fit in strategically. Integration is key, not force-fitting technology where it doesn't belong.
- 🌟 Leadership through Learning: A commitment to regular engagement with AI tools provides leaders with the necessary perspective to guide their teams to breakthroughs and triumphs.
Does your org need a bootcamp?
Are you ready to redefine the future of marketing in your organization? We understand that integrating AI transcends technology; it's a journey that intertwines culture, strategy, and visionary leadership.
Introducing Our AI Bootcamps: A Game-Changer for Your Team
We're thrilled to unveil our exclusive series of AI bootcamps, tailor-made for forward-thinking brands. Hosted by The Futureproof Project, these sessions are not just workshops; they're catalysts for innovation.
Why Join Our Bootcamp?
- Learn from the Best: Our bootcamps feature a roster of esteemed experts, including the newest addition to our Liquid Workforce, Sunil, a renowned AI & Innovation Consultant.
- Hands-On Experience: Dive deep into practical, real-world applications of AI in marketing, shaping your team's approach to this transformative technology.
- Network with Peers: Engage with fellow marketing leaders from the Fortune 500 sphere, fostering connections and collaborations.
We are also hosting another bootcamp in NYC Thursday, 11/16 with Amit Shah, former president and CMO of 1-800-flowers and founder of AI Agent start-up, Instalily.ai—a strategic partner of Traction. We !
Our journey with The Futureproof Project's events has been nothing short of remarkable. We're not just talking about AI; our members are making it real for one another. And remember, whether you're keen to get more details from the first event or looking to join the Futureproof family, we're j.
Let's make AI work for us in the marketing world!
It’s no secret: e-commerce is driving a tsunami of change across the retail landscape.
Brands need to bridge the gap between technology and culture to keep pace with change. The emergence of AI will hit us like a tsunami in the coming years. The Culture Stack is the toolkit marketers will need to activate their data and penetrate culture.
Traction's Neil Cohen authored a blog post on how "The Pendulum Swings Back to Brand" in a prestigious Scandinavian trends journal, TID & Tendenser.