A search for meaning

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Habemus Papam, we have a new Pope! The Catholic Church isn’t exactly where CMOs look for future-of-work playbooks—yet this week, Rome sent a signal worth paying attention to.

When Cardinal Robert Prevost emerged as Pope Leo XIV, Vatican watchers immediately traced the name back to Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum, the 1891 encyclical that confronted the Industrial Revolution’s impact on labor and the economy. Rerum Novarum (“Of new things” in Latin) explored the search for meaning, dignity, and purpose in a rapidly changing world - just like our times today.

It’s a headline more than a name: we’ve hit another economic turning point. Only this time, the spinning looms are AI models, autonomous agents, and algorithmic marketplaces.

As Rerum Novarum balanced innovation with a moral defense of labor, executives now face a dual imperative: capture AI’s exponential upside while protecting dignity, creativity, and trust. Customers, employees, regulators—and apparently the Vatican—expect nothing less.

Speed and stewardship are no longer in tension; they’re the same strategy.

This week’s main topic is unarguably the changing landscape of search - which now looks more like an AI assistant with emotions, vibes, and topics, rather than a search bar with keywords and categories.

Let’s dive in and say cheers with a glass of Vermentino Bolgheri, one of the wines served at the conclave, to the new Pope!

A quick word from this week’s sponsor:

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Creativity meets speed

Figma’s new AI Suite

At Config 2025, Figma launched a powerful suite of AI features aiming to turn the platform into a single, seamless hub for design, content creation, and even front-end development. Key releases include:

• Figma Sites – turn design files into fully functional websites.

• Figma Make – an AI that builds working app prototypes from plain text descriptions.

• Figma Buzz – a content creation tool for quickly producing on-brand marketing assets like emails and social posts.

• Figma Draw – in-app vector illustration, no need to switch to Illustrator.

These aren’t just AI add-ons. They’re building blocks of an end-to-end creative production pipeline – built to collapse the handoff loop between design, marketing, and development.

Why This Matters for Marketing Leaders

Figma is no longer just for designers – it’s becoming a critical marketing operations tool. With Buzz, your team can generate dozens of localized, on-brand campaign assets in minutes. With Sites, you can launch landing pages directly from design files. That’s fewer tools, fewer handoffs, and faster go-to-market.

This is lean growth enablement: amplify creative output without increasing headcount.

What You Should Do Next

• Ask your design lead to explore Buzz and Sites (they’re in beta).

• Test AI-generated campaign assets internally and compare them to your current process.

• Align your design and marketing teams on a shared workflow inside Figma.

• Consider if this setup could replace parts of your Adobe or Webflow stack.

• Your design team isn’t getting replaced by AI – but their speed, volume, and reach just leveled up.

More Performance BUT Less Control?

Google’s AI Max for Search Ads

Google just launched AI Max for Search, a new suite of AI-powered enhancements to Search campaigns. This one-click upgrade brings:

• AI-generated ad copy

• Expanded, intent-driven query matching (beyond your keyword list)

• Smarter automation and reporting

It’s built to maximize conversions and scale performance. Early results show +14% more conversions at similar ROI, and up to +27% more conversions for accounts moving off exact-match keywords.

From a performance standpoint, it’s a clear win: broader reach, stronger results, and fewer manual tweaks to keyword lists.

But here’s the trade-off: control.

Advertisers who’ve spent years fine-tuning keyword lists will need to adjust. AI Max uses your keywords as suggestions, then lets Google’s AI take over — deciding when, where, and for whom your ads appear, based on intent rather than explicit matches.

To ease the transition, Google is adding brand safety controls, location filters, and transparent reporting to show which queries and creatives are being used. Their pitch: “let the AI handle the heavy lifting, but we’ll give you knobs to keep it on track.”

Why it matters for marketers

Google is rewriting the rules of paid search. In a world where AI understands natural language better than keywords ever could, traditional campaign structure starts to look outdated.

This isn’t just about letting go of control – it’s about upgrading your media team’s role. The focus moves from keyword micromanagement to strategic orchestration: audience targeting, creative testing, and broader campaign integration.

If your team still operates like it's 2019, this shift is coming for your numbers.

Safari Search Shake-Up

Google Searches Down as Apple Eyes AI

During testimony in an ongoing antitrust trial, Apple’s Eddy Cue confirmed a notable drop in Google search volume on Safari last month — a surprising shift, considering Google reportedly pays Apple $20 billion a year to remain the iPhone’s default search engine.

Even more striking: Apple is now “actively looking at” integrating AI-powered search engines into Safari. That could mean users will soon see options like OpenAI’s or Perplexity’s search tools either alongside or in place of Google.

If that happens, it’s more than just a tech partnership story — it’s a potential turning point in how people search the web. For marketers, especially those investing in organic visibility, this signals a fundamental change in the search landscape. If Safari adopts AI-first search engines, expect the traditional SEO playbook to be obsolete fast.

Brand visibility strategies will need to shift from keyword optimization to AI visibility and relevance in LLMs and new discovery platforms.

A Glimpse of Future UX

Netflix’s GenAI Search

Netflix has introduced a generative AI-powered search tool in its iOS app, currently in beta. Powered by OpenAI’s ChatGPT, the tool allows users to find content by describing what they feel like watching — not just typing titles or browsing genres. Examples include queries like “a scary but not too scary movie that’s also a little funny” or “something funny and upbeat.”

This marks a shift toward conversational, intent-driven discovery, and away from traditional category filters and recommendation carousels. Netflix is essentially teaching its global user base to treat search like a smart assistant — one that understands context, tone, and nuance.

They're not alone: Amazon’s Fire TV has rolled out a similar feature long before. If these models take hold, they could set a new UX standard for digital search and navigation.

Why This Matters for Marketing Leaders

What happens in streaming doesn’t stay in streaming. If conversational discovery becomes the norm, customers will soon expect the same in e-commerce, SaaS platforms, mobile apps, and even B2B sites.

It’s a signal: natural language queries will replace keyword filters. Consumers will expect to say (or type) exactly what they want in their own words — and get a precise, relevant result.

If your product discovery experience still relies on dropdown filters and static search bars, now is the time to rethink it.

Nearly 13% of US Workforce Will Be Automated Out

19 Million Roles At Risk According to SHRM

A new report from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) makes it official: over 19 million U.S. jobs — 12.6% of the workforce — are at high risk of being displaced by automation and AI.

The most affected areas? Not just factory lines or admin support. SHRM highlights that roles in business operations, finance, sales, marketing, and customer service are increasingly vulnerable — especially those involving repetitive tasks or structured decision-making.

What This Means for Leaders

This isn’t a panic moment. It’s a planning moment. If you're leading a sales, marketing, or customer success team, now is the time to rethink how your team is structured, skilled, and supported. Here’s how:

1. Redesign Team Structures

If AI can automate parts of a role, use that as an opportunity to elevate the human contribution:

• Free sales ops analysts from report-pulling and CRM hygiene — and shift them into insights and strategy.

• Reshape customer support roles into proactive “success consultants” who use AI to advise and upsell.

Even large orgs are doing this. IBM’s CEO recently said AI adoption didn’t reduce headcount — it reallocated people into higher-value, customer-facing roles.

2. Prioritize Reskilling

Don’t just protect jobs — upgrade them. Identify the roles in your team that will change (not disappear), and train your team to use AI as an advantage:

• Account managers should be fluent in AI-assisted research and prep.

• Content marketers should be guiding AI copy generators, not competing with them.

• Support reps should learn how to use AI dashboards to provide more strategic help.

Your future team needs to be AI-native, not just “AI-aware.”

3. Rethink Hiring Strategy

Hiring is shifting. Roles that rely heavily on predictable workflows (HR assistants, basic finance staff) may be deprioritized. Instead, look for:

• Hybrid hires: people who can bridge functions — e.g., a growth marketer who’s also a prompt engineer.

• AI operators: specialists who know how to build, test, and manage AI tools for your team.

• Strategists and storytellers: now that AI handles the grunt work, creative direction, and narrative strategy matter more.

Bonus: look for adaptable generalists. As AI compresses the need for narrow expertise, talent that can stretch across roles will become invaluable.

Start now. Audit your org:

• What can be automated?

• What needs to stay human?

• And how can your team evolve to meet that line head-on?

Bring your HR lead in early, and use the SHRM report to shape a proactive, AI-resilient talent strategy.

Rapid-Fire News

AI Updates You Need to Know

1. ChatGPT Gets an Enterprise Data Connector

OpenAI has quietly rolled out a SharePoint connector for ChatGPT (beta), available for Plus and Teams users. You can now query internal documents stored in SharePoint — ChatGPT will return summaries with source links. Bonus: your data stays private and is not used to train the model.

» For marketers: Now you can instantly pull insights from internal decks, reports, and docs — no more hunting across folders or pinging ops teams.

2. Google Gemini Cuts Costs with Caching

Gemini 2.5 now includes implicit caching, which automatically reuses previous responses and cuts costs by up to 75% on repeated prompts. For marketers and devs using Gemini in workflows, this could meaningfully reduce API bills for high-volume use cases like support bots or templated content.

» For marketers: AI-powered tools like chatbots or content assistants just got cheaper to run, which means you can scale more without ballooning costs.

3. Stripe Launches AI for Payments (and Stablecoins)

Stripe just went big. Rolled out stablecoin-based financial accounts in 100+ countries. Unveiled the first AI foundation model for payments, built to catch fraud patterns across billions of transactions. Faster global money movement + smarter fraud protection = one of Stripe’s most future-forward moves yet.

» For marketers: Expect faster global transactions and smarter fraud detection — critical if you run payments in multiple markets or manage global campaigns.

4. Mistral’s Lightweight Enterprise AI

French AI company Mistral launched Mistral Medium 3, a compact enterprise-grade model that delivers ~90% of big-model performance at a fraction of the cost. It’s optimized for on-premise deployment — ideal for businesses that want privacy and control over internal AI use (e.g. code help or secure data analysis).

» For marketers: You don’t need a massive budget to build secure, in-house AI tools — powerful enterprise AI is getting way more accessible.

5. NotebookLM Teases AI Video Generation

Google’s AI note-taking app, NotebookLM, may soon turn notes into auto-generated video explainers. A hidden “Video Overviews” button was spotted, suggesting the use of Google’s new “Veo 2” video model to create 10–20 second summaries.

» For marketers: Repurpose existing content into short videos instantly — think blog-to-video in a few clicks, no video team required.

As part of the Perplexity Business Fellowship Program, we’ve been fortunate to join a series of hands-on workshops exploring the intersection of AI, growth, and AI-driven GTM strategies.

In our latest session, we heard from Austin Hughes, co-founder and CEO of UniFi—a next-generation outbound platform purpose-built for AI-powered revenue teams.

Here are our 5 key takeaways from the workshop.

• UniFi’s core philosophy is to treat growth as an engineering challenge—repeatable, measurable, and scientific. This mindset shift helps teams build more predictable pipelines instead of relying on intuition or one-off campaigns.

• Success in outbound comes down to when and why you reach out. UniFi tracks over 30+ buyer intent signals—like hiring trends, product launches, and content engagement—to automate outreach at the exact moment prospects are most likely to respond.

• Using tools like Perplexity, UniFi’s AI agents can research and write highly personalized outbound emails by referencing real-time signals (e.g., “Saw your launch at Config 2025…”). It replicates human-level insight, but at machine speed and scale.

• The best outbound emails are: hyper-personalized, timely and relevant, clear in value, short and actionable. When aligned with the right signal, campaigns can hit 5–15% reply rates, especially on person-level triggers.

• Unlike CRMs or enrichment platforms like Clay, UniFi is built to orchestrate full-funnel outbound—from signal detection to personalized email delivery—all in one workflow. It’s not just a data tool, it’s a system of action.

That’s it for this week.
AI is reshaping how people search, teams work, and brands grow. The shift isn’t coming — it’s here.

» Forward this to someone still building campaigns like it’s 2019.
» Ready to rethink your stack, strategy, or team? We help B2B companies do exactly that.

Until next week,
Peter and Torsten