The Combinatorics Nature of AI: Unlocking Potential Across Industries
Issue #27: How Focused AI Adoption Can Transform Marketing from Fragmented Functions to a Unified, Data-Driven Powerhouse
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is often described as a combinatorial technology, meaning its true power lies in how it combines with other technologies, data, and processes to create new possibilities. This combinatorics nature of AI has led to exponential growth in its capabilities, with no signs of diminishing returns. As AI continues to evolve, its applications are becoming more diverse and impactful, yet many industries are only beginning to scratch the surface of its potential.
One such industry is marketing, where the adoption of AI has been slow and fragmented. Despite the immense opportunities AI presents, marketing still struggles to find its value proposition and integrate AI into its core operations. The challenge lies in the overwhelming number of use cases and the general-purpose nature of AI, making it difficult for stakeholders to focus their efforts and invest confidently in specific areas.
Why Combinatorics Isn’t Translating to Marketing
In theory, AI’s combinatorial potential should be revolutionizing industries like marketing, where data, creativity, and strategy intersect. However, in practice, the vast array of possibilities can be paralyzing. Marketing is a complex, multifaceted field with numerous stakeholders—each with their own goals, tools, and data. This fragmentation has only deepened over the decades, as marketing has splintered into specialized areas such as media, PR, digital marketing, SEO, and more.
The challenge for marketing leaders today is not just to adopt AI but to do so in a way that integrates these disparate functions into a cohesive whole. AI’s general-purpose nature means it can be applied in countless ways, from automating ad placements to generating creative content, from analyzing consumer data to predicting trends. But without a clear focus or unified strategy, these efforts often remain isolated and fail to deliver the transformative impact AI promises.
Stephan Pretorius, CTO of WPP, highlighted this issue during his talk at NVIDIA GTC 2024. He explained how marketing has become increasingly fragmented, with CMOs often feeling like "glorified general contractors" managing a vast array of agencies, tools, and data across global markets. The arrival of AI has only added to this complexity, as marketers struggle to scale its use systematically across all functions and markets.
The Strategic Path Forward: Focus, Experimentation, and Scaling
To unlock AI’s full potential in marketing, companies need to develop a clear value proposition and a focused strategy. This begins with identifying specific areas where AI can deliver the most value—whether it’s in automating routine tasks, enhancing customer personalization, or improving the accuracy of marketing analytics. Once a focus area is identified, the next step is to experiment, using AI to test hypotheses, gather insights, and refine processes.
Over time, as these experiments yield results, the AI strategy can be scaled across other areas of the marketing function. This phased approach allows organizations to build confidence in AI’s capabilities, mitigate risks, and ensure that each new application is aligned with broader business goals. The ultimate objective is to integrate AI seamlessly into the marketing process, transforming it from a collection of siloed functions into a unified, AI-driven operating system.
Conclusion: AI’s Long Road to Full Adoption in Marketing
Even as the AI industry continues to innovate at an astonishing pace, other industries, like marketing, are just beginning to find their stride. The combinatorial nature of AI means its applications are vast and varied, but this also makes it challenging for organizations to know where to start and how to focus their efforts. As AI technology matures, marketing leaders must embrace a strategic approach—one that prioritizes focused experimentation and gradual scaling. Only then can they fully realize the transformative potential of AI, turning it from a buzzword into a true business driver.
Stephan Pretorius’s Vision for AI in Marketing
Stephan Pretorius of WPP offers a visionary approach to solving these challenges. WPP has been building an AI-driven operating system for marketing over the past three years, designed to address the very fragmentation that has hindered the industry. Their platform, WPP Open, is an agile, flexible marketing orchestration system powered by AI, enabling consistent execution across all markets and functions. By creating an integrated client workspace and embedding AI throughout the marketing process—both vertically and horizontally—WPP is setting a new standard for how AI can be systematically applied to create cohesive, effective marketing strategies at scale.