How to Become the Most Profitable and Highly Paid Person in the Marketing Department... By Building and Directing a Team of AI Systems.

It's weird looking at my feeds lately. Marketers have become like religious fanatics.

On the one hand, you have the tacticians — especially copywriters — talking about how AI can never replace humans. How without humans, nothing will convert.

They resent AI. Mainly because it had the audacity to move their cheese. And they revel in the fallacy that things will go back to the way they used to be — as if you can put the shit back in the horse.

On the other hand, you have the strategists — the business owners and CMO types — showing the funnels their AI wrote, designed, and built… and how they are converting cold traffic like crazy.

But they're a little too happy about it, right?

You can see the gleam in their eyes as they talk about how many people's lives they've casually cast aside.

Listen, I don't want people to suffer any more than you probably do.

But the whole point of me writing this is to tell you something critical: The choice is yours.

AI is not going away. So you can spend your time on LinkedIn railing against it. Or you can choose to play a bigger game.

Because here's the truth...

Whether you want it to or not, the marketing department is flattening. The middle is being hollowed out — forcing most people either down or out. And the rate of flattening is only going to accelerate.

If a marketing department used to need 10 people, it now needs 5.

Soon it will be 2–3.

NOT just to save money... but so things actually run more efficiently. And to get better results too.

Because you no longer need multiple people to handle…

• Design
• Funnel building
• Media buying
• Copywriting
• Video editing

All you need is one strong creative marketer who knows how to use AI.

And maybe 1–2 junior (low paid) roles to support.

Yes, I know...

You can't simply ask AI to go write, design, and build a funnel — and expect the output to actually work.

But the right marketer... one who understands big ideas and positioning... who knows what good copy, design, and funnel structure look like... who gets how to put an irresistible offer together...

That marketer can 100% use AI to produce something that works. And they can do it faster than it used to take a team of 5.

In fact, one strong marketer — with the help of AI agents and a low level marketing technician — can now lead a business from start up to $10m ARR.

Maybe more.

This reveals the problem — and the opportunity.

If you're a low or mid-level tactician, you're in trouble. You're going to continue to struggle to find work. And be pinched for lower fees when you do.

But if you're a strong creative marketer who is willing to embrace AI, the world is your oyster.

AI has just made you 10 times more valuable.

Because when every tool becomes equally available to everyone, the human who knows how to direct those tools... who brings genuine strategic thinking, real market instincts, and the taste to know good from great...

Becomes the most valuable person in any business.

That person is called an AI CMO.

If you're a business owner, this is your next — and last? — marketing hire.

And if you're a copywriter, media buyer, or funnel builder who never wanted to be a CMO... because you didn't want to sit in endless meetings or manage a team of whiners or be stuck in endless execution...

You're going to love this new model.

Because now, in 2026, the path to marketing leadership doesn't require you to be someone you're not.

As an AI CMO, you don't manage people anymore — you manage AI systems and output.

Which you'll like a lot better since AI agents don't take holidays or call in sick. They don't need to jump on a 'quick' Zoom call.

And the skills you've spent years building — understanding what moves people, knowing what makes an offer land, feeling the difference between copy that converts and copy that limps along — those skills are the only thing that matter now.

So as the marketing department flattens, where will you choose to end up?

• In the hollowed out middle that's no longer needed?
• At the bottom — forced to fight for every low-paying gig?
• Or at the top — running a growing team of AI systems and getting the gravy?

I think the choice is clear. But only you can make it.

You have the skills to be on top.

You just need to channel them into being an AI CMO.