New skills, new mindset: Leading marketing in an AI future
MARKET VIEW
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Produced by:
Pia Hämäri
Head of Marketing for Nordics at Futurice
about
Pia Hämäri
Pia Hämäri is Head of Marketing for Nordics at Futurice, a global digital transformation agency founded in Finland. She leads marketing efforts across the company's largest business area, overseeing both Finland as an established market and Sweden as a growth market. With deep expertise in AI-driven marketing transformation, Pia has developed a comprehensive programme spanning thought leadership coaching, account-based marketing, and AI-powered workflows. Her strategic approach to integrating AI into marketing operations has enabled her and the team to deliver greater impact with increased efficiency.
How has AI transformed your marketing operations, and which functions have you successfully automated?
AI is now well integrated into our everyday marketing activities. We have been utilising it since 2023 and have established numerous custom GPTs tailored to different functions, with automation workflows supporting our processes.
The areas we have most successfully automated relate to digital marketing. LinkedIn campaigns now require four to five different versions of each advertisement with varied headlines, copy, and images. Our custom GPT generates the copy for all our advertisements and social media posts. Our subject matter experts continue to author their own thought leadership pieces, but we have developed a custom GPT for case studies and other templated content formats.
We have also built a custom GPT for event management called Edwina. When colleagues require support for smaller client events, Edwina guides them through requirements, assists with invitation text and calendar entries, and provides input on agenda development. All our templates and planning frameworks are embedded within it, enabling consistent, professional delivery across the organisation.
How does your ABM approach support account targeting and personalisation?
We have developed an ABM tool that, when given a target company and topic, retrieves strategic priorities and potential challenges from public sources. It then suggests how to tailor messaging to address their specific situation.
The tool also generates an ideal customer profile with recommended job titles to target and indicates who would be most receptive to particular messaging. When building a LinkedIn campaign, this provides a strong foundation for targeting and creative development.
Account-level intelligence represents the most valuable capability for our team's effectiveness - understanding strategic priorities, organisational challenges, and buying intent. Whilst we gain some visibility through existing platforms, achieving a comprehensive view remains challenging. With marketing and sales operating on different systems, creating a unified account perspective requires continued focus.
How do thought leadership and ABM work together within your marketing strategy?
We have operated a structured thought leadership programme for three years. In 2024, we committed to a single umbrella theme that connects all our thought leadership activities throughout the year, and we have continued building on that narrative.
We also run a thought leadership coaching programme, selecting 20 employees annually. Half apply directly, whilst half are nominated by their managers based on thought leadership potential. Participants receive coaching on building their professional presence, identifying topics, articulating their perspectives, and developing presentation and writing skills. They also learn how to engage effectively with media.
The thought leadership content addresses broad themes, targeting a wide audience to build awareness and positioning. We complement this with ABM-specific content tailored for particular industries. For example, we recently co-created material with public sector clients examining the obstacles organisations face when scaling AI initiatives.
This year, we have significant growth ambitions for Sweden. In a market where we are building our profile, we need both approaches: high-level thought leadership to establish awareness, combined with tailored messaging to ensure priority prospects understand our specific capabilities.
How do you balance AI capabilities with strategic thinking and creativity?
AI amplifies human expertise. Where we leverage it most effectively is in synthesising perspectives, strategies, and insights into clearer, more actionable outputs. However, AI does not replace strategic thinking. When you rely on AI alone for points of view or opinions, the output often lacks authenticity and distinctiveness.
The key is collaboration. You provide your expertise, perspectives, and strategic direction, and AI enhances and extends that thinking. It serves as an excellent sparring partner for developing ideas further.
For instance, when developing this year's thought leadership programme, our leadership team contributed various topics and perspectives in a workshop. I consolidated that material with our regional strategy and marketing plan, then used AI to help shape the thought leadership roadmap and identify potential content themes. The strategic direction came from our team; AI helped refine and structure it.
What advice would you give marketing leaders beginning their AI transformation?
Leadership commitment is essential. Senior leaders need to understand AI's value and create an environment where teams can explore and implement these tools effectively.
However, permission alone does not drive adoption. You need people who are curious and willing to integrate AI into their daily work. Starting with personal productivity gains is valuable, but achieving meaningful impact requires scaling across the entire team. This means examining your processes systematically, identifying where AI can add value, and investing in capability development.
One common barrier is uncertainty - people may not fully understand what AI does or how it benefits their work. There can also be concerns about how roles might evolve. Supporting your team through this transition, positioning AI as an opportunity rather than a threat, is crucial for success.
Ultimately, AI is an enabler. The technology itself represents perhaps 20% of the transformation; the remaining 80% depends on people embracing new ways of working. Without genuine engagement from your team, the transformation will not deliver its potential.
about
Futurice
Futurice is a global digital transformation agency founded in Finland 25 years ago, specialising in helping organisations navigate complex technological change. With established operations across Europe, the company combines deep technical expertise with strategic insight to help organizations turn complexity into clarity and clarity into measurable results. With strong capabilities in AI transformation, the company works across industries to shape AI-ready strategies and implement practical, outcome-driven initiatives that create lasting business impact.
About 6sense
6sense is on a mission to revolutionise the way B2B organisations create revenue by predicting customers most likely to buy and recommending the best course of action to engage anonymous buying teams. 6sense Revenue AI is the only sales and marketing platform to unlock the ability to create, manage and convert high-quality pipeline to revenue. Customers report 2X increases in average contract value, 4X increases in win rate and 20-40% reduction in time to close deals. Know everything, do anything, with 6sense.