The AI Marketing Companion

Hosted by Sandy Carter

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355

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Jun 2026

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About the show

The AI Marketing Companion, hosted by Sandy Carter, is the world's most entertaining marketing podcast. Sandy is a bestselling author of "AI First, Human Always," a Forbes Top 150 contributor, and a keynote speaker at Davos, CES, SXSW, and the United Nations. She took the mic in January 2026 from founding host Mark Schaefer, carrying forward 13 years of laugh-out-loud conversation, surprise guests, and sharp insight. New episodes dig into AI, agentic commerce, and the future of digital business, always fun, always interesting, always ready to turn your marketing intellect up to 11

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June 9, 2026Episode 34232 min

AI Slop Or Original Thinking?

AI has solved one of marketing's oldest problems: creating content at scale. Now it may be creating a new one. In this episode of The AI Marketing Companion, Sandy Carter welcomes Simon Davis, Co-Founder and CEO of wearemighty, to discuss the growing challenge of maintaining originality in an era of unlimited AI-generated content. Simon shares how a request for 25 million branded assets led his team to discover a critical flaw in many AI workflows: content scales faster than brand consistency. That insight ultimately led to the creation of SecretSauce, a platform designed to help organizations preserve their identity across millions of assets. Together, Sandy and Simon explore the rise of AI slop, the hidden costs of brand drift, the future of agent-driven marketing, and why the most successful brands of the next decade may be those that remain unmistakably human. Whether you're leading a marketing team, building a brand, or experimenting with AI, this episode offers practical insights into the future of creativity, differentiation, and trust. Key Topics: AI slop versus original thinking The hidden costs of unlimited content Brand drift and consistency at scale Marketing agents and autonomous publishing Teaching AI to understand a brand Why originality matters more than ever Subscribe to The AI Marketing Companion for conversations at the intersection of marketing, technology, and the future of business.

May 27, 2026Episode 34128 min

Will AI Take My Job? Insights from a Mother-Daughter Conversation

Will AI take your marketing job? That's exactly what this conversation explores. In this mother-daughter discussion, we talk about how AI is changing marketing, creativity, and the future of work. Instead of fear, we focus on understanding how AI can actually help marketers think better, move faster, and create smarter. We discuss: • How AI is transforming marketing jobs • Why AI should be used as a system, not just a shortcut • The difference between automation and creativity • How marketers can stay valuable in the AI era • The danger of relying too heavily on AI • Practical ways to use AI without losing your human touch One of the biggest takeaways from this conversation is simple: AI may speed things up, but creativity, storytelling, emotion, and critical thinking still belong to humans. If you're a marketer, creator, business owner, student, or simply curious about the future of AI, this conversation will give you a realistic perspective on where things are heading. #AI #Marketing #ArtificialIntelligence #AIInMarketing #DigitalMarketing #FutureOfWork #MarketingCareer #Creativity #AITools #BusinessGrowth

May 13, 2026Episode 34024 min

The 5 Must-Know AI Lessons for Marketers

Described AI is changing marketing faster than any technology shift we've seen before. The question is no longer whether marketers should use AI. The question is who will use it well enough to win. In just 30 minutes, you'll learn the five AI First lessons every marketer needs right now to stay relevant, drive measurable business outcomes, and lead in a world where agents, automation, and intelligent systems are becoming part of every campaign and customer interaction. We'll cover why some companies are seeing massive gains from AI while others are stuck in endless pilots. How to identify the AI use cases that actually increase revenue, productivity, and customer engagement. What skills marketers need to develop now as AI reshapes content creation, search, personalization, analytics, and decision-making. And where human creativity, trust, emotional intelligence, and strategic thinking become even more valuable in an AI-driven world. You'll also hear the biggest myths holding teams back, the hidden risks leaders often miss when they automate too aggressively, and practical ways to use AI today without losing your brand voice, your customer trust, or your competitive edge. Whether you're a CMO, founder, strategist, creator, or marketing leader, this session will give you practical insights, real-world examples, and a clearer roadmap for what comes next. AI First, Human Always. AI is the accelerant. You are still the advantage.

April 28, 2026Episode 33933 min

DaVinci And OpenAI Shipped Agentic Commerce

Everyone is talking about agentic commerce. DaVinci and OpenAI just shipped it. Sandy Carter sits down with Diaz Nesamoney to unpack what the news means for marketers who are still chasing clicks while the storefront moves into ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude. Diaz breaks down the brand control crisis, the content architecture overhaul every CMO needs this quarter, and the zero-party intent data hiding inside conversational commerce. Sandy closes with four lessons every marketing leader needs from the DaVinci Commerce announcement, including why brand control is now a technical problem, why OpenClaw changes the path to purchase, and why optimizing for AI agents matters more than optimizing for audiences. If you lead marketing at an enterprise and you are still running agentic commerce as a pilot, this episode is your wake-up call.

April 14, 2026Episode 33839 min

Lilypath's Dan Nestle on LinkedIn as AI Branding For You!

Dan Nestle, founder of Lilypath, joins Sandy Carter on The Marketing Companion to unpack a shift most professionals have not noticed yet. AI systems are now interpreting, ranking, and recommending people before any human ever clicks a profile. Dan calls this Authority Intelligence, a new category he built Lilypath to define. Inside the episode, Dan and Sandy cover the Gemini Deep Research moment that exposed how badly AI can misread a real expert, why LinkedIn has quietly become the number one cited domain for professional queries across six major AI platforms (per Profound, LinkedIn, and Semrush data), and what "broken" looks like when your authority signal is off: silent inboxes, irrelevant pitches, recruiters missing you, RFPs going to competitors, and a stranger suddenly getting credit for ideas you have championed for years. Dan also shares the one concrete action every senior leader should take this week to fix how AI reads them, plus a Lilypath discount for listeners. Use code COMPANION20 at checkout. Brought to you by Semrush, the platform powering the search and AI visibility data behind this conversation, and Brevo, the all-in-one CRM and marketing platform helping growing teams turn authority into pipeline. 00:00:05 - Welcome and Sponsor Mentions 00:00:54 - Guest Introduction: Dan's Early Career in Japan 00:01:57 - Dan's Career Evolution and the Founding of Lily Path 00:05:47 - Introducing Lily Path and Authority Intelligence 00:07:23 - The Genesis of Lily Path: Optimizing for AI Interpretation 00:12:42 - The New Era: Domain Knowledge vs. Coding with AI 00:16:06 - Authority Intelligence: Taking Control of Your AI Narrative 00:21:23 - LinkedIn's Evolved Role as AI's Professional Truth Source 00:27:17 - Maintaining Human Relevance & Actionable Steps for Professionals 00:36:06 - Special Offer, Conclusion, and Contact Information

March 31, 2026Episode 33750 min

The Director Behind the World's First AI Film at Tribeca Has a Message for Every Marketer

If your ads are being skipped, your emails are going unread, and your campaigns are blending into the noise, this episode is your wake-up call. What do Disney, a pool full of sprinkles, the United Nations, and the world's first AI film at Tribeca Film Festival have in common? Michaela Ternasky-Holland. And every single one of those experiences holds a lesson for how you market your brand. Michaela is an award-winning immersive experience director and film producer whose work has transported audiences across some of the most iconic and unexpected stages on the planet. She helped bring the legendary Museum of Ice Cream Sprinkle Pool to life. She has created experiences for Disney and Meta. She has worked with the United Nations on some of the most emotionally charged storytelling on earth. And then she walked into Tribeca Film Festival and made history as one of the first directors to premiere a film made with OpenAI's Sora. She is not just watching the future of marketing evolve. She is building it. In this episode of The Marketing Companion, Michaela introduces her concept of compassionate storytelling, an ethical framework that builds genuine trust rather than manufactured impressions. We talk about why the scroll is broken, what generative AI actually unlocks for creative teams, how to make the ROI case for experiential campaigns, and the single principle every marketer can steal from immersive design and apply tomorrow. This is the episode that changes how you think about what marketing can actually do.

March 24, 2026Episode 638 min

Customer Experiences and AI - The Next Competitive Moat

What happens when marketing moves beyond campaigns and becomes experience, emotion, and intelligence (AI) combined? In this episode, I sit down with Kenny Lauer, one of the most dynamic leaders in modern marketing. From early roles at Apple and KPMG to leading global digital experiences at George P. Johnson, serving as VP of Marketing for the Golden State Warriors during their championship era, and now shaping immersive sound-driven experiences at Meyer Sound, Kenny's career sits at the intersection of technology, storytelling, sports, and live experience design. We unpack how marketing has evolved from messaging to moment-making, and why the next era will be defined by AI as a teammate, not just a tool. Inside this episode, we explore: • The throughline behind Kenny's career across tech, sports, and global brand experiences • How marketing is shifting from campaigns to end-to-end experiences • Lessons from the Golden State Warriors during one of the most iconic runs in NBA history • What global markets like Japan teach us about culture-first marketing • A real marketing "war story" and the lessons every leader should learn • The top 3 takeaways from SXSW 2026 every marketer needs to act on now • What the future looks like when AI becomes your teammate, not your tool This conversation is a masterclass in experiential marketing, brand strategy, digital transformation, and AI-driven marketing innovation. If you are a CMO, founder, marketer, or builder trying to understand where marketing is going next, this episode will give you both the strategic lens and practical insights to stay ahead. The bottom line: Marketing is no longer about what you say. It is about what people feel, experience, and now… what intelligent systems can co-create with you.

March 9, 2026Episode 543 min

Shhhhhh! Don't Tell, But We're Sharing the 5 Top Community Building Secrets

She built a 75,000+ member community. Then she shut it down. What she did next reveals the 5 secrets every community builder needs to know. Dana Malstaff turned Boss Mom from a book into one of the most recognized community brands online, growing a massive movement of entrepreneurs and mothers who refuse to choose between ambition and family. In this episode, Dana shares 5 community building secrets that most people will never figure out on their own: the real spark that starts a movement, why nurturing always beats selling, the bold truth about paid vs. free communities, how to become "micro famous" before launching anything, and an "emotional niching" strategy that completely redefines who your audience really is. If you've ever wondered why some communities thrive while others fade, this is the episode that will change everything.

February 23, 2026Episode 433 min

First or Fast Follower? 3 AI-Era Rules for Marketers

Should you be first or a fast follower? Digital pioneer Mark Schaefer breaks down 3 critical rules for marketers navigating AI and discusses why the 85% solution isn't good enough.

February 10, 2026Episode 338 min

OpenClaw: Sandy Carter and Shawn Reddy Shows Marketers How to Set Up AI Agents That Actually Work

OpenClaw is the hottest open source AI agent in marketing and in this episode Shawn Reddy from Cliqk pulls back the curtain. He walks us through the OpenClaw dashboard live, demonstrates social media scraping in action and shows the complete setup process so you can see exactly what it takes to get started. This isn't another episode about AI theory. Shawn shows us the real marketing use cases working today including social monitoring, content research and cross platform automation across Gmail, Slack and LinkedIn. You'll see the dashboard, watch social media scraping pull real time insights and understand what the setup looks like from start to finish. Then we confront the security risks head on. Wiz discovered Moltbook exposed 1.5 million API keys. Malicious plugins are exfiltrating private files. Prompt injection attacks are real. If you're handing an AI agent your credentials you need to hear this conversation. We also explore persistent AI memory for personalization at scale, Moltbook's 770,000+ agents and whether agent to agent interaction changes marketing forever, and the governance frameworks brands need before letting agents act on their behalf.