I’m not talking about slapping ChatGPT into your marketing department and calling it innovation. I’m talking about a deep, culture-wide commitment to AI that transforms how you hire, train, communicate, and compete. And let me be blunt ... if your team isn't trained, your leadership isn’t invested, and your systems aren’t aligned … you’re building on sand.
According to the report, 60% of marketing leaders are already piloting or scaling AI inside their companies. That’s up 18 points from last year. Let that sink in ... while most industrial B2Bs are still debating AI in the boardroom, others are re-engineering entire workflows.
In fact, 74% say AI is either “critically important” or “very important” to their marketing strategy this year. The reason? Time. Efficiency. Scale. 82% of respondents said their #1 goal with AI is to reduce time spent on repetitive tasks. If you’re wondering why your competitors are moving faster ... that’s your answer.
But here's the real insight: this is no longer about tech adoption ... it’s about cultural transformation.
This part of the report should grab your attention ... if you’re a CEO, founder, or senior executive, it’s your wake-up call.
AI is already reshaping org charts. Quiet layoffs ... hiring freezes masked by return-to-office policies ... the memo from Shopify’s CEO mandating proof that a job can’t be done by AI before it's filled ... the message is loud and clear: If your company isn’t leveraging AI to streamline workflows, someone else’s is.
But here’s where I part ways with the doomsayers ... AI doesn’t have to gut your team. If done right, AI allows you to reimagine your team’s highest value. AI doesn’t replace people … it replaces tasks. What your people need now is leadership ... vision ... and training to evolve with the machines.
And that brings me to the most shocking stat in the whole report. 68% of marketers say they’re getting no AI training from their company. Read that again. Two-thirds are flying blind.
Worse yet, there’s a massive disconnect between leadership and staff. Just 49% of CEOs think training is a barrier to AI adoption ... compared to 62% of overall respondents. That’s a leadership gap you could drive a forklift through.
You want to build a resilient industrial brand? Close that gap. Create internal AI training programs. Partner with outside experts. Build an AI council. And above all, lead from the front. Your people can’t embrace what they don’t understand.
You might think, “We’re not a software company ... we make valves, gears, compressors.” Exactly. That’s your edge. Unlike massive enterprises with rigid legacy systems, mid-size industrials are nimble enough to pivot ... and that’s where AI pays off.
The data shows smaller companies are more likely to train employees in critical AI skills like prompting. Why? Because they don’t have to wade through 12 layers of bureaucracy. They move fast. They experiment. They learn.
So ask yourself ... what’s stopping your team from learning to use ChatGPT, Perplexity or Google's new NoteBookLM to write better emails, analyze customer data, or generate product descriptions? If the answer is “nothing,” then what are you waiting for?
This part is gold. The report reveals that 75% of companies still lack an AI roadmap. And those that do have one? They’re twice as likely to have training, policies, and an internal AI council in place.
An AI roadmap isn’t some fluffy PowerPoint. It’s a strategic framework for how your company evaluates, tests, deploys, and trains for AI. It’s the playbook for your future competitiveness. If you don't have one, your competitors will write it for you ... and you won’t like how the story ends.
Let’s address the elephant in the room. Over half of marketers surveyed ... 53% ... think more jobs will be eliminated than created by AI. That’s up from 40% just two years ago. The anxiety is real. But fear doesn't change outcomes. Action does.
I’m not naive ... I know AI will change how people work, and yes, some roles will vanish. But that’s not the end of the story. The winning companies will be the ones who take a human-first approach to AI. That means building a culture of curiosity. Training people to use the tools. Giving them a voice in how AI is implemented.
Because in the end, AI won’t replace your people. But a competitor using AI will.
If you’re reading this and you're the president, owner, or senior leader of a mid-size B2B industrial company, I have one question for you:
Is your company truly AI-ready ... or just watching from the sidelines?
AI is not a project. It’s not a plug-in. It’s a cultural transformation. And the longer you delay, the harder it gets to catch up.
So what are you going to do about it?
Want to know more, go to What We Do or Contact Me in the menu above. Or give me a call at 269-375-0349