Recently, I’ve had multiple opportunities to speak with college students preparing for careers in marketing. Often, after hearing me discuss the implications of AI for marketing, students have asked similar questions:
“I thought I was ready for marketing, but we haven’t studied AI. Do you have suggestions on what to read, and which skills are the most critical given AI’s impact on the industry?”
After sharing preferred resources, I emphasize one essential skill: we ALL must become outstanding at asking questions. For young professionals entering the workforce, this is primarily about becoming expert users of AI. For all of us, however, it’s about forcing ourselves to rethink EVERYTHING.
The BIG Questions
It cannot be overstated—AI will fundamentally change every aspect of our lives. Currently, the most critical questions business leaders should consider revolve around asset redeployment. I’ve recently heard executives and thought leaders, often quietly behind closed doors, acknowledge a reality we are not yet comfortable discussing on stages: AI is already, and increasingly, making certain jobs redundant.
As AI capabilities evolve from basic solutions to multi-modal platforms and ultimately to full agentic workflows, company leaders essentially face three options:
- Ignore AI and continue business as usual. The outcome here is predictable. Competitors utilizing AI will quickly dominate, benefiting enormously from efficiencies you’ve overlooked.
- Adopt AI broadly and “right size” your workforce. This scenario sees humans merely as redundant assets and expenses—a likely outcome for some organizations, unfortunately.
- Reimagine your business entirely for an AI-driven world. This approach demands great questions—many of them—and is what I currently advocate.
Asset Redeployment
To be clear, businesses selling consumables don’t need to stop making consumables. Instead, the focus is on optimizing existing assets. Both AI and people are assets. What could your business operations look like when these two assets work in harmony? Answering this question is challenging, yet exciting with the right mindset.
Consider the principles of How Brands Grow (HBG) by Byron Sharp. Let’s explore how your go-to-market assets (marketing, sales, media partnerships, etc) can best function in an AI-driven environment. According to HBG, brands should maximize mental and physical availability. Relevant questions include:
The easy answer to most questions is “yes.” The complexity lies in how. Therefore, ask: How can existing human assets use AI to maximize both mental and physical availability? Imagine the potential:
- Instead of 15 people repeatedly planning media buys, let AI optimize real-time campaigns for maximum reach. Humans can identify new, unconventional channels, explore influencer networks, or discover local events and media previously infeasible due to resource constraints.
- Instead of manually analyzing campaign, CRM, website, app, and loyalty data, let AI quickly convert raw data into actionable intelligence. Humans can focus on translating these insights into new products, target audiences, and consumer experiences.
- Instead of manual demand forecasting and inventory optimization, let AI-powered predictive models ensure optimal distribution and product availability. Humans can focus on negotiating more and improved distribution agreements and strengthening customer partnerships. In fact, I would think in terms of moving your sales resources fully inside your customers’ walls while AI works on their behalf “back at the ranch”.
In summary, here’s a good exercise. How many times have you had a conversation where someone says “if I only had more time, I would work on…..”? Start a list now! Every time something like this is said, put it on a list because WE ARE ALL GOING TO HAVE MORE TIME. Don’t waste it, put it to use because you and all your human workers are assets to be utilized!
Transparently Transforming Ourselves
When I say force yourself to rethink everything, it’s not merely advice—it’s our business strategy.
Anyone following Transparent Partners or me on LinkedIn recently will have seen several personnel announcements, driven by our commitment to reimagining our business in an AI-driven world.
For years, Transparent Partners has consulted for some of the world’s most respected brands, helping them build data strategies, optimize marketing technology, measure effectiveness, and transform their organizations. Moving forward, consulting remains core, but our mission expands significantly. Transparent Partners is now best described as a Services as a Solution company.
Beyond consulting, we offer professional services including analytics, ad operations, data management, campaign management, and governance. Additionally and importantly, we are building and providing AI-based marketing solutions. Are we a software company? A services company? Those distinctions are now largely irrelevant—hence, Services as a Solution. Our goal is to leverage unmatched domain expertise, deep understanding of client challenges, and rapid AI-driven solution development to unlock unprecedented value for our clients.
A Question of Agency
Ten years ago Transparent Partners began with a mission of bringing transparency to the media supply chain and to help brands through a wave of in-housing agency responsibilities. Today, we see a new wave emerging but it’s not just about placing roles internally or externally.
We believe brands should be asking once again what media and marketing model is most appropriate in an AI-driven environment. We believe for brands to thrive today, they need more than just strategies, they need agency – the power to chart their path, own their future, and drive growth. We believe in placing agency wherever it best belongs. We ourselves are not another agency, we are your transparent partners in stewardship of marketing investments. I’m beyond excited for our collective future together.
Aaron Fetters, Managing Partner, CEO
