Get Inspired: Establishing an AI Council for Marketing Teams

Discover how VMware, a global leader in technology, revolutionized their marketing strategies with the help of an AI council. In a recent speech at the prestigious SaaStr conference, Jessica Hreha, head of global integrated campaigns and content strategy at VMware, shared her insights on founding VMware’s Marketing AI Council.

But why does every company need an internal AI governance team? Hreha explains that it’s all about responsible and effective use of AI tools. With the rapid rise of generative AI, it’s crucial for marketers to take the lead in shaping the narrative and harnessing the power of AI within their organizations.

So, how can you establish your own AI marketing council? Let’s dive into Hreha’s key takeaways:

1. Take initiative: Be proactive in driving the adoption of AI within your marketing team.
2. Prioritize grassroots involvement and visibility: Engage and empower your team members to contribute to AI initiatives.
3. Develop an AI policy: Set clear guidelines and ethical standards for AI usage in your organization.
4. Recruit an executive sponsor: Gain support from high-level executives who can champion your AI council’s mission.

Samyutha Reddy:

Join us as we learn from Hreha’s experiences and find out how VMware successfully navigated the AI landscape. Plus, get valuable insights on choosing the right AI tools for enterprise use and ensuring ethical AI practices.

Hey there! Let me tell you about the amazing journey we’ve been on with our Marketing AI Council at VMware.

It all started back in February when our team began meeting weekly and quickly started to grow. We realized the importance of establishing guidelines for using generative AI tools, so we not only told people what not to do, but also gave them clear instructions on what they could do. We continued to refine these guidelines on a weekly basis.

In that same month, we had a fantastic opportunity to host our first global marketing enablement session with Paul Roetzer, the CEO of the Marketing AI Institute. Seriously, if you haven’t checked them out, you totally should! They provide a vendor-neutral approach and their podcast is our go-to resource for keeping up with the latest news.

From there, we’ve been hosting monthly global enablement sessions, but we were still figuring out who our executive sponsor should be. In May, we were lucky enough to confirm our CMO as our exec sponsor. This gave us the visibility and support we needed to really make progress. We even formalized our charter to make sure everyone was on the same page.

Our focus is all about educating and empowering marketers. We want to ensure that our team understands the opportunities and can leverage generative AI effectively. We’re passionate about providing upskill opportunities and offering educational resources.

We also take the responsible and effective use of generative AI seriously. We believe in having ethical principles and clear governance in place. It’s important that everyone in your organization is aligned on how these tools should be used.

Education is a big part of what we do. We provide training on new tools and also emphasize the foundational understanding of generative AI. We want marketers to know what it is, how it’s different, and be able to spot bias in the outputs.

These are just a few of the responsibilities our Marketing AI Council takes on. Your council may look different, but these aspects are crucial for success. We have an AI newsletter, hold leadership summits, prioritize use cases, and drive best practices.

Here are the four key takeaways I want to leave you with. They may be in a different order each time I present, but they are all equally important.

First, recruiting an executive sponsor. You may be the executive sponsor for your company, so it’s crucial to support your team and get things moving.

Next, prioritize this grassroots opportunity. It’s important to have passionate individuals who are willing to go above and beyond their daily responsibilities to make generative AI a reality.

Then, develop an AI policy. If you don’t have one yet, this is where you need to start. Don’t worry, our friends at Jasper have a downloadable AI policy template that you can customize for your team.

Lastly, take initiative. The key takeaway here is to take action and get started. As SaaS startups, I know you all have the skills to get things going.

So, join us on this exciting journey of transforming marketing with AI. Let’s learn, grow, and make a real impact together!