The Case for the Marketing AI Council: 7 Steps to Build and Scale Responsible AI Adoption

Implementing AI effectively goes beyond adopting tools; it requires a cultural shift, collective learning, and strong leadership. This is where a Marketing AI Council becomes invaluable—a cross-functional team of doers working collaboratively to shape, inspire, and implement a transformative vision for marketing.?

Whether you are an individual contributor, middle manager, or CMO, everyone has the opportunity to step up and lead through this transformation.

Leadership is not hierarchical, defined by a title or position. It's a quality we all carry, ready to be activated when we step up with purpose, vision, and impact. It exists within everyone, at every level, waiting to drive meaningful change.

While AI will become an integral part of every single one of our roles, someone has to step up, light the fire, and lead the transformation.

Think about your organization and your team. Who will step up and lead? If someone already has, trust me, this transformation is too big for anyone to lead alone. So join them. There were 35 people on our Marketing AI Council at VMware, for example. Raise your hand, and get involved.

What can you do to help?

This is way more about people, process, and leadership than tech.

Think about this: If not you, then who?

Note: The case for a Marketing AI Council and the seven steps to build and scale are inspired by the Marketing AI Council built at VMware in early 2023. It's important to note that this context directly relates to our experience and the experiences with other organizations I've come in contact with throughout the industry and my time at Jasper.

These aren't baseless theories or analyst speculations–this is lived experience.

While every organization is unique, there are emerging best practices and pitfalls for building an accountable, action-oriented leadership coalition to move teams through this new tech change.

For more on the origin story of VMware's Marketing AI Council, listen to Episode 1 of the AI Edge for Enterprise Marketers podcast: The Marketing AI Council Origin Story. Also availale on Spotify and Apple.

Marketing AI Councils are built with AI Champions. But why do you need an AI Champion and why a Marketing AI Council?

Because to inspire and lead change across a team, you need to:

• Build a shared vision for AI adoption. Champions should articulate a clear and compelling vision for AI implementation that aligns with organization goals.?
• Communicate the need for change. Effectively convey the urgency and benefits of embracing AI to stakeholders, addressing potential concerns.?
• Lead by example. Champion should demonstrate commitment to AI adoption through their own actions and behavior, inspiring others to follow.?
• Provide training and support. Ensure adequate resources and training are available to upskill employees and facilitate smooth AI integration.?
• Address concerns and resistance. Proactively identify and address potential resistance, providing reassurance and support to overcome barriers.?
• Create AI usage guidelines. AI Council Champions should create AI usage guidelines to ensure alignment with corporate policies related to brand, security, privacy, risk and ethics.?
• Identify use cases and lead pilots. AI Council Champions can serve as pilot leads, roll up results to senior leadership and executive sponsors, and scale successful use cases.?

These could also be the general roles of your AI Council–a frequent question from audiences. Though you don’t want to be too regimented with a roles or assignments chart. You want your grounds-up organization to define its own structure and give your emerging leaders a chance to lead.?

Worth noting, a Marketing AI Council (or whatever you name it) is very separate from the corporate, IT-led AI Councils that focus on enterprise governance in general, usually with an emphasis on product and code development. Arguably, every department should have its own functional AI task force. Be sure your Marketing AI Council includes critical partners such as IT, legal, security, etc. A representative of marketing should also have a seat on the corporate, IT-led AI Council.?

Here are the seven steps to build and scale a Marketing AI Council to position your organization for strategic and sustained success:

1. Build a Team of AI Enthusiasts?

The first step in forming an AI Council is to find those within your organization who are genuinely excited about AI. Look for the “hand raisers” eager to learn, experiment, and champion AI initiatives while balancing their daily responsibilities. These individuals will serve as sparks to ignite broader interest and engagement across your organization.?

Tips for Success:?

• Engage early: Host an informal coffee chat or brainstorming session with AI enthusiasts to gauge interest, build commitment, gather insights, and leverage their influence.?
• Include diverse perspectives: Aim for team members that represent different functions, regions, experiences, and viewpoints to ensure well-rounded input.
• Empower and support the team: Encourage contributors at all levels, especially junior team members. You might be surprised at the fresh ideas and enthusiasm of emerging leaders. Provide resources, training, and authority to enable the council to drive change effectively.?

A driven, cross-functional team with diverse perspectives and influence can champion change and overcome resistance to adoption.?

2. Establish the Foundation?

Once you’ve gathered your team, formalize the council with structure and purpose–including a name that fits the culture of your organization. Create a charter that outlines the group’s mission, values, and objectives.

Key Actions:?

• Define your purpose: Define a clear and compelling vision for AI adoption, aligning it with the organization's strategic objectives. What is your purpose? How will you accomplish it???
• Set governance: Decide on roles and responsibilities, but don’t be overly rigid. Flexibility allows team members to organically grow into leadership roles.?
• Prioritize and execute: Prioritize developing AI guidelines, use cases, leadership involvement and awareness, and keep building from there.

Your foundation is not just about organization—it’s about setting the tone for what the council aims to achieve.?Now you need to get others onboard with the mission.

3. Secure Executive Sponsorship?

To drive change, you’ll need a champion among senior leadership who supports and advocates for the council. This person becomes your executive sponsor, providing resources, visibility, and credibility to your initiatives.?

How to Gain Sponsorship:?

• Present the business case for a Marketing AI Council, focusing on how AI can improve efficiency, reduce costs, and create competitive advantages.?
• Show tangible results from early pilot projects or use cases, if possible.?
• Highlight how the council aligns with organizational goals, such as customer experience transformation or more effective marketing campaigns.?

A supportive executive sponsor acts as a conduit between your council and senior leadership, ensuring alignment and access to budget or tools.?

Key Responsibilities of an Executive Sponsor:?

• Advocate for the initiative: regularly promote and endorse the AI initiative in leadership meetings, town halls, and other forums to gain visibility and support.?
• Secure funding and resources: Leverage executive influence to secure budget allocation and access to necessary resources.?
• Align with organizational goals: Confirm the AI initiative aligns with and contributes to the organization’s overarching strategic objectives and priorities.?
• Facilitate cross-functional collaboration: Foster collaboration across different teams and departments by breaking down silos and promoting knowledge sharing.
• Provide strategic guidance: Offer insights and direction to steer the initiative towards achieving desired outcomes and maximizing impact.

It’s important to note that the executive sponsor can be multiple people at different levels at any given timeframes based on the progress of the Marketing AI Council’s work.?

Listen to Laura Heisman discuss the evolution of her role as our executive sponsor on our podcast, Episode 5: The CMO Perspective on Generative AI: With Laura Heisman, CMO of Dynatrace.

4. Define AI Usage Guidelines?

According to the Marketing AI Institute's 2024 State of Marketing AI report, only 34 percent of organizations have genAI policies, and only 36 percent have AI ethics policies or responsible AI principles.

Establishing clear but flexible guidelines will reinforce the responsible use of AI across your organization. Many organizations may have top level AI ethics or policies, but marketing should have their own guidelines that are even more specific about employee usage related to marketing production.?

Guidelines should empower team members, not restrict them, providing clarity on what’s acceptable and what’s not.?

What to Include:?

• Tool selection: Identify approved tools and encourage exploration of new ones.?
• Transparency and accountability: Ensure AI usage aligns with your organization’s ethics and values.?
• Examples for clarity: Don’t just say “No.” Provide alternatives. For example, instead of banning AI-generated text outright, specify how it can be used more responsibly (e.g., AI for idea generation vs. verbatim copy-pasting).?

The key is to encourage safer experimentation. Remember, guidelines will evolve as technology matures, so leave room for iteration, and plan to iterate often.?Then communicate and share every chance you get.

Better brakes make for faster acceleration. But we can't expect our teams to accelerate if they don't know how to drive.

Tips for Marketing AI Guidelines and Governance?

• Co-create with legal?
• Educate constantly?
• Iterate often?
• Have employees refresh brand training to better understand how to edit for brand tone and voice
• Establish access levels and admin responsibilities?
• Encourage team enablement and responsible experimentation

Jasper has a comprehensive AI policy template at jasper.ai/ethics. And I was promoting this template well before I worked here. Kudos to Meghan Keaney Anderson for writing these so quickly.

Even if you already have guidelines, Jasper's template is a valuable resource for comparison to see if your guidelines cover all categories listed there.

There's a great saying, "Better brakes make for faster acceleration." But we can't expect our teams to accelerate if they don't know how to drive.

5. Provide AI Literacy and Inspiration?

Ai literacy is foundational to the safe, effective, and ethical use of AI. For the fourth year in a row, the Marketing AI Institute’s 2024 State of Marketing AI report cites lack of education and training as the number one barrier to adoption.?

For AI adoption to succeed, it’s essential to build confidence and knowledge across your entire team—not just early adopters. Equip your council and organization with the tools they need to understand AI’s benefits and limitations.?

How to Build AI Literacy:?

• Host workshops and regular enablement sessions: Organize hands-on AI training sessions for your team, bring in external speakers, and have the Marketing AI Council members regularly present on various topics.?
• Promote experimentation: Encourage employees to safely experiment by providing access to tools, resources, and guidelines. Discuss learning and successes often.
• Create community: Foster a collaborative environment to share examples of what’s working, not working, and other results from within your organization.?

By fostering curiosity and openness, you can shift the organizational mindset and build momentum for widespread engagement with AI.?

Sample AI Enablement Sessions: ?

• Global watch party: Intro to AI for Marketers by the Marketing AI Institute (better yet, make this course part of your learning and development KPIs).?
• Fireside chat with an AI luminary or CMO + vendor leader?
• Legal, ethics, and AI, oh my!?
• Spotlight different AI systems and use cases?
• Vendor learning pathways and certifications?

6. Pilot New Use Cases?

To demonstrate AI’s tangible value, use pilot projects to test, learn, and refine AI’s role within your organization.?

How to Run a Pilot Project:?

• Choose your focus: Start with high-impact opportunities, like automating repetitive tasks, personalizing customer experiences, or improving lead scoring.?
• Identify the pilot team: Look for the hand raisers, and ensure everyone involved in the pilot understands the objectives, tools, and expected outcomes.?
• Measure success: Document your baseline metrics and pilot goals before starting the pilot. Then track results using the predefined metrics. Gather feedback often, and use these findings to refine your approach.?

Once you have measurable wins under your belt, you’ll be better positioned to gain buy-in from skeptics and scale further. The Marketing AI Council plays a crucial role in guiding the organization's AI journey, from identifying and testing pilot programs to scaling successful initiatives across the enterprise.

7. Scale and Expand?

When your pilot programs succeed, shift into expansion mode. This is why it's so important to track your baseline time, cost, and performance metrics. Without the baseline it's hard to show success for your pilot other than, "it works great." You need the before and after picture to show prove success and refine over time as you continue to scale.

Scale successful pilots and continue to identify new ones across teams or departments. Continue to push AI integration where it makes sense into everyday workflows.?

Every use case shared inspires another use case.

Tips for Scaling:?

• Make AI part of every meeting: Bring AI-based insights or results into team discussions to promote accessibility and familiarize everyone with its applications. Remember, every use case shared inspires another use case.?
• Host events and workshops: Create excitement through hackathons, demo days, or competitions that encourage creativity and experimentation.?Here's a sample agenda for a Marketing Leadership AI Summit designed to bring leaders together, promote AI literacy and opportunity, and identify high-impact use cases across teams.
• Address barriers: AI Champions play an important role in their function to overcome individual barriers to adoption based on their rapport and trust with team members.?

Scaling AI is about driving culture and change management. Inspiration and leadership must be supported both bottoms up, middle out, and top down within an organization.

And keep in mind this takes time. Utilization will ebb and flow. When individuals are stressed, it's easier to do things the way they've always done them–even if it takes more time. So give yourself and your teams some grace. But don't lose sight of the mission.

The Bottom Line??

Building a Marketing AI Council isn’t just about implementing tools; it’s about leading from within to drive innovative exploration, collaboration, and change. And it doesn’t have to be led by the CMO–it’s an opportunity for new leadership to emerge. Think of your council as a catalyst for transformation, helping your organization evolve with emerging technologies while staying anchored in responsible practices.?

Here's a recap of the seven steps:

1. Build a team of AI enthusiasts
2. Establish the foundation
3. Secure executive sponsorship
4. Define responsible AI guidelines
5. Provide AI literacy and inspiration
6. Pilot new use cases
7. Scale and expand

Don't overthink this. It shouldn't take six months to get approval to move forward.

To get started, start small. Bring your team together, foster excitement, and work collaboratively to create meaningful change.

Remember, you don’t need to be a data scientist or AI expert to lead this transformation—you just need the passion to spark it, and take action.

Everyone has an opportunity to lead.

If not you, then who?

Want more resources? Let me know. I am passionate about empowering marketers to step up and lead, advising organizations on how to build coalitions, and progressing teams through stagnation related to their Marketing AI Councils. Please feel free to contact me if you'd like another resource for you personally or for your organization.

Schedule a 30-minute complimentary consulting session here.