Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming how marketing and sales operate worldwide. Research by McKinsey shows that 42% of firms already use AI in these functions, and according to Salesforce, those that do are 1.3 times more likely to achieve revenue growth. However, AI in marketing and sales can feel like a lonely world where the industry operates without much guidance or established frameworks. While the speed of change outpaces our capacity to process innovation, perhaps it’s time to pause and reflect on this tremendous transformation AI is bringing to marketing practice, leadership, and education.

Is technology moving too fast for us to keep up?

Comparing to the speed of progress throughout human history, technology today moves at an unprecedented pace. British writer Matt Haig addresses this beautifully in The Comfort Book where he brings in the example of the invention of the personal watch, after which we became acutely aware of time passing and the speed of time. What once unfolded over decades or sometimes even centuries (for example, the adoption of electricity), now happens in the space of weeks or months (for instance, entire industries adapting to new AI tools like ChatGPT or Midjourney in a matter of weeks). The rhythm of innovation has shifted from seasonal to instantaneous. The problem is that the speed of technological advancement exceeds our cognitive capacity to process it; our minds are racing trying to make sense of a reality that evolves faster than we can understand.

“We are discovering that the acceleration of change is rendering even the most recent marketing strategy redundant at an unprecedented pace,” declares Mark Gardner, founder and creative director at Bristol-based OMG & OMG Health. “We are fortunate to be able to quickly pivot to take advantage of AI as an opportunity, but those that don’t will fall behind.”

So, for marketers, this has never felt more real. And the challenge is not merely to move faster, but to run smarter. This means we need to embrace AI as a creative partner, and grow our strategic agility to remain the so widely discussed ‘human in the loop’.

Can AI be creative in marketing?

If we want to remain the ‘human in the loop’, how about the most human of all things: creativity?

Marketing has always had an important creative side. Although creativity is required in many different levels (e.g. strategic creativity, analytical creativity, etc), it is most commonly associated with content creation and idea generation. Could we easily outsource it to Generative AI? Could AI even be creative in a “human” way?

The answer is not that straight forward. Given that GenAI tools are large language models (LLMs), they simply create outputs based on their training data, and I like to view it as a process of organising a logical mashup based on the large amount of data. It can indeed rapidly generate novel ideas, but it lacks human lived experiences and deep originality as beautifully discussed by Ethan Mollick in his book Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI. This takes us back to the idea of ‘human in the loop’ and the way creativity is changing into a process of co-creation and co-development together with GenAI tools. A key challenge for marketers then becomes to ensure that original content is truly original and not borrowed fragments of existing knowledge and ideas brought together in a new way. 

GenAI aids marketing and sales productivity, making mundane tasks faster and easier

Now, let’s move from human-AI creativity to human-AI productivity. GenAI helps marketers and sales teams work more efficiently by speeding up routine tasks and making everyday work easier. Will Penney, senior enterprise account manager at Panzura, an international software company, argues that GenAI is an excellent tool to help sales teams be more productive. "It’s giving [sales] reps the ability to prep faster, research deeper, and personalise more intelligently - all in less time.” Further to this, it helps salespeople be more prepared and aware of their clients’ needs: “AI sharpens commercial awareness, uncovers patterns across accounts, and arms you with strategic prompts before a meeting even starts. It doesn’t replace the human element - it enhances it.”

Marketing educators should dial up on AI skills development

What skills do marketers need to develop in order to reap the benefits AI has to offer? This question makes us turn to marketing education, which also calls for urgent incorporation of AI skills into marketing curriculum. A recent article in Times Higher Education highlights key skills for marketers, including AI literacy, AI-enabled content creation, AI-powered market research, effective prompting and AI ethics. This call is beyond timely as according to Microsoft, 71% of surveyed businesses report that they would prefer to hire a less experienced candidate who possesses AI skills over a more experienced candidate who lacks them. This is echoed in the experiences of marketing professionals. “AI skills have become the cornerstone of our team training as we embed more AI workflows into daily tasks,” says Jenny Clarke, digital marketing director at Bristol-based marketing agency, Bright Sprout. As an agency, they had to adapt very quickly to changes that only 12 months ago were not there. “AI has shifted the landscape of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC) and social media, bringing both new challenges and opportunities for brands to be found online.”

I personally engage with AI every day – whether it is to read the latest insight, research or opinion piece or to look into a new AI tool or capability. I have 30 minutes a week scheduled in my calendar to what I call ‘AI upskilling’ and I spend it deepening my AI intelligence. For me, as a marketer and a marketing educator, this is the best way to stay on top of this fast-evolving topic and ensure I pass on the necessary knowledge and skills to my students and other marketers.

Conclusion

AI is revolutionising marketing and sales to the point that these functions and the competences required to succeed in them will be significantly transformed. As Mu and Zhang (2025) discuss in their recent research paper in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, AI is both a problem-solving toolkit and a transformative force. It transforms how value is created, how customers are understood, and how competitive advantage is sustained. 

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