AI + You: Outsmart, Don't Outwork
- Stanton Willins
- Mar 25
- 2 min read
Automation is becoming a mainstay in customer engagement platforms—and for good reason. Brands are getting smarter about leveraging behavioral signals and psychographics. AI agents are being purpose-built for tasks like message management. And—perhaps most exciting of all—achieving true 1:1 personalization at scale is finally within reach.
Take our partner Braze, one of the leading customer engagement platforms. They continue to expand their AI-powered features, deepen integration with Shopify, and seamlessly add new data sources and outbound channels to streamline the marketer’s experience.
Adapt or Get Left Behind
As marketers, we have a choice: embrace these advancements or risk falling behind. You can lean into emerging technologies—or ignore them and hope it all blows over. But we’ve all seen how that story ends.
Consider Panera’s approach. By integrating an AI-powered decision engine, they developed a cross-channel, personalized campaign strategy to guide guests through their menu transformation. The results? A 5% lift in retention, double the loyalty offer redemptions, and 2X purchase conversions—all while reaching millions of customers with tailored messaging.
Contrast that with the brands still blasting out generic messages to broad segments, recycling outdated copy, and missing critical moments to connect. You know the ones. (We won’t name names.)
It's clear which approach wins—today and in the long run.
Let Automation Handle the Heavy Lifting
The real beauty of automation? It takes care of the repetitive, data-heavy tasks so you can focus on what truly matters. For example:
Let the tool draft your marketing copy—then refine the tone to match your brand.
Let the tool analyze A/B test results and choose the winning version—while you plan the next experiment to boost engagement.
Let the tool select the best product or channel—so you can craft fresh, compelling calls-to-action.
Double Down on Human Strengths
More automation doesn’t mean marketers are any less essential. On the contrary: the more intelligent the tools, the more crucial your creativity, strategy, and oversight become. That means:
Reviewing and refreshing legacy campaigns to stay relevant.
Monitoring AI decisions to ensure alignment with brand values.
Innovating new ways to connect with customers in a constantly evolving digital world.
With the right balance, automation and human insight can work together to scale personalization—without losing authenticity.
The Future Is Human + Machine
Marketing isn’t about choosing between AI and people. It’s about using the best of both to create smarter, more engaging experiences. So the question isn’t if you should embrace automation. It’s: How will you use it to elevate your impact?
