Key takeaways:
- How can AI benefit marketing teams? AI can help scale operations and close the creativity-productivity gap while maintaining quality.
- What common issues do marketing teams face with AI? Simply adding AI tools won’t solve workflow problems; understanding team processes is key.
- What role does data play in personalized marketing? Valuable data can enhance customer segmentation and content creation using AI-driven insights.
- What is generative engine optimization (GEO)? GEO highlights the need for evolving content strategies to keep pace with AI and search engine dynamics.
- How should teams approach AI adoption? Conduct a workflow audit, invest in tailored solutions, and ensure quality control without sacrificing speed.
I’m a firm believer in AI as a powerful tool for marketers. At Wrike, I’ve seen firsthand how it can help marketing teams scale operations and close the creativity-productivity gap, without compromising on quality.
On August 15, MarketingProfs hosted its latest Friday Forums webinar, exploring how AI is reshaping the future of marketing — and the timing couldn’t have been better.
Marketing teams everywhere are experimenting with new technologies such as AI, but many are finding that simply adding tools doesn’t fix their underlying workflow issues. That’s because modern work is full of barriers that technology alone can’t remove.
The MarketingProfs webinar, sponsored by Wrike, dove into these issues and more with three engaging sessions from leaders across the industry. If you didn’t make it to the live session, here’s my quick overview.
‘Too Much Work, Not Enough Flow? Let AI Fix That’
Wrike took to the stage to give an overview of our AI vision, and how we’re using AI to scale creativity without chaos, combining intelligent workflows with human ingenuity.
Our very own Nancy Boas (AI and Platform Product Marketing) and Michael Mares (Digital Marketing and Data) cut straight to the problem every marketing team experiences: the endless busywork that doesn’t lead to meaningful progress.
Nancy and Michael shared insights from Wrike’s latest global AI research, highlighting what overwhelms marketing teams versus what leaders think the problems are. The gap was significant and explained why so many technology implementations fail to deliver results.
The talk gave insights into how Wrike is developing AI for marketing teams, from our MCP Server to our recently announced AI assistant, Wrike Copilot. There was also a sneak peek at our upcoming AI agent features, which I’m very excited about and can’t wait to share more on in the coming weeks.
The session’s overall message was clear: Simply adding AI tools won’t fix your workflow problems. But adapting these tools to your unique processes and exploring purpose-built AI agents that understand how work moves through your teams? That’s where the real transformation lies.
This talk is definitely worth tuning into, so I urge you to carve out 30 minutes to watch it and take inspiration back to your own marketing processes.
‘Supercharge Your Marketing Strategy With AI, Personalization, and Data’
At the webinar, we also heard from Zontee Hou, President and Chief Strategist at Media Volery, who shared top tips on how to identify the most valuable data to create a personalized marketing strategy powered by AI. She walked us through her battle-tested framework for auditing existing data and using AI to discover fresh insights to help improve customer segmentation.
Zontee also explored how to use marketing data with tools like ChatGPT, NotebookLM, and Gemini to create content that truly connects with audiences. This particular message resonated with me because Wrike has been taking a data-first approach in our recent pivot to a multiproduct strategy, as our CEO Tom Scott recently discussed. Our Datahub feature is a key part of this puzzle, helping teams turn customer data into actionable insights.
‘Understanding Generative Engine Optimization: Navigating Digital Visibility in the AI Era’
Finally, we heard from Janet Driscoll Miller, President and CEO of Marketing Mojo, who tackled the reality that content discovery is changing faster than most teams realize.
Her session introduced the concept of generative engine optimization (GEO) and explained why traditional SEO strategies need to evolve. Janet broke down the fundamental differences between how search engines and GenAI systems discover, interpret, and present content. She also shared best practices on how to structure content for AI processing while maintaining the quality and relevance that human audiences expect.
As more people move from Google to ChatGPT to research and make decisions, marketing teams must find new ways to craft (and measure) content for this evolving environment.
At Wrike, we remain committed to keeping humans at the heart of our AI innovation. As our CPO Alexey Korotich put it, “We don’t believe AI replaces people. We believe it amplifies what people do best, and helps organizations become more intelligent, adaptable, and outcome-driven.”
Key lessons for marketing leaders
I do hope you watch the webinar to discover new ways to eliminate barriers and improve workflows on your marketing team. In the meantime, here are some quick takeaways that can get you started on your AI journey today:
- Start with a workflow audit rather than simply shopping around for new technology.
- Invest in solutions that actually understand your team’s specific processes.
- Be brutal — say no to anything that prolongs decision delays, increases collaboration friction, or drains creative energy.
- Tweak your content strategy to incorporate how discovery and consumption are evolving with generative systems.
- Don’t get swept up in the AI hype — build guardrails that protect quality without compromising too much on speed or scale.
Eager to hear more stories from marketing leaders who are spearheading the use of AI to eliminate mundane tasks and focus on impactful work? Our annual Collaborate conference will take place next month. This year, we’re exploring how the power of human intelligence, augmented with artificial intelligence, can help you achieve more than you’ve ever believed possible. Register here to join us!
