This quote – shared by Zach Hoogerland, senior director of marketing operations and analytics at Rubrik – at MOps-Apalooza sums up what it means to work in marketing operations today.
This year marked the third – and unfortunately final – edition of MOps-Apalooza (in its current form), a marketing operations conference organized by MarketingOps.com and members of the MO Pros community. Held in Anaheim, California, the event brought together nearly 500 in-person attendees and another 200 online, all eager to explore how technology, data and strategy can be optimized to drive business growth.
“For the first time in our annual research report, the most important measure of success for a marketing operations professional has now shifted from pipeline as a core metric and KPI to our ability to create operational capabilities and scalability,” said Mike Rizzo, CEO of MarketingOps.com.
Rizzo noted that MOps professionals are measured by their ability to enable go-to-market (GTM) teams to succeed – helping them drive ROI from their tech stack and execute efficiently at scale.
In other words, the role is less focused on producing immediate results and more on building the infrastructure that will promote sustainable growth.
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How AI will impact the field of marketing activities
As you might expect, AI was another recurring theme at the conference.
In the opening remarks, Audrey Harze, CMO at MarketingOps.com, noted that “AI is no longer the experiment; it is the expectation.” Rizzo added that we are entering an era where “technology is outpacing strategy.”
However, the work of marketing professionals is too nuanced to be replaced by AI. As Rizzo explained, AI can “see success stories,” but not the complexity behind them.
Marketing operations are a dynamic field, where success depends on several factors, including the industry, company size and technology you operate in, to name a few. Every organization has its own carefully configured systems and workflows that help achieve specific business goals. This high variability makes it
impossible for AI to fully replicate the role. Human judgment remains an invaluable part of the GTM process.
But AI can still be a vital asset if deployed properly. AJ Navarro, marketing operations manager at Sprout Social, reminded attendees that “AI doesn’t replace people – it replaces the processes that slow them down.”
Some teams are already using AI to streamline repetitive tasks like webinars, internal documentation, email automations, and marketing reports. Several speakers at MOps-Apalooza warned that relying on AI to create content or campaign strategies risks reducing effectiveness.
MOps professionals must therefore learn to provide effective directions, define clear guardrails, and strategically integrate AI to reduce boredom. That said, some tasks must remain in human hands to avoid sacrificing creativity and authenticity.
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More scale, but more noise
As technology advances and tools become more accessible, scalability increases, but so does noise. Nancy Chou, senior vice president of growth at Belkins, said cold outreach engagement rates dropped from 15% in 2018 to 7.5% in 2022 and are now just 3%.
This decline highlights the need for more unique, people-centered engagement strategies. Some speakers discussed optimizing outreach schedules and using AI to mimic human connection in nurturing relationships. But to do this, AI must be carefully trained to ensure brand voice, personalization and relevance remain intact.
There are still no precise metrics to measure how AI is perceived, and its effectiveness is only as strong as the quality of its input. As one speaker advised, “AI doesn’t have to be the answer to everything.”
So it may be necessary to implement out-of-the-box strategies. For example, Chou suggested integrating sales development representatives (SDRs) more closely into marketing and customer-facing efforts.
The divide and advocacy in the C-suite
Another recurring theme at MOps-Apalooza was the disconnect between the marketing teams and the C-suite. Executives often focus on results – pipeline growth, ROI, campaign performance – without recognizing the operational rigor and painstaking experimentation behind the scenes.
As one participant noted, “Leaders don’t need to know every process detail – they just need to see the impact.”
MOps professionals must therefore learn to translate their technical processes into business impact. Technology and automation are not ready-made solutions; Behind every workflow is deep strategic thinking, cross-functional collaboration and creative problem solving. Yet the work of marketing activities often goes unnoticed until something goes wrong. Recognizing and communicating this value is critical to supporting investments and driving evolution in this area.
For many, MOps-Apalooza was more than just a learning opportunity. It was a community moment. In a field where professionals often work with leaders who are not very operationally minded, it was refreshing to be surrounded by colleagues who truly understand and appreciate the complexity of the work.
Sharing knowledge in marketing activities is not something that can easily be learned from one book or lecture. It is dynamic and context dependent. Events like MOps-Apalooza allow professionals to exchange ideas, compare processes and bring new insights back to their organizations.
As AI accelerates, creativity and strategic thinking – the very qualities that define great MOps professionals – are becoming increasingly valuable. The consensus among attendees was clear: as technology advances, human insight becomes increasingly important.
Marketing activities are not just about managing systems and executing automations; it’s about translating business goals into actionable steps and creating clarity from chaos. It is a discipline that balances data, creativity and strategy to keep organizations running smoothly behind the scenes.
As Rizzo and Harze stated, “AI doesn’t change the game. MOps does. We don’t adopt the future. We design it. And this community does it together. We build the bridges every great company needs.”
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