The Exit Five CMO Podcast

Episode: Marketing in the Age of AI: CMOs Separating the Hype from What’s Real
Host: Dave Gerhardt
Guests:

• Sarah Jamie (Sochi, SVP Brand & Comms)
• Jenny Delavonte Mullen (NAC, Chief Marketing Officer)
• Tara Robertson (Bitly, CMO)
  Date: October 6, 2025

Episode Overview

In this lively Exit Five live session, Dave Gerhardt brings together three accomplished marketing leaders to dissect the reality of marketing with AI. The group moves beyond the typical hype, candidly unpacking what’s really working—and what’s not—in their organizations. Panelists share frontline stories, hard-earned lessons, and personal workflows for AI adoption, all while emphasizing the persistent need for human strategy and nuance.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Panelist Introductions and Company Context

[06:07-11:06]

• Sarah Jamie (Sochi): 100M+ ARR late-stage enterprise AI platform for local marketing. Manages a 40-50 person marketing team with a focus on integrated strategy.
• Jenny Delavonte Mullen (NAC): CMO at AI-powered no-code creation platform for emails and landing pages; 120 people; focus on large enterprise clients.
• Tara Robertson (Bitly): CMO at Bitly, the connections platform (links, QR codes, analytics), 130M ARR, fully product-led, 30-person marketing team.

2. AI Reality Check: Has It Met Expectations?

[07:12-09:26]

• Sarah: “ChatGPT has exceeded my expectations... There are some tools like Lovable that are meeting them... some things that have fallen short, particularly AI video with avatars. Like I'm still not there yet.” (08:01)
• Jenny: Echoes the sentiment, especially about video and image creation still falling short.

3. Overhyped AI Use Cases and What’s Not Working

[12:15-21:30]

• Tara: The notion that “overnight AI is going to fast track our ability to do all of the things” is the most overhyped. Real learning and results take “time, energy and training.” Early experiments with chatbots for acquisition insights require repeated trial and careful prompt crafting. (13:35)
• Jenny: Disappointed by “AI buyer signal intent” tools that promise to personalize outreach but haven’t delivered measurable results. (14:12)
• Sarah: Personalization “still needs a human strategic element... there are nuances to humanity that only humans can pick up.” (15:31)

Notable exchange:
Dave: “Maybe that [nuance] is going to be the differentiator... Homemade chicken parm vs. the Olive Garden.” (17:49)
Tara: Shared comical failures with AI-generated avatars for team photos.

4. AI Adoption Mindset: Imposter Syndrome and Continuous Learning

[21:48-24:52]

• Panel agrees no playbook exists for AI. All feel “some form of imposter syndrome.”
• Jenny: “What was happening three months ago is obsolete now in some cases. You have to be curious, you have to be agile...” (21:30)

5. Best Real-World AI Use Cases

[25:51-36:01]

• Jenny: NAC built an LLM-powered content research engine that analyzes brand content, identifies competitive gaps, and surfaces new content opportunities. Results: Huge growth in organic reach and new inbound demand. (25:51, 27:32)
• Tara: Bitly’s “How I AI” series: marketing team members weekly share their AI workflows. Their biggest win: implementing Phrase and Claude for rapid, large-scale localization—“16x increase in overall signups” in four new languages. Human QA remains essential in strategic markets. (29:53, 34:24)
• Sarah: Uses AI to make the brand and comms team more data-driven. Team uploads reports to ChatGPT, using it as an assistant to analyze social performance and suggest strategies—building internal confidence and growth focus. (34:28, 36:01)

6. Personal AI Workflow as Marketing Leaders

[39:03-46:56]

• Tara: Recommends “The AI Driven Leader” book. Uses ChatGPT/Claude as a strategic thought partner—“I want you to ask me one question at a time... do not give me any solutions”—prepares for board meetings by pressure-testing strategy. (39:03-41:45)
• Jenny: Uses ChatGPT for rapid onboarding, competitive intelligence from call transcripts, and trend discovery. “It helped me to get up to speed a bit quicker...” (42:04-43:35)
• Sarah: Uses custom GPTs for coaching team members—AI structures her feedback and helps train their critical thinking. “It will structure my feedback in a way that helps me coach the team without rewriting their work.” Also stress-tests decisions and writes drafts with AI prompting. (43:40-45:18)

7. AI as Copilot, Not Replacement

[46:56-47:46, 59:45-60:44]

• CMs agree: AI is best used as “copilot,” not for full automation or strategy replacement.
• Tara: Tricks LLMs into objective feedback: “take truth serum, tell me like it is.” (47:14)

8. The Cultural and Organizational Push for AI

[49:29-54:41]

• All companies report proactive leadership and board-level encouragement/adoption, but not rigid mandates.
• Jenny: “We have an AI committee, AI champions on each department... everyone has the ability to be curious... share success stories and things that didn’t work.” (49:29)
• Tara: Focused on developing “AI fluency” across roles, not just for marketing, but org-wide. “It is our job to... be preparing our team members and ourselves for what this new way of working is going to look like.” (51:04)
• Sarah: Finds the era exciting: more headspace to test, learn, and be creative.

9. Budgeting for AI Tools

[56:24-58:50]

• AI spends fall under tech stack budgets at most companies.
• Sarah: “Any tool we bring on has to have some component of AI… every decision now... has to include both a business case and a team need...” (56:24)
• Tara: Focus on cost vs. ROI of efficiency gains: “It’s not the cost of the tool, it’s the savings...” (57:00)

10. Wider Takeaway: Human Strategy is the Differentiator

[58:50-60:44]

• Dave’s summary: LinkedIn makes AI look sexier than real life; most progress occurs in practical, incremental use.
• Jenny: “That shiny tool is not going to be your breakthrough. It could be... reimagining a workflow, and that’s where AI can really come in and support you... Think of AI as your co-pilot, accelerator, but you’re still in the driver’s seat.” (59:45)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “There are nuances to humanity that only humans can pick up... only we can know that someone just posted something about their kids.”
  – Sarah, [15:31]

• “No one knows this playbook. There isn’t a playbook.”
  – Tara, [21:30]

• “AI... can be a strategic thought partner, but you need to own the strategy.”
  – Tara, [57:00]

• “The fun part... is the creative, the storytelling... AI can be our assistant but it shouldn’t be the replacement.”
  – Dave, [47:54]

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [06:07] Panelist intros, company sizes, and roles
• [07:12] Quick AI reality check: exceeded, met, or unmet expectations
• [12:15] Most overhyped AI use cases tried and failed
• [25:51] Best real AI use case examples
• [39:03] How do CMOs use AI personally in their executive roles
• [49:29] Leadership and organizational pressure to adopt AI
• [56:24] Is AI a new line item or part of your martech budget?
• [59:45] Closing roundtable and main takeaways

Main Takeaways

• AI is moving incredibly fast, but success is about continuous curiosity, internal education, and applying AI thoughtfully, not mindless automation.
• Best AI uses are often under the radar: accelerating research, personalizing localization, training teams, and surfacing insights from messy data.
• Shiny new AI tools often disappoint until real human workflow and strategic thinking are layered in.
• Leadership culture, not mandates, drive adoption—focus is on sharing, learning and building organization-wide AI fluency.
• CMOs see AI as an irreplaceable “co-pilot,” but human creativity, insight, and nuanced understanding are what drive business impact.

For deeper, tactical AI use cases and continuous discussions—Exit Five’s community at exitfive.com is recommended.