The most pressing AI conversation among marketing leaders isn't about specific tools or prompts; it's an existential question about the future of the entire marketing function. They are being pushed by boards to redefine team structures and the purpose of marketing in an AI-driven world.

When AI automates the 'assembly line' of marketing execution (list building, coding), the marketer's role shifts from operator to strategist. They are liberated from low-value work to become 'brand governors' who define the strategy, voice, and soul of the brand for AI agents to follow.

The long-discussed alignment of sales and marketing is no longer optional; AI makes it mandatory. To effectively use AI insights for GTM, organizations must operate as a single, harmonious unit, possibly even merging the departments organizationally to ensure seamless, data-driven execution.

To modernize her team, Ally's CMO designed a new structure based on core capabilities (Insights, Execution, Creative, Measurement) rather than traditional functional silos. This model, benchmarked against other high-performing organizations, creates clearer ownership and a more effective workflow.

Stop thinking of sales, marketing, and support as separate functions with separate tools. AI agents are blurring these lines. A support interaction becomes a lead gen opportunity, and a marketing email can be sent by a 'sales' tool. Prepare for a unified go-to-market operational model.

Optimizing for AI is not a task for a single team. It requires a holistic, coordinated effort across brand, content, lead gen, and ABM teams to ensure all content is consumable by LLMs in a consistent and desirable way, preventing misinterpretation of the brand's narrative.

To maximize AI's impact, don't just find isolated use cases for content or demand gen teams. Instead, map a core process like a campaign workflow and apply AI to augment each stage, from strategy and creation to localization and measurement. AI is workflow-native, not function-native.

Shift from departments staffed with people to a single owner who directs AI agents, automations, and robotics to achieve outcomes. This structure maximizes leverage and efficiency, replacing the old model of "throwing bodies" at problems.

The future role of a marketer is not as a channel expert (e.g., search marketer) but as an orchestrator of AI systems. They will design the logic, goals, and audience strategy that AI agents execute. Core skills will shift from production tasks to taste, judgment, and narrative craft.