Cutting Marketing is The Equivalent of “Maybe Next Year” For Cubs Fans
If you’ve ever been a Chicago sports fan, you know the pain.
Let me preface this post with the fact that I am VERY PRO-AI, and actually prefer to utilize it as much as possible. Let’s be real, it helped me organize my thoughts here. My intent is to debunk the misperception that native, out-of-the-box AI, can (or wants to) replace marketing teams today or into the future.
On with my rant…
Every year it’s the same story: “We’re rebuilding.” The roster gets gutted, the press release promises “fresh strategy,” and fans convince themselves that maybe - just maybe - next year’s the one.
Sound familiar? It should. Because right now, a lot of companies are doing the exact same thing with their marketing teams.
They’re “rebuilding” not because the team failed, but because someone decided that AI could do the job instead, or the revolving door of blame game is in full swing.
Here’s the truth: AI isn’t the team. It’s the playbook. And without a real marketer calling the plays, all you’ve got is a bunch of disconnected tools running vanity drills.
The result? Bottlenecks everywhere. Strategy stalls because no one knows what to prioritize. Execution lags because no one’s translating business goals into campaigns. Production freezes because everyone’s waiting on prompts instead of people. Reporting becomes guesswork. Metrics lose meaning. And forward growth? Benched indefinitely.
The people now “running marketing” in these scenarios usually fall into one of three buckets:
The technical builder who can code an AI agent but can’t tell a story.
The executive who’s suddenly wearing 12 hats and hoping for magic.
The salesperson who thinks marketing is just “top-of-funnel lead gen.”
None of them are wrong for trying, but let’s be honest, it’s like putting a relief pitcher in to play shortstop because “he’s athletic.”
AI isn’t replacing marketers. It’s amplifying the ones who know how to use it.
If you want efficiency, you need the human brain that designs the system, not just the system itself. You need marketers who understand context, timing, messaging, operations, and measurement. You need people who can make AI work smarter, not harder.
Otherwise, your marketing “rebuild” will look a lot like every Chicago season before and after 2016: a whole lot of hype and overpromising, some expensive tools, and a fanbase wondering why it’s taking so long to win again.
Don’t even get me started on the Bears - however, we look good right now!
Just to test my logic, I enlisted the help of an AI Agent…here’s what they said:
