Axios CEO Jim VandeHei argues that while costs for top reporting talent will rise, specialized media will become more profitable. This is because AI will drastically reduce all other operational costs—like distribution, marketing, and back-end technology—freeing up capital for core talent.

Early AI adoption focuses on productivity (e.g., writing copy faster). The next stage of maturity is using AI to directly impact revenue. For example, Canva uses AI to create and test 20% more ad variations, leading to more engaging, higher-converting campaigns that drive business results.

Focusing on AI for cost savings yields incremental gains. The transformative value comes from rethinking entire workflows to drive top-line growth. This is achieved by either delivering a service much faster or by expanding a high-touch service to a vastly larger audience ("do more").

Marketers win with AI not by making existing tasks faster, but by using it to unlock new growth opportunities. The focus should be on game-changing programs that drive revenue, rather than on simply achieving incremental efficiency gains.

Contrary to the popular belief that AI's main purpose is to replace humans for less money, user data shows its primary benefit is enabling entirely new functions. As AI costs rise, the focus will shift from simple cost-cutting to strategic investments in capabilities that were previously impossible.

C-suites are more motivated to adopt AI for revenue-generating "front office" activities (like investment analysis) than for cost-saving "back office" automation. The direct, tangible impact on making more money overcomes the organizational inertia that often stalls efficiency-focused technology deployments.

The key signal of AI's transformative power isn't just increased profitability from lower labor costs. It's the counterintuitive outcome of reducing headcount while simultaneously increasing top-line revenue, which shows AI is not just cutting costs but creating new value.

Contrary to fears of mass job replacement, businesses are primarily leveraging AI as a growth engine. Instead of simply cutting operational costs, firms are using AI-driven productivity gains to take on more clients, increase their scope of work, and capture greater market share, reframing the technology's impact as expansionary.

Top AI creators advise against using AI simply to reduce ad budgets. The real competitive advantage lies in reallocating savings to produce more ambitious concepts that were previously impossible, thereby out-innovating competitors who are merely focused on efficiency gains.