The AI Restructuring Has Begun

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Intel just handed most of its global marketing to Accenture, not for more people, but for more AI. That’s not a headline. It’s a turning point.

This isn’t startup chatter anymore. When giants pivot, everyone feels the shift. AI restructuring is triggering layoffs. Roles aren’t just shifting. They’re vanishing.

That sounds apocalyptic, if you cling to the metrics of the last era. But the upside is bigger: marketers who treat AI like an operating system, not a sidecar, will compound reach and velocity at costs their competitors can’t match.

Boards are asking what can be automated, and marketing’s entry layer is at the top of the list. Scripting. Video editing. Persona tailoring. What once took teams now takes prompts. The baseline of creative work is being rebuilt fast.

But AI fluency—taste, judgment, calibration—is still the moat. Teams that can prompt, steer, and scale will stay essential. The rest? They’ll get automated out. And for agencies whose margins depended on low-effort, high-volume outsourced work, that model is running out of runway.

In this edition: Intel’s big bet, ERGO’s AI search reality check, HeyGen’s one-prompt video agent, Google’s virtual runway, and how to adapt before it’s too late.

You can’t stop the restructuring. But you can redesign your role inside it.

— Peter & Torsten

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AI Outsourcing Just Got a Greenlight from the Top

Intel hands over global marketing to Accenture

In a bold shift, Intel’s new CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, is offloading most global marketing operations to Accenture. But this isn’t just about headcount cuts.

Accenture’s pitch? AI-led automation. Think faster GTM cycles, hyper-personalized messaging, and fewer humans in the loop.

It's not a pilot. It’s the new operating model.

As the reporting confirms, roles are being replaced, not just relocated. Accenture is deploying generative toolchains to turn briefs into campaigns and budgets into outcomes quickly.

Why it matters for you

This is a signal to every CMO: AI is no longer just a support function. It's being trusted with full-stack go-to-market.

If your AI roadmap isn't clear or isn’t showing returns, someone else will build the case to replace you.

When 33,000 URLs Expose the Future of SEO

ERGO’s white paper shows how AI search ranks brands

ERGO Innovation Lab ran a stress test across 33,000 insurance URLs using ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and You.com. The results? Traditional SEO signals are fading.

Broker websites outperformed direct insurers (36% vs. 17% share), mainly because their modular, Q&A-driven structure fits how LLMs parse and retrieve answers. Classic SEO levers (backlinks, domain authority) were less influential than four new factors: machine readability, semantic linking, authorship trust, and alignment with how prompts are phrased.

ERGO predicts that model visibility will soon be negotiated, not just earned. Their full white paper backs this up. The insights echo what we outlined in our own guide, Brand Visibility in the Age of AI.

Why it matters for marketers

LLMs don’t browse like humans, and they don’t rank like Google. They summarize. That means your visibility is binary: you’re in the answer, or you don’t exist.

Regulated industries like insurance are just the canary. Every vertical is next.

One Prompt, One Campaign Video

HeyGen’s new agent auto-produces your ad

HeyGen just launched a generative Video Agent that turns a single prompt into a finished, branded video. Script, avatar, narration, visuals, and edits included.

It’s the closest we’ve seen to creative-as-a-service, and marketers are already lining up: over 32,000 creators joined the waitlist in 72 hours.

There’s no editor timeline. No voiceover upload. No casting. It’s all handled by the model. Think “mid-level creative director in a box”—and it outputs videos in minutes.

Why it matters for marketers

Creative production has been the biggest bottleneck in ABM, outbound marketing, and social media. Now, junior reps can generate persona-targeted content instantly.

That changes the game: speed and iteration win over polish.

Google Doppl Turns Every Shopper Into a Star

From product photo to catwalk clip

Google just soft-launched Doppl, a virtual try-on app that transforms static product photos into TikTok-style runway videos.

Shoppers upload a selfie, pick a look, and the app animates them strutting in your garments. No green screen. No models. Just AI and a few high-res images.

It’s now live in the U.S., and early buzz suggests it’s more than a gimmick. It’s a new touchpoint in the buyer journey. Doppl-ready brands won’t just look innovative. They’ll own the discovery and the data.

Why it matters for marketers

Search is no longer the first step. Try-ons are. Doppl turns every fan into a walking demo, and the brands that feed it assets now will reap the early-mover advantage.

Inside the Perplexity Fellowship

How to build AI ops into your organization

As part of the Perplexity Business Fellowship Program, we attended a workshop led by Tyler Tate, Product Manager at Perplexity, to learn how to build apps and dashboards using Perplexity.

Here are our 10 takeaways from the workshop for marketers:

1. AI Can Now Handle Full Marketing Projects End-to-End
You can upload data or documents and receive full marketing deliverables—dashboards, reports, slide decks—without manual production. This is useful for campaign reporting, strategy docs, or competitor analyses.

2. Data Analysis Is No Longer Bottlenecked
With just a CSV file (e.g., CRM exports, web analytics, ad performance), Labs can generate interactive dashboards, insights, and even strategy recommendations—saving hours of spreadsheet work.

3. Lead Sourcing Can Be Automated
You can input a job description or ICP criteria, and Labs returns a list of relevant leads or candidates (with LinkedIn profiles), based on live search across web sources. No manual prospecting required.

4. Personalized Outreach Emails at Scale
Once prospects are identified, Labs can auto-generate highly personalized cold emails tailored to the recipient’s company, role, and background—useful for both sales and recruitment.

5. Reusable Prompt Structures = Marketing Playbooks
Once you discover prompt formulations that work (e.g., for reporting, persona creation, campaign analysis), they can be reused like templates, turning knowledge work into repeatable processes.

6. Slides, Reports, and Dashboards Are Fully Downloadable
Labs outputs can be exported as PDFs, Word files, HTML dashboards, or code bundles. This makes it easy to plug AI-generated assets into team decks, client presentations, or investor updates.

7. Prompt Design = Strategic Skill
The quality of outputs depends heavily on how clearly you define: The goal (“Why?”), The desired asset (“What?”), And the format or structure (“How?”). This is fast becoming a core skill for marketers using AI tools.

8. Asset Accuracy Is Transparent and Auditable
You can view all the steps the AI took (code, queries, logic), making it easier for CMOs to trust AI-generated assets in high-stakes deliverables like forecasts or board reports.

9. Labs Is a Shortcut to Strategy Iteration
You can go from raw market data to business plans to slide decks within a single session—ideal for marketing leaders who need to pressure-test strategies or prepare executive materials quickly.

10. AI Reduces Time-to-Insight, Not Just Time-to-Content
This isn't just about content creation—it’s about faster synthesis and decision-making. That’s where the real marketing edge lies: using AI to surface what matters, faster than competitors.

» If you're interested, you can watch the entire workshop here.

Rapid-Fire News

AI News You Need to Know

Quick scans on things that mattered last week.

1. YouTube adds AI summaries
YouTube is testing AI-generated carousels directly in search results.
» For marketers: Your video descriptions and titles are now search snippets. If the first few lines aren’t sharp, you won’t make the AI highlight reel.

2. ChatGPT rivals TikTok + Instagram + Facebook in downloads
In June, ChatGPT's iPhone app nearly matched the combined downloads of the three biggest social apps.
» For marketers: Conversational interfaces are becoming the new homepage. If your brand isn’t optimized for chat-native discovery, you’re invisible.

3. Apple eyes Perplexity
Apple is reportedly considering acquiring AI search engine Perplexity.
» For marketers: If the deal closes, Apple becomes a new gatekeeper of brand visibility—your ranking in Perplexity could suddenly define your iOS exposure.

4. California Senate passes “No Robo Bosses Act”
This bill would block companies from using AI for hiring, firing, or promotion decisions.
» For marketers: Expect similar pressure on automated scoring systems—especially those tied to campaign performance or MQL pipelines. AI transparency isn’t optional.

Forward it to a teammate who needs to see it, and make sure you’re signed up to catch the next drop on Tuesday.

Until next week,
Peter and Torsten