“Your 2026 AI Roadmap: What CMOs Need to Know Now” Webinar Q&A Follow Up

Read the post-event Q&A for insights on topics we couldn’t cover during the live session.
Watch the webinar on-demand here.

1. Are there out-of-the-box tools to automate campaign creation (such as the example Lisa shared) versus building it in house?

   
   

   Lisa:
   I haven’t seen a single platform that truly takes a campaign from idea to full execution. Nothing today will generate the brief, build the budget and strategy, shape the messaging and offer, define targeting, create all assets, and deploy everything across channels in one system. What I have seen are teams building highly automated, agent-based workflows. In these models, agents are given context and access to tools, make decisions based on the brief, develop messaging and targeting (including list building), create assets, and in some cases deploy them across digital channels. Humans remain in the loop for review and quality control. These systems are built by combining LLMs with automation tools like n8n, Zapier, Make.com, and Relevance AI. In that setup, marketing automation or ABX platforms become just one of the tools the agents use, rather than the end-to-end orchestration layer.

   Nicole:
   I agree with Lisa on no out-of-box tool I’d recommend. I’ve personally seen only the most advanced teams building out agentic work like Lisa is describing (often because of combo of technical and security guardrails). There are some doing it, but it’s far from the norm. A far larger number of teams are putting together workflows with stacked Custom GPTs, Gemini Gems, or Microsoft Copilot agents.




2. What do some of these AI-forward roles look like? What types of skills/traits do I look for?

   
   

   Lisa:
   These aren’t job titles—they’re ways of working that I want represented and developed across the organization. Within those archetypes, there are specific roles we are actively recruiting for here at 2X including:
   

   1. Prompting/Context Engineer
   2. AI Automation Specialist
   3. Database Engineer
   4. Workflow Architect
   5. AI Specialist to lead our AI Council

   
   These represent the AI-first roles required if the question is “who do we hire?”

   Nicole:
   For the skills question, I’d add this: look for adaptability over technical expertise.

   
   

   Key attributes and skills:

   
   

   1. Curiosity and an experimental mindset
   2. Self-directed learning
   3. Critical thinking
   4. Creativity
   5. Strong communication skills
   6. People management and delegation experience
   7. AI enthusiasm
   8. Fact-checking discipline



3. I’m challenged with my AI pilot taking longer than I wanted, and am worried it was too ambitious to begin with. How do I save face? What can I do to make sure my executives still believe in the power of AI in B2B marketing?

   
   

   Lisa:
   If your pilot involves a complex, hyperautomated workflow with multiple agents, and you realize the scope may be too ambitious, return to the original business or marketing goals tied to the pilot. Then break the workflow into building blocks.
   For example, if your pilot case is an overly complex workflow with several agents, you might launch X# of AI agents first, show the impact they are already delivering, and outline the remaining agents that will be built. As each new agent goes live, share the early results and how the combined system is accelerating progress toward the overarching business goal. Think of it like feature releases: define the minimum viable version of the workflow, ship it, communicate results, and then roll out additional “versions” as more agents come online. Always frame updates in the context of the original goal the pilot was meant to achieve.

   Nicole:
   I’d have a clear evaluation of what went well and what went wrong, and where tech has evolved since the original plan. (It has evolved for sure. Unless they started and executed the pilot today. Even since our call, we took a huge leap forward this afternoon!). Basically, show proof of learning and what you’d do differently next time.