Your team is using AI. Probably a lot of it. ChatGPT for emails, Claude for analysis, various tools for various tasks, real productivity gains happening. But are those gains adding up to strategic capability? Or could you still be stuck at the random acts of productivity stage of adoption?

How casual employee use of Chat GPT and other tools at work creates both significant risks and untapped opportunities that require strategic attention.

Shadow AI refers to employees using personal AI accounts for work tasks without official approval or oversight. The applications are typically straightforward - drafting emails, summarizing documents, basic research - but the scale and business implications are substantial.

When I started out in B2B media over 20 years ago, I was recruited to the ‘dark side’. I clearly recall a literal line on the office floor that marked the editorial department’s territory, past which the advertising sales team were never to cross…

Media has always had a historic separation of ‘church and state’, with advertising often perceived as a necessary evil for revenue generation. Interruptive online ad formats added to its woes, eventually raising audience annoyance, and decreasing impact for brands in equal measures. And poorly executed ‘advertorials’ earned early commercial content a somewhat tarnished reputation amongst journalists and readers alike.

I am about to reveal an uncomfortable truth. Over the very many years I’ve worked in content marketing, I have frequently heralded the increasing maturity of the discipline. As innovation and creativity has exploded in the space, smart technology has superpowered our ability to reach and engage audiences at a staggering scale. The number of industry award categories dedicated to success in the field is testament to the fact that it has earned its rightful place in the upper echelons of marketing prowess. And for good reason; focusing on providing value through education, entertainment or inspiration is both worthy and worth it (thanks L’Oreal). So, we can now rest assured that, unlike many forms of advertising, content earns us real engagement and loyalty from our previously ambivalent target audiences.

Right?

Sorry, wrong. Because here’s the truth; they still don’t really trust you. You’re a brand, and they know it.

‘It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent. It is the one most adaptable to change’

This quote, often wrongly attributed to Charles Darwin (albeit inspired by Origin of Species), was coined by business professor Leon C. Megginson in the 1960s. Has it ever been more apt for the business world today?

The turbulence of the last few years, months and even the last week is putting this adage to the test for the digital marketing industry at pace. Tough decisions around resourcing have had to be made, as almost everyone has been scrambling to fight fires and retain clients. At the same time, we also know that out of crisis can come innovation; we have already seen some clear winners emerge over this time.

At the weekend, I was speaking with a very talented son of a friend who graduated with a first degree in Creative Writing last year. Having recently entered the marketing agency world, he was after some career advice. It struck me what a radically different environment he was faced with at the beginning of his work journey compared to me and my contemporaries. The conversation was animated; from office culture to creativity to - of course - AI. It got me thinking about the huge paradigm shift that many agencies will need to tackle in 2024 regarding pricing models and principles.