One AI tool every marketer should be experimenting with right now

Summary

MarTech Podcast™ – Marketing + Technology = Business Growth

Episode: One AI tool every marketer should be experimenting with right now
Date: August 4, 2026
Host: Benjamin Shapiro
Guest: Brendan Ferdinand (Co-Founder and Chief Evangelist, Knack)

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Episode Overview

This episode focuses on the essential role of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in modern marketing workflows. Host Benjamin Shapiro interviews Brendan Ferdinand, who has advised over 100 enterprise marketing teams—like OpenAI, Google, Stripe, and AT&T—on leveraging AI for business growth. Together, they explore which AI tools marketers should experiment with, practical advice for operationalizing AI, and how to avoid being left behind in the rapid shift to automated workflows.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

AI in Enterprise Marketing (01:15–02:04)

• Brendan Ferdinand’s background advising large organizations on where AI delivers value and where it falls short.
• Importance of moving beyond superficial or "lightweight" usage to deeper AI integration.

The Lightning Round: Most Important AI Tool (02:04–02:54)

• Brendan Ferdinand emphasizes leveraging existing AI tools more deeply:
  • "The one tool you should be experimenting with is the tool you’re already using." (Brendan Ferdinand, 02:04)
  • 91% of marketing teams already using tools like ChatGPT, Claude, etc., but often only for basic tasks.
  • The real opportunity lies in embedding these tools into daily workflows, not just sporadic use.
  • Suggests iterative experimentation within your team and with your audience to optimize AI utility, using the metaphor:
    • "Figure out the right number of pickles to take out of the jar, right? Really important." (Brendan Ferdinand, 02:51)

Next-Level Integration: Building With AI (02:56–03:30)

• Benjamin Shapiro expands:
  • Recommends shifting from using AI merely as a search or answer engine to building personal workflow infrastructure.
  • Coding agents (like Claude code, Codex) are highlighted as transformative.
  • "Make the shift. Build your own infrastructure. Move away from using artificial intelligence like Google as an answer engine and start using it to build your own personal workflows. It is the future, and the sooner you get started, the less likely you are to be left behind." (Benjamin Shapiro, 02:58)
  • Warns marketers that early adoption is key to staying competitive.

Practical Takeaways (03:30–03:55)

• Both speakers agree: the marketers who deeply experiment and operationalize AI tools will create more effective, future-proof campaigns.

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Memorable Quotes and Moments

• On Experimenting with Familiar Tools:
  "The one tool you should be experimenting with is the tool you’re already using."
  — Brendan Ferdinand (02:04)

• On Workflow Integration:
  "Embedding those powerful tools into your workflow for how you go to market every day is so important." — Brendan Ferdinand (02:20)

• On Iterative Experimentation:
  "Allowing yourself to experiment with your audience so that you can figure out the right number of pickles to take out of the jar..."
  — Brendan Ferdinand (02:47)

• On Building for the Future:
  "Build your own infrastructure. Move away from using artificial intelligence like Google as an answer engine and start using it to build your own personal workflows. It is the future, and the sooner you get started, the less likely you are to be left behind." — Benjamin Shapiro (02:58)

• On the Consequences of Delay:
  "The sooner you get started, the less likely you are to be left behind." — Benjamin Shapiro (03:10)

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Noteworthy Timestamps

• 01:15 – Introduction of guest Brendan Ferdinand and his AI advisory background.
• 02:04 – Brendan: Choose and deeply use the AI tool you already have.
• 02:51 – Brendan’s "pickles out of the jar" metaphor for experimentation.
• 02:56–03:30 – Benjamin: Transition from answer engines to workflow automation.
• 03:30–03:55 – Hosts’ practical advice and call to experiment with AI today.

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Actionable Takeaways for Marketers

• Don’t just dabble in AI; integrate it fully into your daily practice.
• Maximize the utility of tools like ChatGPT and Claude by embedding them in end-to-end workflows.
• Start building your own AI-powered workflows to gain a competitive edge.
• Experiment iteratively—test, learn, and iterate with both your processes and audience engagement.
• Begin now; late adoption will make it harder to catch up in increasingly AI-native marketing landscapes.

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For more information, guest resources, and to connect with Brendan Ferdinand, check the episode's official show notes at martechpod.com.

Transcript

[Podcast Announcer]

The Martech Podcast is a proud member of the I Hear Everything Podcast Network. Looking to launch or scale your podcast, I Hear Everything delivers podcast production, growth and monetization solutions that transform your words into profit. Ready to give your brand a voice? Then visit iheareverything.com.

[Benjamin Shapiro]

From advertising to software as a service

[Brendan Ferdinand]

to data, across all of our programs

[Benjamin Shapiro]

and clients, we've seen a 55 to 65% open rate.

[Brendan Ferdinand]

Getting brands authentically integrated into content performs better than TV advertising.

[Benjamin Shapiro]

Typical lifespan of an article is about 24 to 36 hours. We're reaching out to the right person with the right message and a clear call to action.

[Brendan Ferdinand]

Then it's just a matter of timing.

[Podcast Announcer]

Welcome to the Martech Podcast, a member of the I Hear Everything Podcast network. In this podcast, you'll hear the stories of world class marketers that used technology to drive business results and achieve career success. Here's the host of the Martech Podcast, Benjamin Shapiro.

[Benjamin Shapiro]

I'm Benjamin Shapiro and today I'm talking with Brendan Ferdinand, the co founder and Chief Evangelist at Knack. Brendan spent the past year talking with more than 100 enterprise marketing teams including OpenAI, Google, Stripe, and AT&T, to understand where AI helps, where it breaks, and what separates companies experimenting with AI from the ones that are actually shipping better marketing. And today, Brendan's going to explain how marketing campaigns should function in the AI era. Brendan, I want to move on to our lightning round where I'm going to ask you a couple of questions about marketing ops and a little bit about your career and some other fun stuff. Are you ready?

[Brendan Ferdinand]

I am so ready.

[Benjamin Shapiro]

All right, here we go. What is the one AI tool every marketing team should be experimenting with right now?

[Brendan Ferdinand]

I think the one tool you should be experimenting with is the tool that you're already using. You're probably actually 91% of you are already using ChatGPT, you're using Claude, you're using, you know, whatever it is. You need to lean into that. If you're just asking ChatGPT a couple of questions every day about content or something, that's not enough, right? Embedding those powerful tools into your workflow for how you go to market every day is so important. And experimenting with that and allowing yourself to experiment with your audience so that you can figure out the right number of pickles to take out of the jar, right?

[Benjamin Shapiro]

Yep.

[Brendan Ferdinand]

Really important.

[Benjamin Shapiro]

You can't have too many pickles. As we've discussed previously, my answer is very similar to yours. Coding agents. Whether it is Claude code, whether it is codex, I don't grox new doesn't matter. Make the shift. Build your own infrastructure. Move away from using artificial intelligence like Google as an answer engine and start using it to build your own personal workflows. It is the future, and the sooner you get started, the less likely you are to be left behind. All right, that wraps up this episode of the Martech Podcast. Thanks to Brendan Ferdinand, the co founder and chief evangelist at Knack, for joining us. If you'd like to contact Brendan, you could find a link to his LinkedIn profile in our show notes or on martechpod.com or you could visit his company's website, which is knack.com k n a k.com if you haven't subscribed yet and you want a daily stream of marketing and technology knowledge in your podcast feed, hit the subscribe button in your podcast app. Or Visit us on YouTube and we'll be back in your feed every week. All right, that's it for today, but until next time, my advice is to just focus on keeping your customers happy. Foreign.

[Podcast Announcer]

Thanks for listening to the Martech Podcast and I hear everything. Production Looking to launch or scale a podcast like this one for your brand? Then visit iheareverything.com.