Marketing AI Institute's Mike Kaput on AI pilots vs. AI capability: only about 25% of organizations are scaling with a strategy

Marketing AI Institute's Mike Kaput on AI pilots vs. AI capability: only about 25% of organizations are scaling with a strategy

September 8, 2026 · 27 min · Season 8 · Episode 921

About this episode

Mike Kaput discusses the challenges organizations face in scaling AI capabilities beyond pilot programs.

Mike Kaput, Chief Content Officer at Marketing AI Institute, joins Greg Kihlström to unpack the gap between an AI pilot that demos well and an AI capability the enterprise can actually run on. "AI strategy" describes very different things at different companies. Kaput on what he finds underneath the phrase once you start asking what the systems actually do, and who is accountable when they do it wrong. The pilot-to-production gap is an operating problem, not a technology one. What changes about marketing operations, decision ownership, and oversight when execution moves to machines and the team's job shifts toward judgment. Hours saved is not a business case. How more mature organizations connect AI work to outcomes a CFO recognizes — and how a marketing leader spots a brand becoming faster and less consistent at the same time. About Mike Kaput Mike Kaput is a recognized expert on marketing, content, and artificial intelligence. He is also a writer, speaker, and author. Mike currently serves as Chief Content Officer at Marketing AI Institute, where he uses marketing, content, and AI to grow traffic, leads, and revenue. Mike previously served in a marketing leadership role at…

People in this episode

Host: Greg Kihlström

Guest: Mike Kaput

Topics covered

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Sponsors

TEKsystems

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Marketing AI Institute, HubSpot

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