AI & Marketing

The Ugly Truth About AI

2 min read
Sharon Sciammas

Image

We’re in the middle of a digital gold rush.

Every scroll through social media reminds us: AI tools, ChatGPT, and autonomous agents are everywhere. Everyone’s a prompt engineer now. Everyone’s “leveraging AI.” And if you’re not, you’re apparently falling behind.

😆 It’s exciting - but also misleading.

Because here’s the ugly truth that isn’t talked about enough 👇


🚫 AI Will Not Save You From:

  • A broken or non-existent business model

  • Poor execution or lack of ownership

  • Strategies made of buzzwords, not substance

  • Death by meetings and decision paralysis

  • A missing or misunderstood product-market fit

  • A toxic culture that undermines everything

AI is a performance multiplier. But it doesn’t differentiate between good and bad. If your fundamentals are flawed, AI won’t help you thrive—it will help you fail faster. Dysfunction, at scale.


Start writing today. Use the button below to create a Substack of your own

🔍 The Reality Check

Let’s be honest. What still separates the good from the great hasn’t changed—AI or not:

  • Culture still eats AI for breakfast

  • Execution still beats clever ideas

  • Strategy still matters - maybe more than ever

Don’t mistake AI for vision. Don’t swap real alignment for automated output.

Because at the end of the day, AI won’t fix broken leadership. It won’t create accountability. It won’t replace customer empathy or deep market insight.


✅ So, What Should Companies Do?

Before you “go all in” on AI: 👉 Fix the foundation.

  • Build a real strategy

  • Create a culture of trust and ownership

  • Prioritize execution over perfection

  • Understand your customer, not just your tools

Then - and only then—use AI to go further, faster, and more creatively.


P.S.

Don’t get me wrong: I love AI. I use it every day. But let’s not confuse a tool with a solution.

Strong businesses still require strong fundamentals. And no algorithm can replace real leadership.

Share:

Enjoyed this post?

Subscribe to get more insights on AI, marketing, and creative technology delivered to your inbox.