It’s clear that building effective AI-ready teams is crucial, but what does an AI-ready team actually look like? And why are in-house talent models increasingly becoming the most effective approach for AI integration?
Here’s how B2B leaders can cultivate in-house teams that don’t just ride the AI wave, they lead it.
Building the Team of Tomorrow
When Heloise Boiron, Senior Director Global Marketing Communications, Amex GBT spoke about team skills at our recent event three words kept coming up:
Curiosity
Adaptability
Non-literal
This way of thinking isn’t just a nice-to-have. It’s a survival skill and they’re precisely the qualities you need to cultivate in your in-house team to lead effective AI implementation.
The curious marketer asks, “What could AI do here?” The adaptable one pivots when the answer surprises them. And the non-literal thinker sees beyond the obvious applications to the truly innovative ones.
This isn’t just about adding technical skills, it’s about fostering a fundamentally different mindset within your in-house team.
The Rising Role of Specialists
Here’s a counterintuitive truth: As AI gets better at handling general marketing tasks, specialists become more valuable, not less.
“There’ll be a need for more specialists… do the people in your team really know their craft. Because when something is [produced] it’s helpful for the machine. Can they challenge it? Can they interrogate it?”
Nick Myers, Chief Strategy Officer, OLIVER UK
Someone needs to know enough to call BS when the AI hallucinates a strategy. Someone needs to understand the nuances of your industry that the machines miss. This is where your in-house talent shines, they combine deep brand expertise with organisational knowledge that AI simply can’t match.
Create a Learning Culture
Make your in-house talent thrive in a culture that values continuous learning and innovation. Allocate dedicated time for AI experimentation and reward both successes and instructive failures.
Give your team the freedom to explore AI without fear of mistakes. By nurturing a growth mindset, you ensure that innovation becomes part of your organisational culture, making your in-house team not only future-ready but future-leading. This internal capability development creates a sustainable competitive advantage that grows over time.
As Heloise wisely noted: “We’re encouraging our people to have a growth mindset and experiment.”
In our next blog, we’ll explore how to implement AI effectively within your organisation – from overcoming resistance to measuring success and avoiding the common “AI slop” trap that many organisations fall into.
