How To Thrive In AI Marketing In 2026
In today’s Marketing Unfiltered interview, I sat down with my friend and AI & Marketing leader, Katie McPhee, to uncover actionable insights for your journey into 2026.
Katie is leading the charge in AI & PMM and is a seasoned Product Marketing expert who has worked with major brands like Eventbrite, Gett, BBC and many more.
Watch On The Interview
We explored the significant shifts occurring in the startup landscape.
In the 2010s, Marketing was about breaking in and generating awareness; today, amidst a boom of over 100,000 AI companies, the challenge is communicating distinct value and differentiation.
We discussed how this saturation is driving a resurgence of community and “IRL” (in real life) connections, as authenticity becomes the only way to cut through the “AI slop” and noise.
Crucially, we delved into the rise of the “Super IC” (Individual Contributor) - senior leaders stepping away from management roles to go into a dedicated role delivering high-impact work directly.
Katie shared her personal “tech stack” that enables this hyper-productivity, creating a blueprint for how we can all leverage AI not just to do more, but to do better work.
Top 3 Quotes To Look Out For
Katie McPhee: “Automating workflows only works when you’ve got clean workflows to begin with.”
Katie McPhee: “I think it’s encouraging to see the resurgence of community and the resurgence of connection and IRL... actually it feels like a shift back to a slightly more authentic way of connecting instead of just, let’s spend six figures on paid search and spray and pray.”
Katie McPhee: “The death of generic content and the rebirth of highly creative eye capturing content.”
🎧 You can listen/watch on Youtube or click listen on Substack below
The Key 10 Points Discussed
The Shift in Startup Marketing: The game has moved from simple awareness to deep differentiation. With everyone claiming “AI” capabilities, the winners will be those who clearly communicate specific product value.
Resurgence of Community: As LLMs scrape the open web, genuine community value like meaningful Reddit discussions—cannot be faked. There is a return to high-quality field marketing and events to foster real human connection.
The “Super IC” Model: We are seeing a trend of senior leaders preferring to “roll up their sleeves” and focus on execution rather than people management. AI empowers these experts to deliver outsized impact without large teams.
Lumpy AI Adoption: Adoption is incredibly inconsistent even within high-growth tech companies. You often have a few evangelists racing ahead while others haven’t started, creating a dangerous skills and performance gap.
The “Granola and Gemini” Stack: Katie revealed her workflow for meetings: using Granola to record and transcribe, and Gemini to instantly process those transcripts into briefs or next steps.
Strategic Deep Dives with NotebookLM: For complex strategy, we discussed using NotebookLM. By feeding it specific podcasts, YouTube videos, and internal decks, you can create a “mastermind” to interrogate your strategy in a way standard LLMs cannot.
Competitive Intelligence Evolution: Tools like Perplexity and Grok are outperforming traditional search and even ChatGPT for real-time competitive insights and differentiation analysis.
The Risks of Outsourcing AI: We agreed that outsourcing AI execution to agencies is a blind spot. It prevents internal teams from upskilling and building the “muscle” needed for the future.
Voice-First Productivity: We touched on the shift from typing to voice. Tools like WisprFlow allow for faster “shipping” of work, and resisting this shift might leave you behind as others become “voice pilled”.
Automating Broken Processes: A common mistake leaders make is trying to apply AI to messy, undefined workflows. You must fix the process before you can automate it.
Katie’s Recommended AI Stack Includes:
Google Gemini - use for work and assisting PMM
Google NotebookLM - use to convert internal content into rich media (example of infographic below)
Wisprflow - use for transcription
Granola AI - use for note-taking that doesn’t get in the way
Grok - use for competitor analysis and real-time information
Perplexity - use for competitor analysis
In her previous stack below: Manus AI - use as an all-in-one AI tool to help collate competitor intel and convert into slides
Here is what NotebookLM created from video podcast
10 Recommendations From Katie
Don’t Fake Community: You cannot fake it on platforms like Reddit. You must provide genuine value because that is where people and LLMs are looking for truth.
Empower Evangelists: Identify the AI evangelists on your team who are already experimenting. Incentivise them to share their workflows so the whole team can level up.
Use NotebookLM for Strategy: Don’t just rely on ChatGPT for strategy. Meaningful strategic work comes from curating your own sources (videos, docs) into NotebookLM to create a specific “strategic companion”.
Master Your Existing Suite: If you use Google Workspace, master Gemini within it. Being an expert in the tools you already have often beats chasing every new shiny app and makes you super effective inside of your organisation.
Love Delivering: Become a “Super IC”: If you love the work more than the management, consider the Super IC path. It is becoming a “super skill” to deliver high-level work solo.
Be Cross-Functional: Attend the meetings outside your immediate department (e.g., Product or Sales). Understanding their pain points makes you a far more effective marketer.
Build Your Own “Expert” Niche: Carve out a specific area of AI expertise (e.g., automation, a specific tool) and teach it to others. This builds your internal value and credibility.
Don’t Outsource Your Learning: Avoid letting agencies do all the AI work. You need to build that knowledge internally to remain competitive.
Start with First Principles: Do not ask an LLM to “write a 2026 plan.” Start with your own insights and even use pen-and-paper ideas, then use AI to expand and critique them.
Experiment with Voice Tools: Try tools like Wispr Flow. Even if you prefer typing, the speed advantage of voice for certain tasks is undeniable.
Points To Share With Your Team
1. The “Super IC” is the future of senior talent
Senior careers don’t always have to end in management. The combination of deep expertise and AI fluency allows for the rise of the “Super Individual Contributor”—someone who delivers entire functions of value single-handedly.
Action: Share this with senior team members who feel stuck in management but miss the craft.
2. Stop outsourcing your AI learning & development
If you hire an agency to do your “AI content” or “AI workflows,” you are robbing your team of the essential learning curve they need for 2026. You cannot buy this capability; you have to build it. Experience is critically important in this more with less market.
Action: Forward to leadership teams considering their 2026 budgets.
3. The “Mastermind” workflow.
Stop using generic chatbots for complex strategies. Use NotebookLM to upload your specific meeting transcripts, competitor decks, and relevant podcasts or infographic to create a “closed” expert system that knows your context.
Action: Share with your Strategy and Product Marketing teams immediately.
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If you want more on Product Marketing, enjoy my previous chat with Rory Woodridge below
