By Lori Jones, President & CEO, Avocet Communications
Key Takeaways
- The AI “tool adoption” wave is over; the next wave is organizational transformation.
- Tactical AI creates efficiency; transformational AI creates competitive separation.
- AI maturity is becoming a board-level metric and a critical strategic advantage.
- The gap is widening between organizations that dabble in AI and those building AI-integrated operating systems.
- Executives must invest in first-party data ecosystems, talent reskilling, trust frameworks, and decision systems to stay competitive.
- AI-informed marketing systems can unlock revenue performance that traditional models cannot reach.
In 2024 and 2025, we witnessed one of the fastest technology adoption cycles in modern business history. Everyone was experimenting with AI, automating tasks, generating content, speeding up production cycles, and compressing timelines.
But here’s what became clear by the end of 2025: Most companies adopted AI tools. Very few achieved AI transformation.
Why? Because tools create efficiency. Transformation requires rewiring. And that’s where AI’s second act begins.
THE SHIFT: FROM TACTICAL AI TO TRANSFORMATIONAL AI
Over the past two years, I watched leadership teams celebrate tactical wins, faster content production, automated workflows, cost reduction, and streamlined operations. These wins mattered, but they didn’t change the core of the business.
Meanwhile, the companies that did transform were doing something very different. They weren’t just using AI to do the same work faster. They were changing the work entirely.
Transformational AI looks like this:
- Prediction instead of reporting
- Orchestration instead of siloed processes
- Insight acceleration instead of monthly dashboards
- Real-time decision-making instead of static annual plans
- Customer journeys that adjust themselves in response to behavior
This is where the real competitive gap is emerging. And it’s widening fast.
AI MATURITY IS NOW A BOARD-LEVEL METRIC
I’ve been in enough board discussions this year to know this shift is real. Boards are no longer asking, “How are we using AI?” They’re asking, “How is AI improving our outcomes, reducing friction, accelerating revenue, and strengthening our competitive position?”
AI maturity has become a strategic measure of resilience, efficiency, and long-term viability.
Executives who treat AI as a set of tools will fall behind. Executives who treat AI as a new operating model will lead.
THE EMERGING DIVIDE: DABBLERS VS. INTEGRATORS
In almost every industry, two groups are becoming visible:
1. The AI Dabblers
These companies:
- Use AI for content
- Automate isolated tasks
- Plug tools into outdated processes
- Gain efficiency, but not advantage
Their work gets faster, but their strategy does not.
2. The AI Integrators
These companies are operating differently. They build systems that:
- Connect AI to first-party data
- Feed insights directly into RevOps
- Power dynamic personalization
- Strengthen predictive pipeline models
- Support real-time decision systems
- Reinforce trust and governance frameworks
They move faster. They see further. They outperform. By 2026, this gap will become the new definition of competitive separation.
WHAT EXECUTIVES MUST BUILD IN 2026
The next era of AI-driven growth won’t be defined by tools. It will be defined by systems.
Here’s what leaders must prioritize:
1. First-Party Data Ecosystems: Without unified, clean, connected data, AI can’t deliver insight, only noise. Data ecosystems must become more modern, scalable, and privacy-forward.
2. Talent Reskilling & Role Evolution: Teams don’t need to be replaced; they need to be elevated. AI changes workflows, expectations, and value creation. Reskilled teams unlock exponential impact.
3. Trust, Safety & Governance Models: AI requires transparency, auditing, and ethical decision frameworks. Customers…and regulators…are watching.
4. Decision Systems That Can Move at AI Speed: AI is useless if organizations still make decisions slowly. Decision velocity is becoming a defining characteristic of high-performance brands.
5. AI-Informed Marketing Systems: Marketing is shifting from a creative-first function to an intelligence-first operating system.
This is where Avocet’s deepest work now lives: Helping brands use AI to design systems that drive revenue performance, not just content output.
A STORY FROM THE FIELD
Recently, I met with a leadership team that proudly told me they were “using AI across the organization.” And they were…but only tactically.
When we dug deeper, nothing was connected.
Insights didn’t inform creative.
Creative didn’t inform RevOps.
RevOps didn’t inform product.
AI was everywhere… and nowhere.
It wasn’t until they redesigned their operating system…integrating data, insights, orchestration, and decision pathways…that transformation began to show up in their numbers.
Because AI doesn’t create growth. Systems create growth. AI accelerates it.
THE NEXT FRONTIER: AI AS THE ORGANIZATIONAL NERVOUS SYSTEM
In 2026 and beyond, AI will serve as the organizational nervous system, sensing, interpreting, anticipating, and acting.
The competitive advantages will belong to companies that:
- Architect connections
- Accelerate insight flow
- Build trust-driven frameworks
- Elevate decision quality
- Enable teams to operate at AI speed
This is the era we are entering. This is AI’s second act.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
- Are you using AI to make tasks faster, or to make decisions smarter?
- How quickly does insight move across your organization?
- Do your teams understand what AI should own vs. what humans must?
- What would break if you doubled decision velocity?
- Is AI integrated into your operating system, or floating around your workflows?
READY TO MOVE FROM AI ADOPTION TO AI TRANSFORMATION?
This is the moment to build AI-informed systems that accelerate decisions, deepen insight, strengthen trust, and improve performance.
If you’re ready to shift from AI tools to true AI transformation, we’re here to help.
Contact Avocet Communications to start the conversation. Follow me on LinkedIn for more executive insights on the next era of marketing and growth.
