Here’s an uncomfortable opinion:
If your work is based on following processes instead of shaping them, AI will replace you.
Not today. But soon.
The threat isn’t your client. Or your colleague.
It’s automation.
Tools follow instructions. Really well.
AI tools are rapidly getting better at following steps, applying frameworks, and checking all the boxes.
And let’s be honest—digital marketing is full of boxes to check:
- Best practices.
- Channel-specific checklists.
- Standard GA4 and GTM setups.
- SEO audits.
- Campaign playbooks.
You can teach those to a machine.
And machines are very, very good students.
They don’t forget. They don’t get lazy. They don’t skip steps.
What they can’t do—yet
AI can follow instructions. But it still struggles to ask the uncomfortable questions:
- Are we solving the right problem?
- Why are we doing this in the first place?
- Is this what actually drives value?
That’s where your value lies.
Not in execution, but in judgment.
Not in tasks, but in thinking.
From executor to system designer
We used to say: It’s not the idea, it’s the execution.
That made sense when execution was difficult, and ideas were easy to copy.
But we’re heading into a world where execution is cheap, instant, and automated.
If you’re still following the playbook, you’re not just doing your job. You’re writing the training data for your replacement.
The new value?
Being the person who redesigns the playbook.
Who challenges the defaults.
Who sees what others miss.
So what now?
If you work in digital marketing, ask yourself:
- Am I doing this because it’s the checklist, or because it’s the right move?
- What would I do differently if I weren’t bound by “best practices”?
- Could a junior with ChatGPT do this task 80% as well?
If the answer stings a little, good. That’s your cue to shift gears.
Because in the age of AI, the safe path—just following the process—isn’t safe anymore.
It’s the first step toward being replaced.
But if you question, improve, and lead the process, you’re not just surviving. You’re becoming irreplaceable.