The conversation around AI in business is loud, filled with promises of total automation and fears of obsolescence. For revenue leaders, the real challenge is not replacing people; it is empowering them. A successful AI strategy isn’t about chasing the latest tech. It is about strategically amplifying your team’s judgment and expertise.
For a practical take on this challenge, we sat down with two experts who operate at the intersection of technology, community, and commerce. Matthew Holman is the Founder of Subscription Prescription, Head of Partnerships and Cofounder at QPilot.cloud, and Creator of Commerce Catalyst. Joining him is Amy Osmond Cook, Ph.D., who serves as Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Fullcast, a Forbes contributor, and an Adjunct Professor at Brigham Young University Hawaii.
Their insights provide a strategic framework for leaders. AI can be a powerful tool to deepen customer relationships and enhance operational efficiency. The goal is to build a more resilient, human-centered organization.
Navigating the AI Hype: How to Separate Real Risks From Unfounded Fears
The first step in building a sound AI strategy is understanding the actual threats to your organization. Anxieties surrounding AI are real, but they are often misdirected. The biggest danger is not the technology itself; it is a lack of strategic thinking about how to implement it.
The greatest risk of AI is not job loss, but the loss of your authentic brand voice and customer trust.
The Real Danger Is Not Job Loss; It Is Losing Your Authentic Voice
When asked about the risks of AI in e-commerce, Matthew Holman offered a surprising perspective. “The thing from the AI side to be worried about is… being genuine,” he explained. “If people recognize AI video or AI content generation, many people will care enough to never look at your brand again because of it.”
This is the real strategic risk. Customers have become remarkably adept at detecting inauthentic, AI-generated content. The damage is not just a single lost sale; it is a permanent erosion of trust.
While AI can create content, it cannot replicate the earned authority that comes from years of human experience. Holman, who has spent years advising subscription brands, noted that his expertise provides “a stronger context for how that AI’s information could be useful.” The human voice must remain at the center of your content strategy.
From the Automobile to AI: Why History Shows Technology Creates More Than It Destroys
To put AI anxieties in perspective, Holman offered a powerful historical analogy. “The example I saw, which I really loved, was talking about the actual invention of the automobile,” he said. Before cars, an entire economy existed around horses: street workers who cleaned up waste, farriers, and stable hands. “Everybody at the time was scared that the automobile would kill all those jobs, which it did. But it also enabled trillions of dollars in GMV added across the world.”
The pattern is consistent. New technology displaces certain roles while creating vastly more opportunity. Your strategy should focus on adaptation and reskilling, not replacement. Companies that develop a pragmatic AI implementation strategy will capture the new value AI creates rather than simply fearing disruption.
The Amplifier Effect: Using AI to Augment, Not Automate, Your Team’s Best Work
Holman frames AI as an amplifier. “If you’re a salesperson, AI isn’t gonna take your job. It should make you a better salesperson, because you already know what good sales is,” he explained. “If you’re a marketer, you should know what good copy is. That way you can train AI to get better, and you can do a better job.”
The prerequisite here is critical: you must know what good output looks like. AI’s value is directly tied to the human expertise guiding it. This means investment in your people is more important than ever. A mediocre marketer with AI tools produces mediocre content faster. A skilled marketer with AI tools produces exceptional work at scale. For teams ready to act on this principle, the next step is to create an AI action plan that maps AI capabilities to existing human strengths.
Applying AI to Enhance Human Connection
Here are concrete examples of how AI can solve real business problems and deepen customer relationships in ways that were never before scalable.
Strategically applied AI creates high-value, emotionally resonant touchpoints that strengthen the customer journey.
Turn Customer Feedback Into Fuel With Proactive AI Agents
Holman shared an example of strategic AI deployment. A tool he described allows brands to invite customers to share feedback by clicking a link, after which an AI agent calls them. “Instead of you getting cold called,” he explained, the customer controls the experience. “He’s telling me about these instances where people are staying on the phone for 10 minutes talking to this AI agent about their brand experience.”
One striking example involved a protein powder brand. A customer who worked at a gym stayed on the call to express interest in becoming an affiliate. “So the brand’s getting instant feedback from a super fan, and the super fan had no other way to indicate that without cold emailing a bunch of people.” This is how AI helps brands have more meaningful conversations with more customers, providing invaluable data.
Scale Personalization Without Sacrificing Sincerity
Another application Holman described was sending personalized audio messages from a founder to new customers. “Yeah, if you think about it, you’ll know that it’s AI, but it doesn’t sound like AI. It sounds like the person,” he noted. The message might be something as simple as: “Hey Amy, thanks for buying from me. I’m so grateful.”
The customer may suspect the message is AI-driven, but the thoughtful gesture still creates a powerful moment of connection. This tactic shows how a smart AI strategy focuses on creating high-value, emotionally resonant touchpoints.
Build an AI-Powered Operational Backbone
Beyond customer-facing applications, Holman revealed how his community is using AI for internal workflows. “We’ve used AI in the community to start building some of our own CRM stuff and sponsor management,” he explained. One initiative involves creating engagement pods that automatically connect professionals with similar roles and company sizes.
This approach extends to the broader go-to-market landscape, where AI can automate planning, routing, and other complex tasks. The result is that RevOps teams are freed to focus on strategy rather than administrative burden. To implement this, you must understand how to build an operational backbone of your GTM organization.
The Human Imperative: Why Judgment and Community Are Your Unbeatable Edge
As AI becomes commoditized, your ultimate competitive advantage lies in two things it cannot replicate: expert human judgment and the collective wisdom of a strong professional community.
AI provides intelligence, but your team provides the wisdom and judgment that create real business value.
The Judgment Gap: AI Has Intelligence, but Humans Have Wisdom
Amy Osmond Cook introduced a crucial distinction, drawing from a Sequoia Capital brief. “They differentiated between intelligence and judgment,” she explained. “Intelligence is something that AI is getting pretty good at. Judgment is not. Judgment requires human intervention. Judgment requires expertise.”
This has profound implications for leaders. Your most experienced employees are more valuable than ever because they provide the critical judgment layer on top of AI-generated outputs. As Jason Lowe noted on The Go-to-Market Podcast, “You have to be very strategic about how you’re going to incorporate AI… positioning yourself, where in the future when things become more capable, you’re set up to gradually adapt instead of whole-scale adapt.”
“You Can’t Google That”: The Enduring Power of Peer-to-Peer Insight
Holman shared a story from his marketing meetup that illustrates why community remains irreplaceable. Imagine a room with a handful of marketers sharing their top problems. “Somebody goes, ‘Hey, I’m trying to build a landing page for this email campaign we’re running. What landing page builder is the best?'” he recalled. “And then you have five marketers who have all used collectively 50 different landing page builders telling you their top three.”
His conclusion was direct: “You can’t Google that. AI can give you some version of that, but AI hasn’t used the tools… You wanna hear from an operator what tool they like and why.” Building and participating in professional communities is a core part of navigating change. Companies like Copy.ai have shown how the right operational strategy and community connections can fuel rapid growth.
The Cross-Pollination Principle: Building Your Advantage Against Automation
When asked how he stays sharp, Holman offered a revealing reflection. “I need to be doing at least a couple different things to keep all the different parts of my brain and spirit activated,” he explained. His work across community, consulting, and software creates a cross-pollination effect. “The marketing campaigns I use in one business are something that worked in another, and so I use a version of that.”
This insight carries a strategic lesson. Encourage diverse experiences and cross-functional projects within your teams. The unique perspectives that emerge from varied experiences create a competitive advantage that single-threaded AI cannot replicate. According to the 2026 GTM Benchmark Report, the market is splitting based on how organizations deploy AI: those focused on amplifying expertise versus those focused on volume. The former compounds advantage; the latter scales inefficiency.
Your People Are the Prompt
A winning AI strategy is not a technological race. It is a human-centric plan to amplify expertise, deepen customer connection, and build resilient communities. The leaders who thrive in the AI era will master the balance between using automation for efficiency and preserving the authenticity, judgment, and creativity only humans can provide. They will recognize that their most experienced team members are more valuable than ever.
Stop asking what AI can replace. Start asking what it can unleash in your best people.
