We’ve all heard the hype. AI is here to change the game, speed things up, and make everything easier. But what happens when it speeds up the wrong things? Catch this episode of Revenue Rewired now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or Amazon Music.
What’s Really Going On
“If your revenue engine is broken, AI will just burn it out faster.”
We recently worked with a client who got caught up in the hype of “AI-first” marketing. They handed an agency a mountain of messy data, plugged it into a custom GPT, and expected gold. Instead, their campaign completely tanked with worse performance, more internal tension, and even less clarity.
The agency wasn’t necessarily to blame. They trusted the input. But when the input is flawed, even the smartest tool will lead you off a cliff.
It forced an uncomfortable truth: AI doesn’t solve your problem. It spotlights it.
What Most Companies Miss
- AI is not your strategy.
It’s a tool. If your KPIs are fuzzy, your attribution is off, and your sales and marketing teams are rowing in opposite directions, AI will only make that misalignment louder. - Speed makes failure happen faster.
This client didn’t know the data they provided was flawed. And because AI works fast, the failure happened fast.
“It didn’t just amplify the campaign. It amplified the chaos.”
A Real-World Wake-Up Call
We dissected the campaigns and saw the root issue quickly. The AI tool wasn’t designed to question the input. It assumed the data was clean. But the client's reporting system was a mess. Attribution models were vague. Marketing was being credited for things it didn’t drive.
We cleaned it up, aligned goals between departments, and rebuilt their strategy. Only then did we reintroduce AI, and the difference was night and day.
How to Make AI Work for You
Clean your inputs
If your CRM and campaign tracking are murky, AI will reflect that. Take time to audit what you’re feeding it before asking it for answers.
Ask better questions
Don’t just prompt for optimizations. Ask it to find weak spots. Tell it what failed. Push it to challenge assumptions, not just repeat what worked last time.
Close the loop
Most businesses treat AI as a one-way tool. Input then output. But unless you give it feedback on what actually happened, you’re not letting it learn.
Get aligned around revenue
Are your marketing campaigns tied to sales-qualified leads? Is the team optimizing for actual revenue impact or vanity metrics?
Stop chasing shiny
“Generative Engine Optimization” sounds slick. But if your core systems are off, you’re just polishing a mess. Clarity needs to come before acceleration.
Clarity First, Then Speed
“AI won’t save your strategy. But it will show you fast what’s broken.”
If your data is outdated, disconnected, or just plain wrong, AI will only speed up the consequences. On the flip side, if your system is tight and your inputs are clean, AI becomes a force multiplier.
Think of it like an engine. If you’re skipping the oil change, don’t blame the car when it breaks down. Maintain your system. Keep it aligned. Then let AI do what it does best: accelerate.
Want an outside perspective on your revenue system before AI shows you what’s wrong?
Let’s talk or Reach out at podcast@stringcaninteractive.com
