As AI technologies increasingly permeate every facet of our lives, businesses are grappling with the transformative power of these tools, particularly in the realm of marketing. Generative AI — a subset of artificial intelligence that creates new content, insights, or predictions — shows promise for a wide range of marketing use cases, including creating dynamic content and having more personalized customer interactions.
But the introduction of AI, especially generative AI, inside an organization isn’t without its challenges. It raises strategic, ethical, and customer-centric concerns that organizations must address proactively. To navigate this complex landscape, Chief Marketing Officers are uniquely positioned to lead (or co-lead) the creation of AI councils that can provide the necessary guidance, oversight, and strategic alignment.
The case for CMO-led AI councils
AI councils are cross-functional groups tasked with evaluating, directing, and overseeing an organization’s adoption of AI. They play a critical role because implementing AI across multiple business functions requires careful coordination. AI councils allow leaders from different departments to align on strategy, share insights, and collaboratively establish policies. This helps make sure that AI projects are ethical, customer-centric, and strategically aligned. Effective AI councils also foster organization-wide buy-in and provide guidance as AI capabilities rapidly evolve.
Given that definition, you might argue that AI council leadership should sit with the Chief Technology Officer for their digital and data prowess. Or the CEO for their broad stewardship of the business. But we’d argue that the CMO is particularly well-positioned to lead these councils in the age of generative AI.
First, CMOs bring a deep understanding of customer behavior and needs. And after a decade or more of digital marketing transformation, many are experienced with data-driven decision making. CMOs can guide the AI council to focus on AI projects that enhance customer experience, leveraging their experience with using data for strategic decisions. The fact that modern marketing is highly data-driven implies that digital-first CMOs are often well-versed in guiding the use of AI, a fundamentally data-driven technology.
Further, the broad, cross-functional perspective that CMOs typically have is invaluable in an AI council, which needs to consider the impacts of AI across the entire organization. Moreover, their experience with technology adoption, particularly in the context of marketing, is beneficial for understanding the opportunities and challenges associated with implementing AI. Given the significant implications of AI usage on customer privacy, trust, and brand reputation, a CMO can make sure that AI initiatives align with the organization’s ethical guidelines and brand values. Their guidance can also foster innovative uses of AI that provide a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
Finally, although generative AI in particular promises a wide range of use cases across all areas of the business, its ability to generate human-like communications at speed and scale makes it ideal for near-term marketing applications. Marketing teams are often among the first business users of Gen AI tools. Marketing cloud providers like Salesforce, HubSpot, and Adobe are quickly embedding generative AI functionality into common martech suites. Looming shifts toward AI-based experiences in search, and the integration of generative AI into paid, owned, and earned media platforms will fundamentally change how marketers understand and engage with audiences.
In short, marketers are at the forefront of generative AI adoption in many organizations and can serve as standard-bearers as this technology gets onboarded into other areas of the business.
Three essential AI councils to guide your path
Let’s look at three different councils. Each serves a different purpose, and together they represent a comprehensive approach to strategic AI guidance.
- Cross-Functional AI Leadership Council
- AI Ethics Council
- AI Customer Council
Cross-functional AI leadership council
Generative AI is a game-changer not only for the marketing function but for the entire organization. Its potential applications span from supply chain management to HR, from customer service to strategic decision-making. Consequently, the adoption and integration of AI shouldn’t be confined to a single department but should be a cross-functional endeavor.
A cross-functional AI council is instrumental for several reasons. First, it ensures that the organization’s AI goals align with its broader business and marketing strategy. This council, composed of leaders and stakeholders across the organization including legal, compliance, IT security, and HR, can set the direction for AI initiatives, ensuring they support key objectives.
Second, it facilitates the sharing of insights and learnings across departments. The benefits and challenges of AI in one area can inform and prepare others, promoting a cohesive, informed approach to AI adoption.
Third, it fosters buy-in, trust, and commitment from all stakeholders. When leaders across functions are involved in the AI decision-making process, they’re more likely to support and champion AI initiatives within their teams.
As a CMO, you’re well-positioned to lead this council. You understand the strategic importance of AI, especially in driving customer engagement and business growth. Your role allows you to bridge the gap between different functions, fostering collaboration and alignment.
AI ethics council
The rapid commercialization of AI has ignited a crucial conversation about ethics. With generative AI, these ethical considerations become even more complex as the technology can create content that may be indistinguishable from human-generated content, harbor hidden biases, produce unchecked inaccuracies, and raise concerns around intellectual property.
An AI Ethics Council, composed of diverse experts from within and outside the organization, can provide the ethical compass that guides AI adoption. This council helps establish positions on the responsible and ethical acquisition and use of AI systems, making sure that all AI initiatives address issues like bias, transparency, and responsible content creation. External experts like academics, civil society advocates, and public interest technologists offer an outside view that can be essential for effective decision-making. Individuals representing diverse geographic, economic, racial, ethnic, and gender perspectives can help companies acknowledge, explore, and address explicit and hidden biases in data sets, AI systems, and approaches.
CMOs are ideally suited to lead the AI Ethics Council as they often grapple with ethical decisions in their roles, particularly around customer data and privacy. Furthermore, marketing is one of the most customer-facing functions in an organization, giving CMOs a deep understanding of the potential impacts of AI on consumers.
AI customer council
At its core, marketing revolves around the customer. AI initiatives, no matter how technologically advanced or strategically aligned, will falter if they fail to put the customer first. An AI Customer Council, made up of real consumers of the company’s products or services, can serve as a vital sounding board.
This council can provide feedback on how the company uses AI in consumer-facing marketing and communications, how the company uses data for personalization, and other decisions that impact customer relationships. Involving customers directly in your AI decision-making helps build trust by demonstrating a commitment to understanding user needs, priorities, acceptable uses, and (most importantly) concerns. With their finger on the pulse of the customer, CMOs can lead this council effectively, making sure the customer’s voice informs the use of human-centric AI systems.
The bottom line
Generative AI holds immense potential for marketing, yet its adoption is a journey filled with strategic, ethical, and customer-centric considerations. As a CMO, you’re uniquely positioned to lead this journey, championing the creation of AI councils that can guide your organization towards a future where AI isn’t just a tool, but a strategic asset that drives growth, fosters trust, and enhances customer relationships.
Looking to start an AI council but not sure where to start? We can help you assemble a new council and establish its charter, recruit outside members, and facilitate productive working sessions. Get in touch to discuss your needs and learn more about how we can help make AI councils part of your path to marketing AI maturity.
