Optimizely's Greg Heinz on rebranding an AI platform: AI scaled the work, but every input stayed human
About this episode
Greg Heinz discusses the rebranding of Optimizely and the role of AI in amplifying creative work.
Greg Heinz, Senior Director of Brand and Digital Strategy at Optimizely, led the company's rebrand — and he argues AI should amplify creative work rather than automate it away. Recorded live at Opticon 2026 in New York City. A rebrand is repositioning, not a new logo. Heinz walks through the research behind Optimizely's brand evolution, the market signals that made the case internally, and what the company had to give up to make the new promise credible. The line between amplification and authorship gets drawn on purpose. "AI" covers everything from a tool that speeds up a designer to a system that ships work with nobody in the authoring seat. Heinz on where he insisted a person stay in the seat, and why. A brand is proven by behavior, not messaging. What had to change in product decisions, sales conversations, and the digital experience for the new positioning to be true — and what keeps the brand recognizable as one company as the volume of expression goes up. Greg Heinz and Greg Kihlström also get into what changes when the first thing evaluating your brand is an AI system researching on a buyer's behalf rather than a person. About Greg Heinz Greg is a marketing manager with…
People in this episode
Host: Greg Kihlström
Guest: Greg Heinz
Topics covered
- AI in marketing
- branding
- digital strategy
- creative work
- customer experience
Keywords
- AI
- branding
- Optimizely
- digital strategy
- customer experience
- rebranding
- creative work
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Optimizely
Places: New York City
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