AI won’t save a broken organization

There was an opportunity for marketing teams to harness AI and change the way they work, and Ryan Warren, chief CRM officer at Razorfish, says many missed it.

By ,
Head of Content & Media
Published on May 27, 2026 • Last updated on May 28, 2026 • 3 minutes read

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    Many marketers missed the initial opportunity to reimagine their organizational models before implementing AI technology. Now, they find themselves at the evolving intersection of AI, data, and modern marketing strategy. 

    In this episode of Conversations with MarTech, Ryan Warren, chief CRM officer at Razorfish, discusses why many organizations struggle to realize the full potential of their martech stacks and how to pivot for an AI-driven future.

    Among the topics we discuss:

    • Navigating the complexity of legacy applications and point solutions by focusing on eight essential technology domains.
    • Viewing the flow of data from big data clouds and CDPs to the final customer experience as a unified assembly line.
    • The importance of establishing a common lexicon between marketers and data engineers to manage modern data foundations effectively.
    • How AI may lead to the disappearance of traditional “buttons” in favor of more intuitive, integrated workflows.
    • Using AI not just for scale, but to combat customer saturation and declining performance in direct messaging and email.
    • Why teaching teams to use AI effectively is a leadership responsibility that requires embedding prompts and orchestration into daily work.

    Episode guide

    00:00: Introduction
    00:38: Meet Ryan Warren, chief CRM officer at Razorfish
    02:07: How did marketers blow the AI opportunity?
    04:13: What does a martech stack look like in an AI world?
    08:56: Have marketers failed to capitalize on using AI to help their data?
    10:47: What would a conversation about data and AI in marketing look like one year from now?
    12:52: Can AI help marketers avoid cognitive overload for consumers?
    17:33: Do we fail at training our teams for AI?

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    Mike Pastore
    Head of Content & Media

    Mike Pastore is the Head of Content & Media at Third Door Media, the publisher of the Martech and Search Engine Land websites and the producer of the SMX and MarTech Conferences. In nearly three decades in B2B marketing, Mike has worked as an editor, writer, and marketer. He first wrote about marketing in 1998 for internet.com (later Jupitermedia). He then worked with marketers at some of the best-known brands in B2B tech, creating content for marketing campaigns at both Jupitermedia and QuinStreet. Prior to joining Third Door Media as the Editorial Director of the MarTech website, he led demand generation at B2B media company TechnologyAdvice.

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