Katie King - AI Strategy for Sales and Marketing: Connecting Marketing, Sales and Customer Experience

AI is going to change the sales and marketing landscape immeasurably. This well-researched and clearly written book makes sure you dont get left behind.

Tabitha Goldstaub, Chair, Government AI Council

Katie King gives a lucid and engaging account that is ideal for non-technical professionals working in this field, setting out how AI has rapidly developed into an essential component of effective marketing and communications.

Roger Taylor, Chair, Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation

AI is disrupting markets globally and raising critical questions about values and ethics in business. This book provides an incredibly useful and comprehensive survey of the current best thinking on the progress and application of artificial intelligence, especially within marcomms but more widely too. Katie King has created an invaluable reference work for anyone who wants to find out about AIs global progress in a single volume.

Dr Jeremy Silver, Chair, Catapult Network, CEO, Digital Catapult

AI poses the most fundamental structural challenges of our era. Many changes will be highly positive and will constitute a revolution in how the world works. This book by the worlds leading sales and marketing AI thinker, Katie King, sets out the opportunities and the pitfalls in the most comprehensive analysis I have ever seen. If youre thinking about the future, read this book.

Francis Ingham, Director General, PRCA, Chief Executive, ICCO

AI Strategy for Sales and Marketing captures todays world of data science and the essential skills for marketers to embrace new technologies. I recommend that marketers and influencers get a copy of this book and explore new ways to connect with consumers through AI. Think about creating new-age, augmented reality experiences with apps, curating numerous content with the power of AI, and so much more.

Loth Makuza, Co-Founder and President, Public Relations Society of Tanzania (PRST)

This book contains practical and actionable checklists for sales and marketing executives to align AI strategies with real business outcomes. Katie King has an engaging style that helps readers build a business case and roadmap for AI for all industries.

Peggy Tsai, Chief Data Officer, BigID

We have now entered the AI era with almost all industries expected to be impacted by AI marketing included but the reality is only a handful really understand what it means, how it works or how it can be applied. Is a must-read if you want to stay at the forefront of marketing technology.

Alvin Foo, Co-Founder, NASDEX

A fascinating read on the application of AI in business with two critical business functions. Its also interesting to read about creating responsible AI for future applications of the technology. An excellent and well-thought-out book well worth a solid read.

James Rees, Managing Director, Razorthorn

In this exhaustive book, Katie King captures trends of AI and their impact on automotive, retail, finance and other sectors. She explains how to not be threatened by AI but how to use it to your advantage. Anyone interested in the impact of AI should read this book.

Martin Musiol, Data Science Manager, IBM

The book binds how the sales and marketing teams can leverage the AI products being built. It covers how the economics of building these solutions look and how the personas can focus on the business impact. It gives a good overview of different industries working on their AI solutions and how they drive customer experience. One of my favourite sections in the book is driving AI success with trustworthy methods. A must-read for technical and business leaders in the AI space.

Aishwarya Srinivasan, AI and ML Innovation Leader, IBM

To Kath and Stan my loving, supportive parents. Dad fuelled my insatiable appetite for books during our regular trips to The Swap Shop in Tottenham; with copies of National Geographic magazine; and during our mind-blowing brainstorms with my sassy school friend Amanda Farrell.

Katie King is a leading business transformation consultant, with a consultancy career spanning 30 years. Katie is an accomplished keynote speaker and coach. She is a frequent commentator on BBC television and radio, and has delivered two TEDx presentations.

During her career, Katie has advised many of the worlds leading global brands including Virgin, NatWest, BT, Accenture, Huawei and many more. Katie is CEO of AI in Business, and founder of digital marketing agency Zoodikers.

She has an MBA and a degree in languages, as well as a Diploma in Marketing. Katie is married with two daughters, Scarlett and Chrissy, and now lives with her husband, Terry, in East Sussex.

Katies first book was published by Kogan Page in 2019: Using Artificial Intelligence in Marketing How to Harness AI and Maintain the Competitive Edge.

To my incredible, indispensable colleague Ashley Przybyla, who has worked tirelessly to help bring this book to life during a difficult year of lockdown.

To Kogan Page, for believing in me for a second time.

To the wonderful contributors to this book whose sage advice and necessary words of warning lend further credibility and global interest in my work.

To my English A level teachers, Mr Anthony McNamara and Mrs Mary Jeniec, who inspired me beyond words and gave me the confidence to write.

New business imperatives for tomorrows leaders

In this opening chapter, we will explore the much-anticipated dawn of a new era of technological optimism and innovation. We will reflect pragmatically on consumer need and desire for artificial intelligence (AI) services and products, as opposed to pure tech innovation. We will learn how, worldwide, the steady marathon pace has quickened into a sprint, encouraged by the rapid adoption of digital technology during the world-changing COVID-19 pandemic. We will compare different global AI strategies, reviewing progress across patents filed, and the funding available to business. We will also consider the impact of AI on the core business functions of marketing, sales and customer experience (CX) an analysis that will be carried through across all of the subsequent chapters.

In 2021, we witnessed and wondered at the dramatic role played by AI in accelerating life-saving COVID-19 vaccine development, and spawning widespread business improvements across digital payments and telemedicine. Up until that point, it was growing increasingly difficult for many to grasp the business impact of AI, given how underwhelming the hyped pace of innovation had actually been. This oft-cited adage seems more pertinent than ever: Most people overestimate what they can achieve in a year and underestimate what they can achieve in ten years (Farnam Street, 2019).

Driverless vehicle technology had promised much, but failed to deliver, while the malign impacts of social media, bound in data privacy and consent issues, severely damaged public opinion. Hailed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, AI had remained in the realm of science fiction for longer than many expected. Now in existence for over 75 years, it is yet to see true mainstream adoption. Over this period, AI has gloried in various cycles of excessive hype. Each of these phases was immediately followed by extended periods of disillusionment at enterprises worldwide: the so-called AI winters. However, a bright AI summer may be finally upon us, proving, as philosopher Plato taught us, that necessity is indeed the mother of invention. A number of crucial societal advancements, borne out of pandemic adversity, are clear indicators that the golden age of AI is finally beginning to surface. It is fascinating to note that innovation has always flourished during times of deep economic turmoil or prolonged world conflicts. A deep dive into the patents filed in the past 250 years reveals that the biggest surge in inventions came during the Great Depression.