Where Marketing Meets AI

AI isn’t just knocking on the door of marketing; it’s already in the room, with its shoes off and rearranging the furniture!

In the blink on eye, AI has shifted from being experimental to foundational and has become the operating system of modern business. According to a recent McKinsey survey, 78% of organisations now use AI in at least one business function, up from 55% just a year earlier¹, with marketing and sales among the most rapid adopters, indicating where value is cascading in real time². Yet for high-performing leaders; founders sprinting for scale, CMOs balancing efficiency with innovation, and senior management chasing renewed growth, the critical distinction isn’t whether you’re using AI, but which type you’re using and how strategically you deploy it.

The reason - not all AI is created equal, so understanding what type of AI you’re using (and how) is the difference between chasing hype and fuelling results that are faster, more agile, and with the clarity you need to make confident decisions.

For example, Generative AI gets the headlines, but Cognitive AI is where deeper competitive advantage is unlocked, especially when paired with Agentic AI, which turns strategy into autonomous execution.  It’s what separates tactical adoption from transformational results.

This is more than tech, it’s a new lens for how marketing systems are built, scaled, and made resilient.  We should no longer look at AI as a shiny tool, but rather as a growth lever, and just like with media, it only works when applied to the right problem.

1. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/quantumblack/our-insights/the-state-of-ai?utm_source=chatgpt.com

2. https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/business%20functions/quantumblack/our%20insights/the%20state%20of%20ai/2025/the-state-of-ai-how-organizations-are-rewiring-to-capture-value_final.pd?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Artificial intelligence has evolved into an interconnected ecosystem of capabilities rather than a single technology. At its foundation are large language models (LLMs), powerful deep-learning systems trained on vast datasets.

These models underpin today’s most visible AI categories:

• Generative AI, which creates new text, images, audio, and code;
• Cognitive AI, which applies reasoning and understanding to complex tasks;
• Agentic AI, which goes a step further by autonomously planning, deciding, and acting toward defined goals.

The diagram illustrates how these layers overlap and build on one another—highlighting that LLMs are not a separate silo but a core enabler across all three domains.

Most business leaders can point to ChatGPT, Claude, or Google Gemini, but under the hood, these belong to distinct “types” of AI. Knowing which does what and where it fits into your growth strategy, matters.

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