“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
That’s what #MAICON2025 was for me.
I went to Cleveland to share what I’ve learned about building AI teammates, chaining AIs in workflows, and scaling human + AI collaboration. What I didn’t expect was how much I’d receive in return.
I watched people light up when they realized they could build these tools. I saw teams planning how they’d bring this back to their orgs. I heard stories of people experimenting, failing, and making real progress, not because they’re technical, but because they’re curious and willing to try.
I got to showcase and celebrate the work the Sophos marketing team has done. Shoutout to Megan Cabrera and the crew. Together we built a human + AI marketing organization: 75 trailblazers, 211 AI teammates with 57 integrated in daily workflows, now scaling to 150+ marketers and beyond.
The early impacts are notable, from each person on a team saving 5-7 hours weekly to SDRs seeing 2-3x better engagement. Grateful to be part of the Sophos marketing team’s AI adoption journey.
Here’s what stood out to me this week:
1. Complementary superpowers are key.
AI doesn’t replace human creativity and critical thinking. It elevates them. The goal isn’t human OR AI. It’s human AND AI, each making the other better. Geoff Woods showed leveraging AI as a thought partner in action. Jeremiah Owyang painted the future of 10x agents to humans with brands catering to both the humans and the agents that serve them.
2. We need to go beyond efficiency.
As they say, “We can’t reimagine the future by simply automating the past.” Paul Roetzer reinforced it with “Optimization is 10% thinking. Innovation is 10x thinking.” And Andy Crestodina urged us to look beyond looking for efficiencies; see how AI can help us uncover deficiencies.
3. AI search is pushing us to be more authentically human.
It’s less about gaming the system. Many reinforced that AI search rewards those who deeply understand customer behaviors and are genuinely helpful. With his refreshing “say it how it is” style, Wil Reynolds gave us practical ways to be seen, believed, and chosen in AI search.
Andy Crestodina also emphasized that this is a race to who can be the most generous with helpful content, not gating them and asking for an email in return.
This is my third year attending MAICON, and because I’m human, I’ve forgotten some sessions and slides. But I’ve never forgotten how this community made me feel.
I’ll remember the conversations, the openness, the willingness to share both wins and struggles. I’ll remember people who aren’t waiting for permission, who are making this technology work for people, not at them.
To Paul Roetzer and the entire Marketing AI Institute and SmarterX team, your dedication and hard work have not gone unnoticed towards your vision of “AI literacy for all.” Your impact ripples far and wide. On behalf of many, I thank you.