In today’s marketing environment, simply “experimenting” with AI is no longer enough to create meaningful impact. At the May 2026 MarTech Conference, Molly St. Louis (EM Marketing) led a discussion with industry leaders Greg Boone (Walk West), Peter Isaacson (Invoca), and Kate Roberts (Cella by Randstad Digital), who went beyond the usual buzzwords to focus on the real work required to operationalize AI.
Redefining the three stages of AI maturity
Shifting from basic prompt usage to true end-to-end automation can feel elusive. Isaacson outlined a practical model to help organizations understand where they stand:
- Content and discovery: Applying generative AI to search, ideation, and copywriting.
- Agentic synthesis: Creating autonomous agents that collect, interpret, and connect data.
- Workflow redesign: Re-architecting how work moves through the business using AI.
Although 46% of attendees indicated they are still primarily focused on content use cases, Isaacson argued that the real opportunity lies in the second stage. At Invoca, teams are going beyond off-the-shelf tools and are actively building agents that take on the heavy lifting of data synthesis.
Solving for the blank screen
When repetitive, low-value tasks pile up, creative energy can get buried under process and administration. Roberts emphasized that embedding AI into platforms like Jira and Workfront isn’t about replacing people — it’s about reclaiming time and focus. With AI-driven wireframing in Figma, teams can jump from a blank canvas to polished, client-ready prototypes in a matter of minutes. This kind of progress is accessible to any organization that starts by targeting its most pressing friction points. As Roberts noted, “Who’s not excited to get time back?”
Outcomes over…