Top 10 marketing-related AI thought leaders to follow

Enhance your understanding of how AI and machine learning works and impacts digital.

Author
Date published
June 24, 2020 Categories

30-second summary:

  • AI can help marketers deliver better overall customer experiences across all digital channels.
  • The key to success is in using it logically, ethically and in key areas where it can assist, save time and resource and help scale campaigns and performance.
  • To gain a better understanding of the benefits to marketing it is best to build your knowledge from a wide range of perspectives to identify the best use cases.
  • We look at 10 influencers worth following to get a good handle on how AI can and should effect the marketing sector.

Adoption of Artificial intelligence (AI) is growing worldwide, with a recent IDC report identifying the ability to deliver a better customer experience, greater employee efficiency and accelerated innovation as the leading drivers for adoption.

AI now powers marketing processes across the customer journey, from insights, search optimization and content marketing to personalization conversion optimization, predictive analytics, and beyond.

How can you stay at the forefront of advances in AI and machine learning? Follow these AI-in-marketing thought leaders.

I like to keep a wide range of disciplines in my newsfeed, to keep learning about now only what AI technology can do, but how we can use it in marketing ethically, logically, and most successfully.

Read their research and commentary, and don’t forget to join in the conversation on the platform of your choice.

1) Andrew Ng, founder & CEO of Landing AI

You’d be hard-pressed to find a more influential AI instructor than Andrew Ng.

To date, over 3.2 million students have taken his ‘Machine Learning’ course on Coursera, the e-learning platform he co-founded. Another 394,000 have studied his ‘AI for Everyone’ course—and these are just two of the eleven courses he’s created there.

Andrew is also an Adjunct Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University and one of the catalysts for the MOOC movement (in fact, he led the development of Stanford’s MOOC platform.

Last year, he announced the grand opening of his company’s first international office in Medellín, Colombia—you can read more about his plans to evangelize AI in Latin America here.

Good reads:

LinkedIn: Andrew Ng

Twitter: @AndrewYNg

2) Cassie Kozyrkov, Chief Decision Scientist at Google

According to her LinkedIn, data scientist and statistician Cassie Kozyrkov is on a mission to “democratize Decision Intelligence and safe, reliable AI.” In her role at Google, she guides the search giant in making safe and effective use of artificial intelligence technology.

In her lengthy career with Google, Cassie has advised over 200 teams on their analytics processes, inspired more than 400 new projects, and trained over 15,000 analysts and decision-makers in using machine learning to transform their work.

She shares her knowledge and unique insight generously outside of the classroom and boardroom, as well.

Good reads:

LinkedIn: Cassie Kozyrkov

Twitter: @quaesita

3) Moustapha Cissé, Research Scientist and Head of Google AI Center, Accra

Moustapha is the founder and Director of the African Master of Machine Intelligence at the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences. The one-year intensive graduate program is fully funded and offered in partnership with Facebook and Google. In 2019, it received over 7,000 applicants.

Prior to joining Google, Moustapha was a research scientist at Facebook where he worked in AI. He earned his Master’s Degree in AI, then his Ph.D. in Computer Science at Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris, and a Master’s Degree in Computer Science in Montreal in between.

Good reads:

LinkedIn: Moustapha Cissé

Twitter: @Moustapha_6C

4) Karen Hao, Senior AI Reporter at MIT Technology Review

Karen’s work has appeared in Mother Jones, Sierra Magazine, New Republic, Quartz and more. After a brief stint as an application engineer post-graduation, she found that her passion is in media and helping others by demystifying AI. Karen earned her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at MIT.

Today, Karen tweets writes and tweets about breaking news in AI, black AI and technology scholars, the social and justice issues inherent to AI use, and more.

She gave a great TEDx Talk earlier this year in Mumbai on ‘Why We Need to Democratize How We Build AI’ that you can catch here:

Good reads:

LinkedIn: Karen Hao

Twitter: @_KarenHao

5) Brian Solis, Digital Thought Leader and Author

Digital analyst, speaker, and author Brian Solis has been studying the impact of digital on people and businesses for over 20 years.

A prolific writer, he has authored over 60 research papers and bestselling books including Lifescale: How to Live a More Creative, Productive, and Happy Life; X: The Experience When Business Meets Design; and What’s the Future of Business (WTF).

The Global Innovation Evangelist for Salesforce, Brian explores digital transformation, innovation, and disruption—and it doesn’t get much more innovative or disruptive than AI.

He’s a keynote speaker in the upcoming Artificial Intelligence in Marketing Summit, a half-day virtual event hosted by ClickZ, and a much-loved columnist in CIO, Fast Company, AdWeek and more.

Good reads:

LinkedIn: Brian Solis

Twitter: @briansolis

6) Bernard Marr, Futurist, Influencer and Data Advisor

Internationally bestselling author and strategic business advisor Bernard Marr has been recognized by LinkedIn as one of the world’s top 5 influencers.

Among the 16 bestselling books he’s authored are Tech Trends in Practice: The 25 Technologies that are Driving the 4th Industrial Revolution; Data Strategy: How to Profit from a World of Big Data, Analytics and the Internet of Things; and Artificial Intelligence in Practice: How 50 Successful Companies Used AI and Machine Learning to Solve Problems.

Good reads:

LinkedIn: Bernard Marr

Twitter: @BernardMarr

7) Rama Akkiraju, IBM Fellow and Director at IBM Watson

Rama Akkiraju is one of AI’s top influencers. An IBM Fellow, the Director of IBM’s Watson division, and a member of the IBM Academy of Technology, she’s been named one of the top 20 women in AI research by Forbes and one of the top 6 ‘A-Team for AI’ by Fortune Magazine.

In her work with IBM, Rama explores new ways to make AI work for enterprise business. She and her team have developed a wide range of machine learning and NLP-powered AI services including Personality Insights, Tone Analyzer, and Emotion Analysis.

Good reads:

LinkedIn: Rama Akkiraju

Twitter: @rama_akkiraju

8) Dr. Craig Brown, Data Scientist and Lead Big Data Architect

As a technology and business consultant, Dr. Brown has been working on technological and innovative projects for top fortune 1000 companies for over 30 years.

He is a data science and data analytics expert, the CEO & Sr. Partner of STEM Resource Partners, and the author of Untapped Potential: The Supreme Partnership of Self.

After earning his B.S. from the University of Pennsylvania, Brown went on to complete his M.B.A. there at The Wharton School before tackling his doctoral degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and Cornell University.

Good reads:

LinkedIn: Craig Brown, PhD

Twitter: @DrDataScientist

9) Fei-Fei Li, Stanford’s Leading AI Scientist

As the Director of Stanford’s Artificial Intelligence Lab (SAIL), Fei-Fei Li led over 20 faculty and 100 students in the education and research of AI.

She served close to two years as Google Cloud’s Chief Scientist of AI and Machine Learning and VP, and is the co-founder and Chairperson of the national non-profit organization AI4All.

Today, she’s recognized as the leading AI scientist at Stanford, where she continues her work as a Professor in Computer Science and leads the Human-Centered AI Institute.

Her research focuses on AI, machine learning, deep learning, computer vision, computational neuroscience, cognitive neuroscience, and the intersection of AI and healthcare.

Good reads:

LinkedIn: Fei-Fei Li

Twitter: @drfeifei

10) Paul Roetzer, Marketing Artificial Intelligence Institute founder & CEO

The CEO and founder of the Marketing Artificial Intelligence Institute, Paul Roetzer is also the creator of the Marketing Artificial Intelligence Conference (MAICON) and the AI Academy for Marketers.

He’s the author of The Marketing Performance Blueprint and The Marketing Agency Blueprint, both published by Wiley.

Originally a graduate of Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, Paul is a prolific writer. He still runs PR 20/20, as well, his first business and HubSpot’s first agency partner.

Good reads:

LinkedIn: Paul Roetzer

Twitter: @paulroetzer

Andy Betts is a Chief marketer and digital hybrid with more than 25 years of experience in search, content marketing, digital, martech and operations working across London, Europe, New York, and San Francisco. He works as an adviser and consultant for technology companies, agencies, and leading Fortune 500 companies.
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