Latest news with #JenniferChase
Forbes
20-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Great AI Needs Great (Synthetic) Data
Jennifer Chase is Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President at SAS. Every year, I am asked what marketing innovation I am most excited about, and for 2025, my answer may be surprising. I know you're probably expecting me to say AI agents or AI-created interactive marketing assets, but bear with me as I explain just why I think synthetic data generation should be the most hotly anticipated tech by marketers this year. As marketers, we are not data poor. However, we are data starved. And by that, I mean marketers are starved of cost-effective, high-quality data that we can use to create hyper-personalized marketing. For AI models to effectively run, the model input data must be complete and of good quality. And too often, our datasets have gaping holes. Synthetic data generation is a component of generative AI (GenAI), and with this tech, marketers can generate artificial datasets that share the attributes and characteristics of real customer data, but without any liabilities and limitations. According to Gartner, 'By 2026, 75% of businesses will use generative AI to create synthetic customer data, up from less than 5% in 2023.' Why is this important? Well, for marketers, I believe there are three main reasons: We need good quality data for the development of AI applications. However, this can be a challenge when privacy considerations and regulations are of utmost importance. Synthetic data can help with data privacy by creating data with the same patterns as real data, but with none of the identifying information. This level of data anonymity can help us safeguard personal data. As communications and marketing leaders, we are the trusted stewards of customer data, and I am excited about the role synthetic data can play in helping us protect it. Eradicating bias in our datasets should be a paramount consideration for all marketers. Not only is it unethical, but it also leads to inaccurate analyses that can negatively affect campaign and customer journey effectiveness. The wonder of synthetic data generation is that we can create more representative datasets. For instance, certain groups may be underrepresented, leading to biased model predictions. However, using synthetic data generation, we can create supplementary data for underrepresented groups, ensuring a fair distribution. Additionally, synthetic data can be designed to exclude biases that are often present in datasets. Organizations spend a lot of time acquiring and preparing data. And it's not a one-time process. Data decays. The generation of synthetic data can help limit some of the associated costs that come with that decay. A great way to improve efficiency using synthetic data in marketing is using it to perform look-alike modeling. Using generated data with the same features, structures and attributes as real-life datasets can help brands identify new audiences quickly and at-scale. Something marketers probably don't spend much time thinking about is the cost of data labeling. This is a hidden cost associated with data analysis. Annotating large datasets is time-consuming and expensive. When using data-generation technology, make sure it's designed to include data labeling automatically. Synthetic data has tremendous upside, from privacy protection to mitigating bias and reducing costs, all while improving overall marketing effectiveness. However, with this potential comes responsibility. Marketers must establish clear governance within their organization around when to use synthetic data. Beyond this, make sure you have defined guidelines for labeling and identifying the use of synthetic data to avoid misuse and misunderstanding. As a CMO, I'm always looking for ways to reduce costs while not reducing effectiveness, and synthetic data fits this bill for me. With the myriad ways it can aid marketing, especially in rapid experimentation, I believe synthetic data is going to cement its place in the continued evolution of marketing. Forbes Communications Council is an invitation-only community for executives in successful public relations, media strategy, creative and advertising agencies. Do I qualify?
Forbes
08-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Cutting Through The GenAI Hype
Jennifer Chase is Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President at SAS. getty There is a lot of apprehension around generative AI (GenAI). Some experts are suggesting there is too much spend but not enough return. However, this doesn't have to be the case, and it is not my experience. And this is backed by recent research from Coleman Parkes, which conducted a report on behalf of our company. The report found that organizations that are fully enabled are seeing strong ROI. This is corroborated by a 2024 study from the AMA that found 85% of marketers who use GenAI believe that it has slightly or significantly increased their productivity. About half of the respondents said they saved time and that GenAI improved the quality and quantity of their creative content. So, what is holding organizations back from realizing productivity gains? One hindrance is that most organizations are currently only using GenAI for foundational uses like copyediting, text creation and video production. According to the Coleman Parkes study, organizations using GenAI for more sophisticated use cases will see ROI. Marketers who are embracing this are seeing strong return on their investment using GenAI in personalization, customer satisfaction, and retention, processing large datasets and accuracy in predictive analytics. This begs the question, then: Why are the majority of organizations stuck at the top of the GenAI funnel? As the CMO of a data and AI solutions provider, I have a lot of opportunities to speak to fellow marketing leaders on this topic. And something I am discovering is that even the most data-driven marketing organizations are lagging on the implementation and use of GenAI. The first reason I see is a lack of understanding of GenAI at the very top of the marketing organization. In my experience, which is backed by data from the Coleman Parkes study, CMOs and marketing leadership aren't fully versed in the productivity gains that implementing GenAI can afford them. Always On-Culture For Learning And Development While marketers at the individual contributor level feel more comfortable with GenAI in their daily work, it is important to provide ongoing training in emerging tech to build skilled talent. No longer is it OK for marketers to be creative only. To be a modern marketer means understanding and using data to improve all facets of the customer journey. Therefore, it is imperative that we provide opportunities for training and development to marketers. I have asked my team to set aside a few hours on Friday mornings for personal development. We call this #MyFocusFridays, and we make available training resources from both internal and external sources to help our employees expand their skills. Also, consider arranging workshops for your team that get the creative juices flowing. We recently had the ANA run an interactive creative problem-solving workshop. Through a series of exercises, we were introduced to new ways of looking at challenges (like learning to use a new technology), and I have seen my team putting these into practice since. A Governance Framework Another obstacle to the successful utilization of GenAI is concern over privacy and governance. Sixty-one percent of respondents in our survey said their main concern about GenAI is data security and data privacy. And I completely understand this concern. Without a strong governance framework, an organization is at risk of substantial fines, reputational damage and loss of consumer trust. With only 1 in 10 companies reporting they have a well-established governance structure, marketers' concerns are well-founded. Creating a safety network of checks and balances is crucial. Consider setting up a center of excellence in marketing that, in addition to serving as an incubator of ideas, can work with your legal team to create policies and guardrails that protect your business without stifling innovation. Fostering An Environment For Innovation Finally, at many organizations, a cultural shift needs to happen. Marketing leadership has to send a very clear message that exploring new technologies to foster innovation and experimentation is expected. Exploration in new technology and skill introduces risk, but not taking the risk will ensure failure. Innovation can only happen if employees know they are safe to innovate without risk of penalty. As leaders, we must nurture a creative environment where our teams feel safe to suggest ideas without fear of criticism and to try new things without fear of failure. In fact, I learned this exact tenet as a child in the competitive figure skating world. Falling was not a failure. In fact, if you don't fall, you're not pushing yourself to reach your potential. For every fall there is a chance to get back up, learn and grow. So, my advice is to be an approachable leader who welcomes idea-sharing in meetings or in a one-on-one setting. Applaud those who try, not just those who succeed. My hope for 2025 is that marketing leaders embrace the myriad possibilities of GenAI to improve productivity and the customer experience. The journey to implementing effective GenAI in marketing can be daunting, but with the right guardrails in place, the right talent and the right training, GenAI will be a game-changing tool for marketers. Forbes Communications Council is an invitation-only community for executives in successful public relations, media strategy, creative and advertising agencies. Do I qualify?
