Artificial intelligence (AI) has gone from a novel concept to a major force in marketing in a remarkably short time. Before December 2021, AI was not a major part of the public debate, but the emergence of tools like ChatGPT has rapidly transformed its role. Today, AI is set to have a profound impact on marketing. The question remains: does AI live up to its promise, or is it more hype than substance?
At Social Samosa’s sixth edition of SAMMIES, a panel of experts shared their thoughts on “The Diffusion of Innovation: The AI Chapter,” providing valuable insights and sparking interest among advertising, marketing, and media professionals. To explore this, Rajiv Dingra, Founder and CEO, ReBid hosted a round table discussion. Speakers included:
Impact of AI on Marketing
“While AI is not a foolproof solution, you can start noticing improvements,” said Adityan Kayalakal. Sharing his insights on how AI is improving the navigation journey at Veera, he noted that while AI is improving the customer experience, there is still a need for refinement on the backend.
Additionally, Kayalakal also discussed the various roles AI is playing, especially in growth marketing. “Performance is one of those areas where you put art second and logic first.” Overall, “if you’re a traditional marketer, performance and growth can take up 95% of your time, even if it’s not 95% of your customer contributions,” he added.
Giving a perspective from a large enterprise, Sagar Shah highlighted how AI is being integrated into the marketing funnel, from copywriting and creative development to customer engagement and retention. Further, in response to a question about AI replacing human roles, Shah highlighted that the strength of AI lies in its speed and scalability. “The power of AI is speed and scalability. It can handle 500 campaigns in a matter of hours, which would take much longer with human resources. However, a blend of AI and human input is essential,” he added.
Understanding the role of human intervention
“AI will not replace hard work, but it can enhance it tenfold. It can fill skills gaps and turn good ideas into reality,” Kayalakal added. He emphasizes that AI is a tool that complements human effort rather than replacing it.
Shah therefore agreed with Kayalakal’s statement, telling the audience that “it’s not AI opposing humans, but AI working alongside humans. What you put into AI and how you use its output determines its effectiveness.”
After Shah’s response, Rajiv Dingra, the session’s chair, posed another question to the panelists. He asked them what they thought about the future developments of AI.
Kayalakal anticipated that advances would improve AI’s ability to handle human-like interactions, thereby improving the customer experience. “People prefer human voices over chatbots. AI that simulates human conversation will be smarter and more effective,” he noted.
Shah anticipated an increase in micro-segmentation and cost reduction as important trends. Dingra added that AI could help analyze marketing data that humans might miss, and that there could be a shift toward AI-driven agencies in the future. Kayalakal agreed, suggesting that AI could add more value than traditional agencies if it can generate more accurate marketing insights.
The Future of AI in Marketing
Going further, panelists were asked to share their perspectives on the future of AI in marketing and outline their key initiatives for the next 12 to 24 months, including:
While Shah said they plan to use AI to improve ROI and impact by optimizing customer acquisition costs and improving cross-selling and retention strategies, Kayalakal aims to run a Telegram community using AI and leverage it for educational purposes. Further, session chair Dingra shared how they plan to use AI to generate performance and digital marketing insights and provide recommendation information.
The panel emphasized that while AI is a significant force in marketing, its success depends on the synergy between technology and human insight. “If you provide enough quality data, AI can be a powerful tool for any team,” Dingra added.
