Company-wide AI adoption needs a flock leader. Marketing may already have the job.
Marketing has a few advantages here. It hears customer friction early, touches nearly every corner of the business, and has gotten pretty good at doing more with less. That makes it a natural proving ground for new ways of working, with a chance to test what works, prove the value, and give the rest of the company something worth scaling.
In this episode, Drew talks with Thalía Diedrick (GoTu), Allison Breeding (Direct Travel), and Lauren Boyman (KPMG US) about how marketing can lead company-wide AI adoption. Across three differently sized companies, they compare what sophisticated AI use looks like, how workflows start to change, and where build-versus-buy, governance, and training enter the picture. AI moves fast. Companies have people, processes, budgets, systems, and guardrails that take a little longer to turn. These marketers are figuring out how to bring the whole company along.
In This Episode:
- Thalía shows how GoTu built a bespoke AI project manager into the team’s daily workflow, helping marketing model a more AI-native way of working
- Allison shares how Direct Travel drives adoption through business-problem hackathons, a central owner for new ideas, and regular wins shared with leadership
- Lauren on how KPMG uses marketing as “client zero,” pushing beyond basic adoption to test AI approaches the wider business can learn from
Plus:
- How to make smarter AI build-versus-buy decisions
- How to scale AI experimentation without creating agent sprawl
- Why organic traffic can fall while buying intent rises in the AEO/GEO era
Listen in for how CMOs can lead company-wide AI adoption and turn experimentation into new ways of working.