The Next Frontier in Intelligent Augmentation: Human-Machine Collaboration in Strategic Marketing Decision-Making

The boundaries of AI in decision-making are shifting from the operational to the strategic level, according to a recent survey of 500 international high-level B2C managers. Companies with little AI experience in strategic decision-making name issues like insufficient budgets, the lack of the right technological infrastructure, a shortage of know-how inside their company and the unavailability of skilled staff as major obstacles for AI implementation in strategic decisions. Pioneers in this field see their biggest challenges in data-related issues, such as dealing with an insufficient database, a lack of transparency of algorithms and problems in sufficiently standardizing complex strategic decisions to apply algorithms. Generally, managers expect AI to play a greater role in shaping their company’s strategic path in the future. Businesses should address these developments by rethinking job descriptions and the necessary skills to prepare for a future of synergetic collaboration where humans and algorithms are joining forces.