We’ve seen industry upheavals before: dotcom, social media, programmatic, in-house, now AI. With each wave, one truth continues to emerge: technology can replace tasks, but not leadership. When answers become cheap, thinking becomes unaffordable.
AI automates the doing – direction becomes the advantage
As expensive film gave way to free, limitless smartphone photography, images became plentiful and almost disposable. As the execution became effortless, the value shifted to the skills that remained in short supply: designing the image, shaping the story, making judgments, and capturing something authentic.
The number of photos has skyrocketed, yet people still hire photographers for essential moments like weddings. Not because they want more photos, but because they want more meaning. Great photography creates meaning, not images – and the same goes for marketing.
What AI commoditizes
- Speed.
- Data processing.
- Execution of tasks.
- Ideas on request.
What becomes valuable
- Choosing the right direction.
- Judgment and evaluation.
- Strategy, orchestration.
- Taste, originality, differentiation.
As AI automates the act, deciding what to do becomes both the bottleneck and the differentiator. With a good strategy, AI becomes an exponential advantage. With a bad strategy it will be an exponential failure.
In recent months, several clients have indicated that they chose our team because of our way of thinking. They spoke to multiple agencies, many of which offered similar AI services and sometimes race-to-the-bottom pricing, but we were the ones who made them think and think differently.
Dig deeper: AI can scale your brilliance – or your mediocrity. Here’s how to stay smart.
The question determines the outcome
Although it may seem counterintuitive, choosing the right question is more important than generating the right answer. A bad question answered perfectly with AI is still a bad outcome. The quality of thinking before the AI interaction determines the quality of the results that follow. In a world where AI generates abundant output, selecting inputs becomes increasingly important.
This reminds me of my training in creative problem solving. Clarifying the right problem is one of the highest leverage skills in strategy, leadership, marketing, and innovation work. It is also one of the most underrated.
The problem you choose determines your entire strategy. Problem definition dictates:
- What questions you ask.
- What data you collect.
- What solutions are possible.
- What skills you need.
- How to allocate budget.
- How to measure success.
For example, if you asked in the 1920s, “How do we breed faster horses?” it would have led to incremental improvements. However, if you ask, “How can we move people around the city faster?” it is said to have led to the invention of automobiles. Often the breakthrough is not a better solution. Another question is asked.
Why meaning, not output, is the human benefit
As AI becomes increasingly capable of generating endless variations of content, texts, images and experiences, it is tempting to assume that creativity itself will become automated. But what AI produces isn’t creativity, it’s pattern replication at scale.
Of course AI can generate options. But it cannot decide which ideas are courageous. You cannot feel when an insight is emotionally charged. It cannot understand the cultural tension that makes a message land strong or fall flat.
When execution becomes effortless, the creative act shifts from producing output to curating possibilities, shaping stories, and elevating ideas that stand out in a sea of sameness. Brands will need creatives who can go beyond what the model suggests, sense where a breakthrough lies, recognize when an idea is too safe or too familiar, and know how to infuse their work with the specificity and humanity that AI cannot invent.
AI doesn’t fully understand what it means to be human. As AI becomes more prevalent, certain fundamental strategic tasks will remain. This means defining the mission, negotiating human interests, creating culture, aligning stakeholders, building coalitions, and governing politics.
Dig deeper: AI can’t create meaning – that’s still marketing’s job
Direction is the scarce resource
Many fear that AI will replace human roles and make strategic work less relevant. The opposite is true. As AI accelerates execution, the pressure on leaders, teams and individuals to make smart, informed decisions increases dramatically.
We often talk about AI as if it replaces human cognition. In reality, it strengthens it. If you can think clearly, AI makes you more powerful. Not being able to think clearly magnifies the effects of poor judgment.
We are entering a world where:
- Critical thinking is a competitive skill.
- Judgment is a strategic asset.
- Strategy is a multiplier.
- Leadership is a differentiating factor.
- Original thinking becomes invaluable.
When the cost of producing answers drops to zero, the world competes on questions, choices and clarity. In that world, strategic thinking becomes the ultimate differentiator. Remember, you determine the direction. AI speeds it up.
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Contributing authors are invited to create content for MarTech and are chosen for their expertise and contribution to the martech community. Our contributors work under the supervision of the editors and contributions are checked for quality and relevance to our readers. MarTech is owned by Semrush. The contributor was not asked to make any direct or indirect mentions of it Semrush. The opinions they express are their own.
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