​The adoption of AI in B2B marketing: like power negotiation on the tango dancefloor

Thursday, November 25, 2021 - 10:00

Brendan Keegan, together with Dr. Ana Canhoto and Professor Dorothy Yen (Brunel University) have had an article published in Industrial Marketing Management. This study examined the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in automation of marketing processes. Typically, this would involve the use of an AI algorithm that would analyse large bodies of customer data to identify patterns the human eye would not be able to identify, such as lucrative customer groups. But in the business-to-business context, it is more complicated. Their study found that marketing automation through AI causes significant strains on the relationships between the buyers and producers of the algorithms. Therefore, both the buyer and provider of AI are engaged in a battle for control over the algorithm, as well as the data needed for the AI to do its job. Hence, this study reveals more about the battle for control when AI is adopted in business-to-business marketing, which they refer to as a ‘Power Tango’. The article is Open Access and available here. .