Artificial intelligence is already well established, profoundly redefining business.
AI changes the ways of operating, recruiting and the prerogatives to remain competitive. This change is rapid, disruptive and unforgiving, and leaves businesses with no choice but to adapt, lest they be left behind.
But adaptation isn’t just about keeping your head above water, it’s about unlocking new growth levers, viewing AI as much more than just an automation tool. It’s a powerful catalyst for innovation that allows marketing teams to scale what works, explore new possibilities and reinvent the way brands interact with consumers. Used well, AI allows marketers to act with greater speed, precision and creativity, whether through personalized customer journeys, predictive analyzes or generative content.
Innovation, speed and scalability
For CMOs, the value of AI is clear. It’s not just about doing more with less, but also about doing better with more. Today’s most effective marketing teams use AI to:
- Automate content creation, optimize ad placement, and analyze performance data without significantly increasing headcount.
- Adapt campaigns in real time, instantly personalize messages at scale and respond at the speed of the market.
- Deliver hyper-relevant, data-driven interactions that build trust and drive conversions.
Rather than replacing marketers, AI allows them to think more strategically, act faster, and create more relevant and successful campaigns.
Financial Director vs. marketing director: where the tension rises
Despite these perspectives, the perception of AI is not the same for everyone.
For many financial directors, it is a factor of efficiency starting from a financial point of view (ROI, cost reduction etc.). Indeed, AI can accurately assess and direct leads, accurately forecast revenue, and reduce manual reporting tasks, resulting in immediate savings and increased margins in the long term.
But this way of thinking remains limited. When AI is seen solely as a cost-cutting tool, innovation stagnates. Marketers then hit a wall when they defend promising long-term initiatives.
Efficiency is only one facet of the added value of AI. It does not just replace human work, it redefines its role. Automation reduces manual processing, speeds up response time while making it more accurate, thereby strengthening customer loyalty. AI-powered analytics can reduce the time spent on reporting, enabling faster forecasting and smarter resource planning.
However, only 45% of consumers truly feel understood. This figure clearly shows that internal efficiency does not always translate into significant impact on customers. While 90% of companies say they offer real-time personalization, only 44% of their average engagement actually happens in real-time. Without alignment between finance and marketing teams, companies risk focusing on costs at the expense of creating relationships and missing out on a major opportunity.
The solution starts with a common AI-driven strategy
To unlock the full potential of AI, CFOs and CMOs must align, moving from the question “how can I save money with AI?” » to “how to improve efficiency to create long-term value?” “.
Marketers have a critical role to play in this transition. Today’s top performers don’t just promote new tools; They link AI investments to the business outcomes that finance leaders care about:
- Maximizing revenue and ROI: Showing how AI-powered personalization and automation increases conversions and customer lifetime value.
- Operational efficiencies: How AI reduces unnecessary spending through smarter ad placements and data-driven insights.
- Reduce risk: By explaining how AI helps reduce churn, optimize pricing strategies, and improve forecasting, benefiting both finance and marketing.
- Accelerated time to market: Showing how AI automation improves sales-marketing alignment, ensuring inbound leads are effectively qualified and engaged, which not only reduces costs but also drives growth.
For example, when Twilio and OpenAI collaborated to launch 1-800-ChatGPT, success relied on more than technology: it required rigorous coordination and a shared commitment to act quickly and learn as we go.
This is why a new job type has been created: marketing innovation manager. Its mission is to rethink marketing strategy through an AI lens, planning for the year ahead and identifying areas where it is important to develop, purchase and apply AI to achieve maximum impact. It also ensures that strategies are implemented throughout the organization.
The moment of change
Companies that make significant progress with AI aren’t trying to transform everything at once. They focus on a few high-impact areas, such as campaign production, budget allocation or forecast accuracy, where the application of AI can generate immediate and measurable gains.
This type of approach only works when leaders are aligned. Not just about vision, but also about day-to-day decisions: what are the priorities, where to invest and how to evaluate success. It’s not about having the most AI tools, but about knowing where they make the difference and putting in place a structure to act quickly and clearly.
Ultimately, the companies that win will not be the ones with the most AI. It will be those who knew what to do with it and who did it together.
