Here's how to apply AI to your marketing team and AI updates from June

The speed at which AI is evolving is overwhelming. How do you translate that technological speed to your team, your processes and especially your daily work? During the June 27 webinar Marketing AI in Practice 2025, NXTLI founder Michiel Schoonhoven showed how marketers can grow along in a world that is becoming AI-first.

From experimentation to structural deployment

The hype around AI has long since ceased to be hype. Marketers use it daily for copy, images, video, data analysis and automation. Yet many teams are still in the experimentation phase. A few colleagues are trying out some tools, but structural adoption is lacking. According to Michiel, this is because AI use is more than using tools: it is a change in behavior and structure.

"Many marketers are used to creative freedom and intuition," Michiel explains. "AI requires you to supplement that with data and systematics. That takes getting used to, but it pays huge dividends in speed, scalability and collaboration."

AI as a colleague in your workflow

During the webinar, Michiel gave a glimpse into how AI colleagues at NXTLI are full-fledged parts of the marketing team. They are fully integrated into tools like Slack and Teams, so they run directly into existing workflows.

Data & AI Integration Specialist Caleb van Wingerden showed how AI data analyst Brian automatically analyzes Meta Ads campaigns, assesses performance and provides concrete optimization recommendations. You can ask him questions in Slack, such as: "Which campaigns perform best with women 25-34?" and you instantly get a visual report with insights and recommendations. The advantage is that the knowledge is always available, there is no waiting time for reports and the output is consistent.

AI updates June 2025: the acceleration continues

The webinar also discussed the key AI updates of June 2025. The most notable developments:

• OpenAI: improved memory features, Deep Research via proprietary documents, better speech and project tools.
• Gemini: creating videos with audio via Veo 3 and building interfaces with just a chat prompt via Google Stitch.
• Shopify: automatically customize pages, content and customer communications with AI.
• Eleven Labs: natural voice AI that now lets you conduct voice chats as well as send Slack messages via voice.
• Descript and HeyGen: AI-driven video editing via chat and agents that create complete videos based on a briefing.

New AI features in marketing

Michiel outlined a future where AI not only supports existing functions, but also creates completely new roles. Think of AI integration specialists who ensure that AI fits seamlessly into processes, or content curators who shape the generated output and make it suitable for publication. Also emerging are roles that test the reliability of AI results, or instead develop the storylines and formats that keep content relevant and human. And within marketing teams, it is becoming increasingly important that someone guard the brand identity, including in everything AI produces.

For marketers, this means: think about your role. Which tasks can you hand over to AI, and in which, specifically, do you want to excel as a human?

Six steps for successful AI adoption

Implementing AI is not just a technical issue. Michiel named six steps that help organizations accelerate adoption:

1. Create an AI working group: not necessarily with managers, but with forerunners from each department.
2. Develop AI policies: internal and external. Consider tools, safety and communication.
3. Conduct an AI impact audit: what tasks can be taken over, how much time does it save, and where is the greatest value?
4. Invest in education: offer role-based training rather than general explanations.
5. Select the right tools based on the problem, ease of use and integration capability.
6. Develop an AI-first culture: encourage curiosity and daily application through consultations, pilots and showcases.

The difference is not in the tools themselves, but in the behavior. "AI only works if you actually start using it on a daily basis," Michiel said. "And that starts with a mindset shift."

AI as a new standard in marketing

AI is not a project you "just implement. It is a new way of thinking, working and organizing. Most marketers will not be replaced by AI, but by colleagues who know how to apply AI better. The winners will be teams that experiment smartly, use hybrid human-AI collaboration and take control of their own AI profile.

In the end, AI is not the threat, but the tool. As Michiel sums it up, "The future is not soon, it is now. If you wait, you are already behind."

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