AI is under-hyped. Now's your chance to lead from the front.

What an eventful two weeks it has been for the AI world. Lego got caught using GenerativeAI to create lego visuals for a web-based quiz. It makes you wonder what policies they had in place (if any) around the use of Generative AI. Nvidia revealed its latest chip at its developer conference , which was aptly named the Woodstock of AI. And an intriguing turn of events, Apple and Google engaged in a subtle dance of strategy around the AI table (and I mean that literally, their CEOs were photographed having a quiet dinner in Palo Alto). A lot is changing quickly.

If that was not all, Anthropic unveiled a new version of their large language model (Claude 3). Early tests point to it being better than GPT-4 at creative writing, coding and several other tasks. Its free version is also more feature packed than ChatGPT. I’ve been putting it through its paces and even the free version appears to be better than the paid version of GPT-4 that I subscribe to.

On the marketing front, there’s a noticeable caution in the air regarding AI; while companies have refrained from appointing Chief AI Marketing Officers—a potentially wise move — they also appear to lag in adapting their teams to the demands of this new era. Based on my conversations with marketers across the country, the cautiousness may reflect a nervousness on how to responsibly integrate AI without compromising company or customer confidentiality. Or it may reflect apathy which wouldn’t be good either. Regardless, there’s little time to waste.

Nation’s largest employer gets serious about AI

I never thought I would say this, but we have much to learn from the nation’s largest employer, the Federal Government. Yesterday, The White House announced rigorous "binding requirements " for the ethical use of artificial intelligence (AI). Key to this directive is the implementation of comprehensive safeguards against AI misuse, including thorough assessments of AI’s societal impacts and measures to prevent algorithmic discrimination, all to be in place by December 1, 2024.

To meet these requirements, federal agencies are directed to appoint Chief AI Officers and establish AI governance boards by May 27. These bodies are charged with the oversight of AI projects and the enforcement of ethical standards. Additionally, agencies are tasked with producing annual inventories that detail AI use cases, focusing on actions taken to address potential risks and protect public rights. View their current use cases here and below are three favorites:

• At airports, travelers can opt out of TSA facial recognition without delays or losing their place in line.
• In the Federal healthcare system, human oversight ensures AI supports critical diagnostic decisions and maintains equitable access.
• For AI in fraud detection within government services, human oversight reviews significant decisions, allowing individuals to address AI-related issues.

Furthermore, the Administration is committed to building AI competency within the federal workforce, targeting the recruitment of at least 100 AI professionals by this summer.

Now is the time to action your AI plans

Here are eight actions that leaders can take in a similar fashion to the Federal government. Answer the below questions on a 1-5 completion scale to determine where your team and you are on your journey to AI maturity. And if you’re brave enough, set dates for when you plan to improve your scores for each bullet point. I use the below as a framework with clients and it serves to ground the conversations in a meaningful way.

1. Talent Development: Begin with investing in upskilling programs to ensure your team possess the necessary knowledge and skills to harness the potential of AI. You owe it to your teams to setup them up for success in the AI Era. Engage HR in conversations around upskilling and consider external resources or training services to support this effort. These foundational steps will ensure that your team is able to implement AI effectively over the long term.
2. Function Specific AI Policies: Develop clear policies and procedures for incorporating AI into your marketing and customer experience efforts. This step also involves collaboration between your marketing, legal and technology functions to establish governance structures that are ethical, effective, and compliant with existing laws and guidelines. Keep in mind, these policies also need to be in harmony with corporate wide policies that may already be in place.
3. Stakeholder Protection Measures: Assess whether your organization has implemented effective measures to shield your customers, employees, partners, and shareholders from potential risks associated with AI, including algorithmic bias, deepfakes and privacy breaches. This too involves collaboration between your legal, risk management, and technology teams. Consider the level of transparency you offer about data utilization and whether you've updated your customer facing data and privacy policies to reflect the nuances of the AI Era.
4. Function Specific Use Cases: Identify and develop potential AI use cases within marketing or if you have an enterprise-wide role for each function. This step involves experimenting with AI and forming strategic partnerships to enhance your initiatives, guided by insights and best practices elsewhere in your industry. You can use the Federal government inventory of use cases as inspiration but more valuable than that will be encouraging each one of your employees to brainstorm how AI and specific AI tools can enhance their work. You’ll be surprised by what you may learn from them!
5. AI Procurement Policies: Establish procurement policies for acquiring AI technologies and engaging with third-party vendors and their solutions. This includes incorporating transparency requirements in Master Service Agreements (MSAs) and assessing the appropriateness of these policies to ensure they align with your organization's ethical standards and goals. It is important that you provide clear direction to both your teams and your agency partners on what tools they can use and how they should manage enterprise information in this context.
6. Progress Metrics and Assessment Frameworks: Define metrics and frameworks to evaluate the progress of AI integrations. Utilize methodologies like the innovation three horizons of growth framework to systematically assess and report on the effectiveness of AI initiatives, facilitating informed decisions about scaling and operationalization across product lines, business units and regions. Some of the efficiencies maybe behind the scenes only visible through a modern-day equivalent of time and motion studies while others maybe more obvious and visible in existing metrics (increase in email engagement with AI driven personalization for example).
7. Leadership and Organizational Structure: Instead of appointing a Chief AI Marketing Officer (I‘m dead set against this as I’ve discussed in the past), designate AI task-force leaders within each sub-function of your team to spearhead AI efforts. They’ll probably be able to do more and will be motivated to inspire and impress than if you were to hire a full-time AI Tzar. Also, with so much of the AI benefits realized behind the scenes, it is the operators in your teams that will probably have the most insight. That is, of course, only if you’ve done step 1. Establish a governance board to oversee these task forces, ensuring alignment and coordination across AI initiatives.
8. Executive Alignment on AI Strategy: C-suite collaboration on AI strategies, particularly between the CMO, CTO and CFO is extremely critical. The Wall Street Journal had a thoughtful piece on how CFOs are prioritizing GenAI investments but expect strong returns. The more executive alignment there is, the greater the opportunity to take advantage of this incredibly transformative technology. Otherwise, you’ll be left in the wings while your competitors leapfrog you. Are your AI marketing programs on the CTO’s roadmap? Do you both have alignment on tools and technologies to use? Are you sure?

I would welcome the opportunity to advise, educate or inspire your business and marketing teams on succeeding in the AI Era.?Email me ?to discuss further.

What comes next

I’m happy to be lecturing as part of Section’s AI Mini-MBA starting April 1. Join the cohort to master AI for your business in eight weeks (plus see me in action!). Use my discount code, SHIVMBA25, at checkout for 25% off either for this class or the next one.

Section which was founded by Scott Galloway and Greg Shove is the leading business school for mid-career professionals. Some of the faculty include Adam Atler (NYU Stern Professor of Marketing), Sahar Yousef, PhD (Cognitive Neuroscientist, BerkleyHass) Marcus Collins (University of Michigan, Professor of Marketing) and Nir Eyal (author of Hooked).

I’m also happy to share that I’ll be speaking at the ANA AI for Marketing Summit in Hollywood, Florida on April 9th, 2024 alongside several other thought leaders in the world of AI and Marketing. If you’re attending, be sure to reach out and say hi. I’d love to meet you.

Where I’ve been

Its been another busy few weeks between book writing, speaking engagements and advisory work. AI Trailblazers hosted an over-subscribed AI Trailblazers SXSW Dinner for 90 marketing, product and technology business leaders alongside AI visionaries, authors and startup founders in partnership with The New York Times. The evening was simultaneously inspiring, dynamic and entertaining thanks to the attendees, the quality of the conversations and the ambiance at The Well in Austin, Texas. Below are a few photographs and you can learn more here .

Over the course of the evening and alongside a featured interview with Zach Sewards, Editorial Director of A.I. Initiatives at The NYT, we also hosted an AI Showdown in partnership with Kite Scouting for which 100+ AI startups had applied. Congratulations to the winners, Atomo Health (1st place), TheWordsmith.ai (2nd place) and Rembrand - (3rd place).

We are planning something special for early June in New York city. If you’d like to partner around the initiative, drop me a note and I can share more offline.

What I’m reading

• The King is Dead. Claude 3 surpasses GPT-4 (Ars Technica)
• Here’s why AI search engines really can’t kill Google (The Verge)
• The Trust Shift - Rachel Botsman (BBC Audio)
• Financial Times tests an AI chatbot trained on own articles (The Verge)
• How People Are Really Using GenAI (Harvard Business Review)

Recent Savvy AI Articles

• From Moon Landings to Creative Renaissances (February 2024)
• Super Bowl Ads that matter in the AI Era (February 2024)
• Taylor Swift’s Fight beyond the Super Bowl (February 2024)
• People First in the AI Era (January 2024)
• Brace for Impact: GenAI's Role in 2024 (December 2023)

What I’m writing about this week

I'm in the process of writing my third book, centered on artificial intelligence in the realms of marketing. This week, I'm writing about Ethics & Privacy Considerations in an AI world. Stay tuned for further updates and insights from the book.