WRITING & PERSPECTIVE
Easier to produce. Harder to win.
AI / Growth / Commercial transformation
AI has lowered the cost of producing marketing, content and software. It hasn’t lowered the cost of earning attention, trust or durable growth. In some markets, it is making those things harder.
At Invisible Technologies, I helped build the brand and growth function in a company working with frontier AI developers. Today, I lead growth across marketing and sales at Humanforce. I’ve been writing about what these changes mean for businesses since early 2025. This is the original work, with the dates.
AI adoption is not an AI strategy · 14 March 2025
Agents will not disrupt all SaaS equally · 28 March 2025
Automating the next talent pipeline · 4 April 2025
PERSPECTIVE
Where I think the real changes are.
Six ideas, with dates and original sources. The argument has developed, but the underlying questions have remained fairly consistent.
01. Access to AI is not an AI strategy.
Buying the same tools as everyone else does not create an advantage. Capability comes from how the business uses them: the people, decisions, workflows and ownership around the technology.
First discussed: 14 MAR 2025 · LinkedIn
02. Not all software is equally exposed.
An agent that replaces a thin software layer is a different proposition from one that replaces an embedded system of record. Integration, compliance, permissions and switching costs still count.
First discussed: 28 MAR 2025 · LinkedIn
03. Automation can hollow out future leadership.
When junior work disappears, so can the experience that develops judgement. The answer is not to protect every task. It is to redesign how people learn and build the next generation of commercially capable operators.
First discussed: 04 APR 2025 · LinkedIn
04. The commercial system matters more than the tools.
Marketing, sales and customer growth cannot remain a sequence of disconnected handoffs. The real redesign is around customer intelligence, shared revenue ownership, integrated workflows and clear decisions.
First discussed: 03 SEP 2025 · Forbes Communications Council
05. The question is who captures the value.
AI adoption, model capability and economic ownership are different things. Data, infrastructure, expertise and distribution shape where the returns end up, for companies and for Australia.
JUL 2025 · AFR · NOV 2025 · Forbes Australia
06. More output does not mean more effective growth.
AI makes it easier to produce campaigns, content and software. It does not automatically make it easier to earn attention or preference. Positioning, commercial judgement and the quality of the system become more important.
MAR 2026 · Forbes Communications Council · APR 2026 · The CMO Show
HOW THE THINKING DEVELOPED
From the early articles to an operating model.
The questions started with software, talent and AI capability. Over time, they broadened into revenue ownership, the commercial operating model and who captures value.
MAR–APR 2025 · The first fault lines
AI adoption masquerading as strategy, uneven SaaS exposure and the talent pipeline.
AI strategy · SaaS exposure · Future marketing talent
JUL–OCT 2025 · From tools to business economics
How Australia captures value, why sales and marketing need a shared commercial operating system, and an operating-model reset on stage in Singapore.
Australian Financial Review · Commercial operating system · Singapore keynote
NOV–DEC 2025 · A clearer operating model
Scarce data and human expertise in Forbes Australia, followed by five operating rules for rebuilding marketing around systems and revenue accountability.
Who benefits next? · Five operating rules
MAR–MAY 2026 · The argument meets the work
Cheaper execution demands stronger judgement, teams built around outcomes and commercial accountability.
The CMO Show · xGrowth podcast · Sydney keynote
“AI doesn’t just change tasks, it changes the overall economics of business.”
The CMO Show · 2 APR 2026
SELECTED WRITING
In print.
Articles and essays on AI, commercial economics, software and organisational change.
03 SEP 2025 · FORBES COMMUNICATIONS COUNCIL
Marketing Must Own the B2B Commercial Operating System
Connecting data, revenue accountability and the customer lifecycle.
28 MAR 2025 · LINKEDIN
Agentic AI: Disrupting SaaS or a Race to the Bottom?
Easy-to-replace software layers versus mission-critical infrastructure.
04 APR 2025 · LINKEDIN
The Future of Marketing in the Age of AI
What happens when we automate the work that trains future leaders?
03 JUL 2025 · AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW
Reality Check for Blackbird: Australia Is Not an AI Leader
Leadership rhetoric and where economic value is created.
28 NOV 2025 · FORBES AUSTRALIA
AI Is Running Out of Data. So, Who Benefits Next?
Expertise and high-quality data in the next AI value chain.
01 DEC 2025 · FORBES COMMUNICATIONS COUNCIL
The Future of Marketing Is Operations
Five rules: run systems, design from zero, prove revenue, hire operators and automate or eliminate.
17 MAR 2026 · FORBES COMMUNICATIONS COUNCIL
The Marketing Inflection Point Nobody Can Delegate
Abundant execution raises the value of judgement and operating discipline.
TALKS & RESEARCH
Beyond the articles.
The same questions, on stage, in interviews and through research. A few of the best places to start.
08 OCT 2025 · KEYNOTE · SINGAPORE
B2B Marketing Leaders Forum
AI as an operating-model reset, with implications for teams, budgets and accountability.
16 OCT 2025 · RESEARCH CONTRIBUTION
ACAM / Adobe: Marketing Team of the Future
A contribution to research on future marketing skills and team design. Whitepaper authored by Douglas Nicol.
MAR 2026 · PODCAST · DENTSU B2B
Beyond the Index
AI maturity and the B2B journey with Lexie Walker and Jake Hird.
02 APR 2026 · PODCAST · THE CMO SHOW
How to Stay Sane in the AI Chaos
Frontier AI, business economics, growth and organisational change.
07 MAY 2026 · PODCAST · XGROWTH
How to Build a Marketing Team for the AI Era
Channel specialists, generalists, GTM engineering and accountability.
21 MAY 2026 · KEYNOTE · SYDNEY
The Future of Marketing Is Operations
A framework for budgets, tools, people and processes.
THE DATED ARCHIVE
Original work. Original dates.
Original articles, talks, interviews and research contributions. Dates reflect the original publication or event. Earlier writing is included for context.
23 FEB 2021 · LINKEDIN
Do you really need deep industry experience for marketing roles?
14 MAR 2025 · LINKEDIN
CEOs Showing Signs of Insecurity in AI Strategy
28 MAR 2025 · LINKEDIN
Agentic AI: Disrupting SaaS or a Race to the Bottom?
04 APR 2025 · LINKEDIN
Future of Marketing in the Age of AI: Bridging the Strategic Talent Gap
MAY 2025 · ADVISORY
ACAM advisory announcement
03 JUL 2025 · AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW
Reality Check for Blackbird: Australia Is Not an AI Leader
03 SEP 2025 · FORBES COMMUNICATIONS COUNCIL
Marketing Must Own the B2B Commercial Operating System
24 SEP 2025 · FORBES COMMUNICATIONS COUNCIL
The CMO-CRO Partnership Is Evolving
08 OCT 2025 · KEYNOTE · SINGAPORE
B2B Marketing Leaders Forum
16 OCT 2025 · RESEARCH CONTRIBUTION
ACAM / Adobe: Marketing Team of the Future
28 NOV 2025 · FORBES AUSTRALIA
AI Is Running Out of Data. So, Who Benefits Next?
01 DEC 2025 · FORBES COMMUNICATIONS COUNCIL
The Future of Marketing Is Operations: Why It’s Time to Start Over
17 MAR 2026 · FORBES COMMUNICATIONS COUNCIL
The Marketing Inflection Point Nobody Can Delegate
MAR 2026 · DENTSU B2B PODCAST
Beyond the Index: The Race to AI Maturity
02 APR 2026 · THE CMO SHOW
How to Stay Sane in the AI Chaos
07 MAY 2026 · XGROWTH PODCAST
How to Build a Marketing Team for the AI Era
21 MAY 2026 · KEYNOTE · SYDNEY
The Future of Marketing Is Operations
IN PRACTICE
The thinking has to survive contact with the business.
At Invisible Technologies, I helped build brand, growth and go-to-market in a fast-scaling AI business. At Humanforce, I lead commercial growth across marketing and sales. Different settings, similar questions: where to invest, which systems to change, and how to make the business work better.
Simplify before adding AI.
Design the workflow and ownership before automation.
Make the revenue connection.
Commercial accountability matters more than additional activity.
Protect human judgement.
Positioning, creativity, trust and leadership remain essential.
For editorial, speaking and advisory enquiries:
Get in touch · Connect on LinkedIn
Publishing notes
Forbes Australia editorial and Forbes Communications Council are different publishing channels. The ACAM whitepaper is a research contribution, not sole authorship. Some podcast descriptions are used where transcripts were unavailable.