Artificial intelligence has made it easier than ever to create content, build campaigns, and automate marketing workflows. As more teams adopt these tools, the biggest question is no longer how quickly you can create. It's whether you can create work that people actually care about.

According to Nate Schlimme, Chief Marketing Officer at MOSS, AI gives marketers the ability to move faster, accomplish more with lean teams, and rethink how marketing gets done. The real advantage, though, still comes from human experience, judgment, and understanding your audience.

In an episode of the Word of Mouth podcast by Social Snowball, host Robyn Nissim sat down with Schlimme to discuss how he uses AI across his marketing workflows, why he believes "authentic intelligence" is the future of creative work, how marketers can develop better taste, and where AI still needs human oversight.

Here are the biggest takeaways from the conversation.

1. How is AI helping MOSS compete with such a small marketing team?

One thing that surprises people is how small our team actually is.

Across the company, we have six people. On the marketing side, it's really just me and one person leading social, with agency support for a few specialized functions. We've intentionally stayed lean because retail is a cash-intensive business, especially as a startup.

AI has started to become a competitive advantage for us.

I don't look at it as a way to replace people. I look at it as a way to help the people we already have accomplish more. Every person on the team can take ownership of bigger pieces of the business because AI helps remove a lot of the manual work.

I think of people as orchestrators now. They can lead projects, build systems, and execute work that would've required several people before. That's a much more exciting opportunity than simply growing headcount.

That philosophy also shapes how I hire.

I'm still looking for people who understand the fundamentals of marketing. Now I'm also looking for people who know how to use modern AI tools to build better systems, increase their output, and create work that wasn't practical before.

4. What is "Authentic Intelligence"?

I started using the phrase ‘Authentic Intelligence’ because I wanted a way to describe how AI actually fits into creative work.

For me, it's the combination of authenticity and intelligence.

Authenticity comes from your experience, your taste, your perspective, and the way you understand your audience. Intelligence comes from the AI tools that help you move faster and execute ideas more efficiently.

I've spent 14 years working with different brands around the world, solving different creative problems, and learning how audiences respond. AI doesn't replace those experiences. It gives me another way to apply them.

If everyone has access to the same tools, the output shouldn't look the same. The difference comes from the person using them.

Your social feed, the people you spend time with, the brands you admire, the places you travel, and the work you've done all shape the decisions you make. AI can't recreate those experiences because they belong to you.

That's also why I think marketers should spend time building their own taste: collect references, pay attention to culture, travel when you can, and follow people doing interesting work. Most importantly, develop your own point of view instead of copying someone else's.

AI can help you create almost anything. You still have to understand why people are going to care. That's where your experience becomes the competitive advantage.

2. Which AI tools do you actually use every day?

People ask me about AI tools all the time, but my stack is actually pretty small.

I mainly use Claude and Flora.

Like a lot of people, I started with ChatGPT. I also tried Gemini because our company works in Google Workspace. Eventually, I landed on Claude, and that's where I've stayed.

There are new AI products launching every day. I don't feel the need to try every one of them. I'd rather get really good at the tools I already use because many of those features eventually make their way into the larger platforms.

One feature I use constantly is Claude Projects.

Instead of starting a new chat every time, I create a dedicated project for the brand. I load in our brand guide, website, messaging, product information, launch plans, and anything else Claude needs to understand the business.

If I'm not sure what context to include, I'll even ask Claude what information it wants from me. Then I'll record a voice note answering those questions and build the project from there.

For creative work, I use Flora. It helps me create campaign assets, generate multiple variations, resize creative for different channels, and build visuals from existing product photography.

The goal isn't to collect more AI tools, but to build repeatable workflows around a small set of tools that I know well.

3. What does your AI marketing workflow look like?

Every workflow is different, but I usually follow the same process when I'm planning a campaign.

Step 1: Build a Claude Project

I always start with a Claude Project, not a new chat. I load in everything Claude needs to understand the brand, including:

• Brand guidelines
• Website
• Product information
• Messaging
• Target audience
• Launch details
• Any relevant documents or context

If I don't have everything documented, I'll record a voice note and explain the project instead. One prompt I use all the time is, "What information do you need from me?"

Instead of guessing what context to provide, I let Claude interview me first. That gives it a much stronger foundation before we start creating anything.

Step 2: Generate the campaign plan

Once the project has enough context, I start building the campaign. For a recent product launch, I used Claude to generate:

• A creative brief
• Scripts for multiple podcast segments
• Messaging for different talent
• Content for several filming locations

That gave me a solid starting point in a fraction of the time it would've taken to build everything manually.

Step 3: Review everything

I don't publish AI output as-is. I still review every script, fact-check the information, and adjust the messaging based on my experience. AI gives me the first draft. I make the final creative decisions.

Step 4: Build the creative in Flora

Once the messaging is finalized, I move into Flora. I'll have Claude write detailed prompts based on a creative direction or a reference image. Then I'll use Flora to:

• Generate campaign assets
• Create multiple image variations
• Resize creative for different platforms
• Place products into new environments
• Produce more assets from a single product shoot

That gives us far more content from the same production budget. The biggest advantage is having a repeatable workflow where AI handles the groundwork, leaving me more time to review, refine, and make creative decisions.

6. How should marketers use AI without becoming dependent on it?

The workflow only works if you stay involved. I've made mistakes when I trusted AI more than I should have.

At one point, I asked Claude to review interview transcripts and pull timestamps for video clips. I skimmed the output, thought everything looked right, and sent it to our editor.

Later, I realized the timestamps didn't line up. There were duplicate clips, missing context, and several mistakes that I should've caught before passing the work along.

That experience reinforced something I've learned over the past few months.

AI can speed up the work, but it still needs someone to review the output. If you're checking every detail after the fact because you don't trust what it produced, you're not actually saving much time. The goal is to improve your workflow over time so you know where AI adds value and where your judgment still matters.

I also think it's important to create some distance from the tools.

Some of my best ideas come when I'm outside walking without my phone or headphones. I'll notice something interesting, work through a problem, or record a voice note before I forget it. Those experiences become the raw material I bring back into my work later.

The better AI gets, the more valuable those moments become. The tools can help you execute faster, but they can't replace the perspective you build by paying attention to the world around you.

5. Why do you believe taste is becoming more valuable in the AI era?

Earlier, I talked about experience being something AI can't replicate. Taste develops the same way. You have to get out into the world and experience things.

From a creative standpoint, that starts with collecting references and paying attention to what's working across different industries. I look at fashion, streetwear, athletics, music, and travel because ideas often move between those spaces before they become mainstream.

At the same time, I don't think simply consuming other people's work is enough. You have to talk about it, experience it yourself, and develop your own point of view. That's what shapes your taste over time.

One thing I've noticed is that a lot of brands end up pulling inspiration from the same places. Eventually, everyone starts building similar mood boards and creating similar work.

I'm much more interested in finding creators or brands that haven't reached everyone else's radar yet. That's usually where the next ideas come from.

As AI makes it easier to create, I think marketers have an even bigger responsibility to understand their audience.

We're entering what I call the age of authorship. Almost anyone can build a product, a website, or a brand now. The challenge is understanding why people are going to care. That's where taste, audience understanding, and good marketing come together.

7. How do you think AI will change marketing careers?

I don't think AI changes what great marketers do. I think it changes how much they're able to accomplish.

One thing I'd look for in any interview now is how someone uses modern AI tools.

I'd still ask the traditional questions about brand fit, product knowledge, and marketing experience. I'd also want to know how AI has changed the way they work, what they've been able to build with it, and what they're excited to create now that wasn't possible before.

That's because I think the role is evolving.

I'd rather have one exceptional person leading a function, building systems, and using AI effectively than expanding the team without a clear operating model. The technology gives people the opportunity to take on more responsibility and solve bigger problems.

At the same time, I don't think AI removes the need for expertise.

You still need people who understand their craft, stay curious, and continue learning. AI can automate parts of the job, but it doesn't replace the judgment that comes from experience or the ability to think proactively about the business.

That's why I look at AI as something that supercharges the role.

Every major shift in technology changes the way people work. Marketing is going through that same shift now. The opportunity is learning how to use these tools to create more value, build better systems, and spend more time on work that requires human thinking.

Key takeaways: Where should marketers start if they're just getting into AI

If you're just starting to use AI, here's what Schlimme recommends:

• Build AI workflows, not AI tool collections. Master a small number of tools and create repeatable systems instead of chasing every new release.
• Give AI context before asking it to create. Load brand guidelines, messaging, product information, and campaign goals into a dedicated project to improve output quality.
• Treat AI as your first draft, not your final decision-maker. Review, fact-check, and refine every output before it goes live.
• Use AI to remove repetitive work, so your team can focus on strategy and creative thinking. The biggest advantage isn't replacing marketers. It's helping lean teams accomplish more.
• Invest in your taste as much as your technical skills. Look beyond marketing for inspiration, collect references, and develop a point of view that AI can't replicate.
• Protect time away from AI. Some of your best ideas will come from walking, traveling, observing, and experiencing the world, not sitting in front of a prompt window.
• Hire marketers who understand both the fundamentals and modern AI workflows. The most valuable talent combines strategic thinking with the ability to build efficient systems.

Ready to build AI workflows that make your marketing team more effective?

One idea came up throughout Nate Schlimme's conversation: AI doesn't replace great marketers. It amplifies them.

The biggest advantage isn't generating more content or adopting every new tool. It's building workflows that eliminate repetitive work, improve decision-making, and give your team more time to focus on strategy, creativity, and understanding your audience.

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