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Yesterday, I wrote about the risk of getting stuck using AI just for speed. So, how do we get to the next level of quality and innovation?

It starts with a simple but critical shift in how we talk to our AI teammates.

Your custom GPT follows your brand guidelines better than your team. It can write a persona-based email in seconds. Maybe too convenient.

Go-to-market teams are doing the hard work of building AI teammates. They’re training them on brand guidelines, messaging frameworks, customer personas, and strategic templates. This is a good, solid foundation.

But I’m noticing that many teams are unintentionally outsourcing the thinking along with the execution to custom GPTs.

For routine, high-volume tasks like summarizing call notes or categorizing support tickets, this automation makes perfect sense. The issue is when we do the same for strategic work that defines our value.

I’m seeing teams with GPTs with instructions like “Make sure this article is aligned to our brand, tone, and voice” or “Write an email for this persona aligned to our messaging framework.” The work gets done well and fast. Everyone feels productive.

But the more we outsource our judgment, the harder it becomes to get it back. Imagine a marketer who can’t explain their own positioning unless they ask the GPT first.

You need to be able to still reason through messy, complex trade-offs without AI. Custom GPTs make this even more critical because teams share them. One GPT designed to think for you can train your entire org out of thinking.

The biggest difference is in the GPTs’ instructions. See the examples below.

Your AI teammate knows your brand, personas, and frameworks. Ensure your instructions use that knowledge to think with you, not for you.

That means:

• ➡︎ Ask for analysis and assessments before recommendations

• ➡︎ Request pros and cons, not just answers

• ➡︎ Make sure humans still make the final decision

Each conversation teaches you something. You learn how to evaluate ideas, understand trade-offs, and make better decisions.

If you’re not sure whether you’re outsourcing too much: Try asking your GPT “What assumptions are you making?” or “What would a different persona think?”

If the response surprises you, you’ve got thinking work to get back.

This is how you move past using AI for speed and start using it for quality and innovation.

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Many companies using AI are unintentionally building the case for why they don’t need humans.

I’m not sure what the exact split is, but based on my work with GTM teams, it feels like AI use breaks down roughly like this:

• ➡︎ 80-85% focuses on speed – “Do this task faster”

• ➡︎ 10-15% focuses on quality – “Do this task better”

• ➡︎ 3-5% focuses on innovation – “Do it differently”

I put together some examples of what each approach looks like in practice. See the chart below.

Focusing on productivity is a natural starting point. The risk is when we stop there. If we only teach AI how to do our jobs faster, we risk becoming unnecessary in the workflow.

But when humans push into quality and innovation, we potentially become essential collaborators.

Companies should ask questions that go beyond how AI can make their current processes faster.

• ➡︎ Instead of “How can AI write our emails faster?” ask “What messaging approaches would we never consider without AI’s help?”

• ➡︎ Instead of “How can AI analyze our data quicker?” ask “What patterns might AI spot that change our strategy?”

Ask what becomes possible when expertise flows freely across the entire org.

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It’s a bittersweet Monday morning because I’m already missing my dear friends from the 6sense Empowered CXO event last week. We worked hard and played hard riding e-bikes, hiking, kayaking, hanging out in PJs, dancing the night away, etc. But the best parts were the shared experiences and authentic human connections.

Sharing some key insights from these amazing GTM leaders:

• Anchor on what you know, not what you don’t know. Remember what you know because there’s so much power there.

• Ask who else helped with the win. We can’t close the deal unless we acknowledge all who helped and share it broadly.

• Create interlocks and intentionality across teams.

• Learn to thrive in ambiguity and how it impacts humanity.

• AI creates wonder and worry. Brand is trust, brand is not a soft skill.

• Don’t talk about budget. Start to talk about investment.

• Treat the marketing spend as part of the investment with outcomes.

• Test ideas with your peers ahead of time. Put their fingerprints on the weapon. People support the things they help create.

• Own the red. Be honest, upfront, and transparent. Own things that aren’t working.

• Be an expert at Quarter +1, +2, and +3.

• Talk your inside voice outside (i.e., impostor syndrome). We say stuff to ourselves that we won’t say to a friend.

• You have to A.S.K to G.E.T.

• Think big, start small, move fast.

• Embrace this sisterhood and community.

And yes! I am indeed embracing this sisterhood and community. To all these amazing women, thank you for your inspiration, experience, insights, support, laughter and smiles. Looking forward to more of it throughout the year and beyond.

It was awesome hanging out and learning from you Latané Conant (she/her), Christine / Chris Heckart, Kate Bullis, Malina Johnson, Heidi Melin, Elizabeth Maxson Martinet, Maura Rivera, Anna Griffin, Wendy W., Wendy Steinle, Sydney Sloan, Carilu Dietrich, Gretchen Eischen, Caitlin Allen, FWS, Gina Hortatsos, Jennifer Pockell Dimas, Paige O’Neill, Judy Ash, Helen Baptist, Lisa Cole, Tifenn Dano Kwan, Claire Darling, Casey Foss, Julia Goebel ✨, Alice Hansen, Jen Jones, Carrie Kelly, Kimber Spradlin, Emily Maxie, Julie Neumann, Maria Pergolino, Damaris Santiago, Alina Vandenberghe 🌶️, Kimberly Storin, Annie Shea Weckesser, Wendy White, Claire Couch, EJ Oelling, Meggie Rohan, and so many more.

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