Organizations are keen to dive into AI, however many initiatives nonetheless stall earlier than they ship significant outcomes… or by no means transfer past experimentation.Why?
In our 2026 State of AI report, greater than half of execs have moved past experimentation, however solely 29% of respondents say their group has an AI roadmap.
In different phrases, organizations are falling behind their workers when it comes to placing AI into follow.
Before constructing an efficient AI adoption technique, leaders want to perceive the place their group stands as we speak. Asking the proper questions will help establish gaps in technique, individuals, know-how, information, governance, and workflows, and reveal the place extra preparation could also be wanted.
Bonus: Each part features a related session on the upcoming Marketing AI Conference (MAICON), so you possibly can dig deeper into the areas the place your group wants essentially the most work.
Is Your AI Strategy Aligned with Business Goals?
Once you already know the place AI can create worth, the problem turns into turning these alternatives into strategic priorities. At MAICON 2026, The AGI Chronicles: The Final Frontier, explores how leaders can separate AI hype from actuality when making funding selections, whereas Marketing Forward examines how AI is reshaping advertising technique and provides a framework for making higher selections as know-how and buyer expectations evolve.
Mark Your Calendars:
- The AGI Chronicles: The Final Frontier (10/14 @ 2:05 p.m.) with Kevin Roose, Bestselling Author, Futureproof, Award-Winning Technology Columnist, The New York Times
- Marketing Forward (10/15 @ 10 a.m.) with Mitch Joel, Executive Director, Next Era Institute
Does Your Team Have Skills to Adopt AI?
Technology alone gained’t create significant AI adoption. Teams want a baseline understanding of AI, readability round the way it can increase their experience, and confidence about how they’re anticipated to use it. Employees ought to know which instruments are accepted, have entry to the assets they want, and perceive how their roles and methods of working might evolve. Leadership additionally wants individuals who can champion AI adoption throughout key features.
MAICON approaches this problem from a number of angles. AI Adaptation: The People Side of Scale focuses on what leaders want to drive significant habits change throughout groups. The AI-Native Content Team reveals the workflows and techniques enabling groups to dramatically improve their capability for experimentation and innovation. And From AI Users to AI Builders explores what leaders want to perceive as non-technical groups transfer past merely utilizing AI tools and start constructing with them.
Mark Your Calendars:
- AI Adaptation: The People Side of Scale (10/14 @ 10 a.m.) with Pam Boiros, CMO, Bridge Marketing Advisors
- The AI-Native Content Team: How Any Team Can Outproduce (and Out-Innovate) the Competition (10/15 @ 9:15 a.m.) with Mike Kaput, Chief Content Officer, SmarterX & Marketing AI Institute
- From AI Users to AI Builders: Leading Marketing Teams into the Next Phase (10/15 @ 1:55 p.m.) with Dan Slagen, CMO & CAITO, Zapier
Is Your Data Ready to Support AI?
AI initiatives want dependable information and a transparent method to measure whether or not they’re really creating worth. Organizations ought to perceive the place their information lives, whether or not it’s correct and usable, and which data is delicate, confidential, or proprietary. Teams additionally want baseline efficiency metrics, outlined KPIs for AI initiatives, and techniques for measuring enterprise influence and ROI.
Several MAICON periods dig into the measurement problem from completely different views. AI-Driven Content Performance Monitoring explores proactive techniques for monitoring and reporting. Seen. Believed. Chosen examines the connection between visibility and credibility in AI optimization. Redefining ROI appears at how measurement wants to evolve within the AI search period, whereas What’s Actually Working: AI Across the Advertising Funnel brings outcomes and classes from international manufacturers together with Kroger, AT&T, General Motors, Shell, and The Home Depot.
Mark Your Calendars:
- AI-Driven Content Performance Monitoring: Continuous Tracking, Smart Alerts and Proactive Reporting (10/14 @ 11:40 a.m.) with Dale Bertrand, President, Fire&Spark
- Seen. Believed. Chosen: AI Optimization That Builds Visibility and Credibility (10/14 @ 11:40 a.m.) with Wil Reynolds, Founder & Co-CEO, Seer Interactive
- Redefining ROI: Separating Signal from Noise within the AI Search Era (10/14 @ 3:05 p.m.) with Suraj Rajdev, Head of Data, Measurement & Analytics, Google
- What’s Actually Working: AI Across the Advertising Funnel (10/15 @ 10 a.m.) with Alec Foster, Chief Agent Officer & Responsible AI Lead, Marketing + Media Alliance (MMA)
Do You Have Governance and Guardrails to Use AI?
Governance shouldn’t forestall groups from utilizing AI; it ought to give them the arrogance to use it responsibly. A well-organized group has clear insurance policies governing AI use, confidential and private data, and relevant authorized and compliance necessities. It additionally is aware of what organizational information AI techniques might have entry to, the place that data will dwell, and who’s accountable for monitoring AI dangers and coverage compliance.
At MAICON, The Playbook for Marketing Transformation addresses strategic governance, enablement at scale, and function redesign. Empire of AI: How Silicon Valley is Reshaping the World broadens the dialog by inspecting the facility structures and governance points shaping how AI is developed and deployed.
Mark Your Calendars:
- The Playbook for Marketing Transformation (10/14 @ 10 a.m.) with Claire Potter-Schneider, Head of AI Transformation, Dynatrace
- Empire of AI: How Silicon Valley is Reshaping the World (10/15 @ 8:30 a.m.) with Karen Hao, Award-Winning Journalist and Best-Selling Author of Empire of AI | TIME 100 Most Influential People in AI
Can Current Technology Support Your AI Ambitions?
MAICON provides a number of methods to discover this in follow. Building a Content Marketing Agentic Workflow demonstrates how instruments together with Gemini, ChatGPT, Claude, and NotebookLM can work collectively as half of a bigger system. A Beginner’s Guide to Vibe Coding introduces methods non-technical groups can construct and consider light-weight AI options. Attendees also can discover Tech Demos to see platforms in motion and take part in Build Sessions designed to assist them create an AI utility, agent, workflow, automation, or enterprise resolution they will take again to work.
Mark Your Calendars:
- Building a Content Marketing Agentic Workflow (10/14 @ 10 a.m.) with Brian W. Piper, Founder, AIreFlow Solutions
- A Beginner’s Guide to Vibe Coding (10/14 @ 3:05 p.m.) with Vinny Sosa, Lead Marketing AI Solutions Architect, ServiceTitan
- Tech Demos – Various occasions; test the agenda
- Build Sessions (10/15 @ 11:40 a.m.)
Are Your Workflows Ready to be Reinvented with AI?
At MAICON, AI Workflows to Research Anything, Better explores how AI is altering analysis throughout purchaser insights, aggressive intelligence, viewers analysis, and content material growth. How to Reimagine and Build Workflows That Weren’t Possible Before focuses on redesigning processes round what AI does particularly properly fairly than merely automating previous methods of working. And AI-Native Playbook: From Solo to Scalable provides a real-world have a look at constructing automations, brokers, and suggestions loops that may scale.
Mark Your Calendars:
- AI Workflows to Research Anything, Better (10/14 @ 11:40 a.m.) with Taylor Radey, Director of Research, SmarterX
- How to Reimagine and Build Workflows That Weren’t Possible Before (10/14 @ 11:40 a.m.) with Liza Adams, Founder, AI Advisor & GTM Strategist, GrowthPath Partners
- AI-Native Playbook: From Solo to Scalable (10/14 @ 11:40 a.m.) with Keith Moehring, CEO, L2 Digital
Browse the total MAICON session agenda to see what different matters match your online business wants.
Ready to Put Your AI Readiness to the Test?
Join us at MAICON 2026 from October 13–15, 2026, in Cleveland, Ohio, for three days of sensible periods, hands-on studying, and real-world examples from leaders and practitioners placing AI into motion. You’ll go away with concepts, frameworks, and classes you should use to transfer your group from scattered experimentation towards extra strategic, scalable AI adoption.
