The gap isn't who has AI. It's who uses it.
We have more AI on our phones than we know what to do with. ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot; plus whatever else is jammed into half the tools you already pay for.
The barrier isn't access anymore. It's behavior.
And that behavior is creating a split:
Operators: AI is part of how they work
Experimenters: curious, but inconsistent
Holdouts: actively opting out
Not experts versus beginners. Not technical versus non-technical. Not young versus old. Three very different work patterns, sitting in the same meetings, but not on the same page with AI.
Why this gap matters more in marketing
Marketing is a compounding function. The marketer who learns faster, tests faster, ships faster, and repurposes faster gets more shots to win.
If AI helps you turn one insight into five assets, cut research time in half, tighten messaging before it goes live, and find the weak spots in a draft faster, that's not convenience. That's throughput.
And throughput compounds.
This isn't a philosophical debate about whether AI is good or bad. It's a workflow question. If your team can produce better work in less time with more iterations, the market rewards that, whether everyone else likes it or not.
What Operators actually do differently
They aren't better because they found the perfect prompt. They're better because they realized their usage compounds.
Experimenters keep relearning the tool. Operators keep improving the system.
The trap
Experimenters often think they've tried AI when really they've sampled a bad version.
That's not the same thing. Using a chatbot a few times is like going to the gym twice and declaring fitness doesn't work. You didn't build a routine. You visited the equipment.
Most marketers who say they're "using AI" are stuck somewhere in this loop. Not anti-AI. Just never enough repetition to become valuable.
Third-party cookies are disappearing. Platform targeting keeps getting broader.
But Amazon still knows what millions of people are actively researching and buying.
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Holdouts: rational concern, wrong question
The skepticism is appreciated. I applaud it. AI produces trash. It can make average marketers sound worse. It's flooding your email with SPAM.
It's not a binary. Evaluating AI as if the question is, "Can this replace good marketing on its own?"
That's the wrong test.
Can we think faster, ship faster, and improve faster partnered with AI?
That answer is clearly yes.
Six months later...
Managers will feel this before they can name it. Some people will get dramatically more effective. Others will stay flat despite "having access" to the same tools.
71% of Americans (Reuters/Ipsos, Aug 2025) are worried about losing their job to AI.
AI is like Coffee. As you use it more, you want it more. There are 40,990 Starbucks in the world. They had one location when I was born. Maybe you hate Starbucks, and like your authentic local shop, maybe you like Dunkin’ or your French press. There will be many flavors of AI, but my bet is that AI will follow Jevons Paradox , and we will need more marketers using it, not less.
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How to move from Experimenter to Operator
You don't need to become an AI maximalist. Nor do you need to build your identity around this. You just need to talk to it (160 WPM vs 70).
No heroic transformation. Just more context, more often.
The next big AI gap in marketing isn't between people who know every model name and people who don't. It's between people who build habits and people who never get past dabbling.
Operators are building leverage. Experimenters are still deciding whether this belongs in their workflow. Holdouts are betting they can wait.
Some can. Many won't. There will be a premium paid for handcrafted, fully human, but you'd better be in the Top 2% with a clear brand.
Which one are you right now: Operator, Experimenter, or Holdout?
Hit reply. Why? I read every one.
— Alec
P.S. Most of my family is Holdouts. My Mom refuses to use an iPhone, as having the internet is not super useful 😂
