As CogX partners, we hosted the salon Igniting Business Growth – AI for Marketing and Sales, moderated by our Co-founder Steve Hyde, was so over-subscribed that we had to turn people away at the door. This overwhelming interest highlights how crucial AI has become for businesses that want to stay competitive.
The panel featured Sarah Atkins (CMO, GS1 UK), Ricky Solanki (Co-founder, Push), and Janusz Stabik (Managing Partner, GYDA).
Together, the panel explored how AI is revolutionising marketing and sales for UK businesses, addressing practical strategies and overcoming challenges.
Why Now? The Urgency of AI in Marketing
One of the key themes of the salon was the importance of adopting AI now. Ricky Solanki emphasised that businesses have a small window of opportunity to embrace AI before it becomes widespread.
“There’s a window where businesses can adopt AI early and get ahead of everyone else,” Ricky explained. As AI technology advances rapidly, the longer companies wait, the more they risk falling behind in customer acquisition, targeting, and operational efficiency. Early adopters will secure a competitive edge that latecomers will struggle to match.
At Push, we’ve seen first-hand how early AI adoption can drive significant business growth. Companies that hesitate are missing out on this crucial moment to lead their markets and build lasting competitive advantages.
Key Takeaway: Early AI adoption is essential for gaining a competitive advantage—act now or risk being left behind.
Personalisation at Scale
One of the most powerful aspects of AI in marketing is its ability to deliver personalisation at scale. Sarah Atkins shared how AI revolutionises customer engagement by enabling businesses to move beyond traditional segmentation to true one-to-one interactions.
“Personalisation isn’t just about targeting anymore. AI is making one-to-one customer engagement viable,” Sarah explained.
With AI, businesses can anticipate customer needs, craft personalised messages, and automate millions of individualised interactions.
This level of engagement builds trust and loyalty in an era where customers expect relevant, tailored experiences from the brands they interact with. GS1 UK has leveraged AI to deliver these personalised experiences efficiently, something previously impossible without immense manual effort.
Key Takeaway: AI-driven personalisation at scale is the future of customer loyalty and engagement, allowing businesses to tailor interactions with millions of customers.
Embedding AI Across the Organisation
A key point from Sarah Atkins was that AI leadership must come from the top. AI adoption cannot be siloed within the IT department or seen as a technical project. Instead, it requires company-wide strategic objectives, with executives taking responsibility for embedding AI into every part of the business.
At GS1 UK, AI is integrated across the leadership team, with clear AI-related goals, such as operational optimisation, customer engagement, and internal training. This ensures that AI adoption aligns with the company's broader goals and creates a unified approach to transformation.
Ricky Solanki added that AI must permeate the entire organisation to maximise its potential, with leadership guiding the process.
Key Takeaway: Successful AI adoption must be driven from the top, with leadership ensuring that AI is embedded across every aspect of the business.
Breaking the Fear Around AI Adoption
Despite its advantages, many businesses face internal resistance when adopting AI. Janusz Stabik discussed the challenges of overcoming this fear, often stemming from concerns about complexity, costs, or job displacement.
“Fear of AI is natural, but it’s important to overcome this inertia,” Stabik noted, encouraging businesses to take proactive steps.
AI will not replace human talent but enhance it. By automating routine tasks, AI enables employees to focus on creative, strategic initiatives that add more value. Stabik recommended starting small with manageable AI pilots, which help businesses understand the benefits of AI without feeling overwhelmed.
Key Takeaway: Overcoming the fear of AI requires leadership and starting with small AI pilots to unlock growth potential while building internal confidence.
How Klarna and Coca-Cola are Using AI
AI is already transforming industries through practical applications. Ricky Solanki shared the example of Klarna, which uses AI to manage 2.3 million customer interactions per month. By reducing the time spent on each interaction from 11 minutes to just 2, Klarna has enhanced its customer service while significantly increasing efficiency.
However, this AI adoption has also led to workforce reductions, highlighting the balance needed between automation and human roles.
Atkins provided another example from Coca-Cola, where AI is used for dynamic pricing in vending machines. By using predictive analytics, Coca-Cola adjusts prices based on weather, demand, and other factors.
While this improves operational efficiency, it raises ethical questions around pricing transparency and customer trust.
Sarah Atkins shared an exciting case study from GS1 UK, where they implemented Bertie, an AI-powered bot that handles 75,000 interactions annually—the equivalent of six full-time employees. “Bertie helps us focus on higher-value tasks,” she said. Rather than replacing employees, Bertie’s role is to automate repetitive tasks, allowing staff to focus on strategic, creative work.
Similarly, Ricky Solanki highlighted how AI is revolutionising ad targeting by using predictive analytics. AI can analyse vast datasets to identify patterns, target the right customers, and optimise spending in ways that human-driven marketing efforts can’t match.
Key Takeaway: AI-driven customer service and dynamic pricing models are delivering significant results, but ethical considerations must be addressed to maintain customer trust.
The 10-70-20 Rule: AI in Action
Solanki introduced the 10-70-20 rule during the salon, explaining how businesses can successfully leverage AI in their processes. This model highlights the balance between human input and AI's role:
- 10% is human input—defining the problem and setting the parameters for AI.
- 70% is AI's work—automating tasks, generating insights, and making predictions based on data.
- 20% is human QA—fine-tuning the AI's output to ensure it aligns with the business’s goals and values.
This approach allows businesses to harness AI's efficiency while still maintaining a human touch. It’s a practical way to manage AI-driven processes without losing sight of strategic business goals.
Key Takeaway: The 10-70-20 rule provides a balanced approach to AI implementation, ensuring that businesses leverage AI while maintaining human oversight.
The Pyramid Model
To help businesses adopt AI progressively, Ricky Solanki also introduced Push’s Pyramid Model. This model breaks AI adoption into three key stages:
- Foundational Level
Preparing teams to use AI tools responsibly, understand data privacy, and engage with AI technology effectively. - Operational Level
Implementing AI solutions to drive operational efficiencies, such as automating repetitive tasks and improving workflows. - Strategic Level
Using AI to drive business growth, identify new opportunities, and enhance decision-making.
The Pyramid Model ensures that AI adoption is structured, allowing businesses to achieve tangible benefits at each stage before scaling further.
Key Takeaway: The Pyramid Model provides a structured approach for businesses to adopt AI, progressing from foundational readiness to strategic growth.
The New AI Frontier
As AI adoption accelerates, so do concerns around data ethics and transparency. Atkins stressed the importance of using AI responsibly, especially regarding consumer data.
“Data ethics is something that every business must take seriously, especially with AI,” Sarah warned.
With regulations like GDPR becoming stricter, businesses need to ensure that their AI practices align with data privacy laws and are transparent to customers.
Beyond compliance, using AI ethically is crucial for building long-term trust. Responsible AI use will differentiate businesses from competitors, fostering deeper customer loyalty.
Key Takeaway: Responsible AI use and data transparency are critical for building trust and maintaining a loyal customer base.
AI is the Future of Business Growth
The overwhelming interest in our AI for Marketing and Sales salon at CogX underlines the importance of AI for modern businesses. AI is no longer a futuristic concept—it’s here, driving growth, improving efficiency, and transforming the way businesses engage with their customers.
The message from our panel was clear: the time to act is now. Companies that adopt AI today will be the leaders of tomorrow. Those that hesitate risk being left behind in an AI-driven world.
If you’re ready to explore how AI can transform your business, get in touch with us for a personalised no obligation consultation and discover how we can help you implement AI in your marketing and sales strategies.
