Insights

The AI-powered marketing revolution: A CMO's vision

Leslie Schultz, Chief Marketing Officer, UST

As a chief marketing officer in the B2B technology industry, I'm constantly thinking about the future and how to prepare for it. And right now, that future is undeniably intertwined with AI (Artificial Intelligence). If you're still questioning AI's relevance, you're unfortunately already behind.

Today, marketing, creative, analytics and experience have already been revolutionized by AI - just like the Internet (aka "digital") had transformed everything at the beginning of my career, It is continuing to transform brand strategy, engagement innovation, design and content creation, personalization, and overall efficiency. And this isn't a trend; it's a fundamental shift, reshaping how we understand and connect with audiences and execute marketing strategies.

Also, by fusing AI and automation to personalize experiences, we're achieving unprecedented results and unlocking new relevancy, efficiency, and creativity levels.

Let's take a closer look.

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Walking the talk: AI at the core of our marketing strategy

Our AI journey actually began years ago, and today, it powers every aspect of our marketing ecosystem at UST. For more than a decade, UST has been a trusted partner to our client, and we have deep expertise in AI and data science/engineering. As technologists with data at our core and our marketing team being analytics and digital-first, we built our marketing AI foundation early, enlisted the right tools and partners, and continually challenged ourselves to innovate quickly.

Whether through search intelligence, content generation, hyper-personalization, or predictive analytics, AI has enabled us to scale with precision and impact. Looking ahead, we see AI's role expanding into real-time marketing strategy execution, agentic AI-powered experiences, and deeper audience engagement.

This transformation is about more than just new tools—it's a fundamental shift in how we work. AI is our copilot in our every day, amplifying creativity, accelerating execution, and unlocking new opportunities for delivering insights and engagement,

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In creative intelligence and awareness

To truly grasp the customer journey, especially with creative intelligence, we must leverage AI. AI accelerates content creation through drafting, imagery, and brainstorming. For SEO, AI analyzes keywords and optimizes websites, boosting visibility. In social media, AI optimizes content and engagement. AI also provides predictive insights, enabling targeted messaging. Crucially, AI protects brands by detecting fraud and maximizing ROI. By harnessing AI across these touchpoints, we gain a deeper understanding of every customer interaction.

To fully realize AI’s potential, organizations must invest in understanding its applications. This shift is not just about efficiency—it’s a catalyst for innovation, redefining procurement practices for the future.

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In demand generation and operational efficiency

To supercharge demand and efficiency, we use AI to automate, personalize, and predict, making our marketing hyper-effective. AI dynamically personalizes content for relevant experiences and predicts user behavior. It also refines lead scoring and ABM by prioritizing high-value prospects. AI automates engagement and scheduling, streamlining prospect-sales interactions. We enhance events by predicting sentiment and personalizing attendee experiences. Finally, AI automates workflows and provides insights to optimize campaigns.

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In driving decisions and conversions

AI empowers our sales and marketing with instant insights for faster, smarter deal closing. Predictive analytics decode customer behavior and conversion patterns, enhancing decisions. AI-powered automation streamlines campaigns and operations, freeing teams for strategic work. By integrating AI, we gain real-time insights for optimized campaigns, maximum ROI, and deeper engagement, transforming customer journeys with advanced analytics and ABM to drive significant impact.

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Beyond the funnel: A circular approach to customer engagement

Traditional marketing funnels assume a linear path—but today's customer journey is anything but.

The funnel is a circle.

AI is helping us create an always-on approach where advocacy fuels awareness, and personalization strengthens relationships. With AI-driven insights, we can continuously nurture leads, optimize touchpoints, and create tailored experiences that keep clients engaged beyond the initial stages of our relationship and into the scaling and broad extension of our work across their enterprise. Advocacy, in turn, becomes a driver for new opportunities, making marketing an ongoing conversation rather than a one-time transaction.

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The data-driven imperative

For me, marketing has always been about data, but AI allows us to take that data-driven decision-making to the next level. With AI, we can unify siloed demographic and behavioral data, extract real-time insights, and create more personalized experiences. Our focus is on building an intelligent marketing ecosystem that dynamically adapts to intelligence and behavior, delivering hyper-relevant content at the right moment.

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Doing more with less: The self-funded transformation

Like many organizations, we face pressures to achieve more with fewer resources. AI has been the key to our self-funded transformation, helping us optimize marketing efforts without requiring significant budget increases. Whether it's automating content production and design, enhancing search intelligence, or improving account-based marketing (ABM) precision, AI enables us to scale impact efficiently. By leveraging AI across our marketing stack, we can test, iterate, and refine strategies at a previously unattainable speed.

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The human element of AI adoption

Adopting AI is not just about implementing new technology—it's more about transforming and optimizing people and processes. Our focus has been on upskilling our teams, providing them with the right tools, and fostering a culture of innovation. AI acts as a copilot, enhancing creativity and efficiency rather than replacing human intelligence. Our goal is to make AI a seamless enabler, allowing our teams to make more informed, intelligent decisions faster.

So, our commitment to ethical AI is paramount. We're focused on governance, risk management, and ensuring that AI is used to positively transform lives. This seamlessly aligns with our core values of humanity, humility, and integrity.

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Beyond the hype

Much like the Internet revolutionized marketing in the 1990s, AI is fundamentally changing the game today. The ability to process massive datasets, predict customer behavior, and automate content creation at scale is no longer futuristic—it's here. However, with AI-generated content flooding the market, differentiation is more critical than ever. We focus on using AI not just to create more content but to ensure it is authentic, high-quality, and hyper-relevant to our audience.

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The dream: One-to-one experiences

My dream is to create truly one-to-one experiences for each and every person who engages with us, giving them exactly what they need when they need it. I believe the best marketing isn't marketing at all – it's something incredibly useful we provide at the right time in their journey. With AI, this is becoming a reality. We're exploring dynamic content generation, personalized recommendations, and AI-driven journey orchestration.


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The road ahead: AI, personalization, and the future of B2B marketing

We're building a culture of continuous learning, ensuring that we stay nimble and responsive to the evolving landscape. AI is embedded in our DNA. We're experimenting, testing, and refining our approach to AI-powered marketing.

As we move forward, the key to success in AI-driven marketing lies in balancing automation with human creativity. AI will continue to evolve, enabling deeper personalization, real-time engagement, and smarter decision-making. The future of B2B marketing is about being agile, data-driven, and relentlessly customer-focused—and AI is the accelerator that will get us there.

The future belongs to those who leverage AI not just as a tool, but as a strategic enabler that can optimize and scale our incredible human ingenuity.

Stay tuned as we explore this new frontier and share more insights with you. In the meantime, if you'd like to see how AI could apply to your unique challenge or opportunity, try our https://ustnavigator.ai/