As AI continues to transform marketing, the phrase “upskilling” is thrown around a lot. But what does it actually mean for marketers to have AI skills? How do you adapt to ensure you’re setting yourself up for success as marketing shifts toward AI?
According to the World Economic Forum’s 2025 Jobs Report, the global job market is set to experience a net increase of 78 million jobs by 2030. But here’s the catch, many of these are in new areas, which means…new AI skills are needed. 63% of employers cite skills gaps as the biggest barrier to AI integration, and 85% are planning to upskill their workforce to meet this challenge.
If you’re a marketer, now’s the time to start thinking of what AI skills are needed to keep up (hint - it is more than better prompting).
In this article, we’ll break down five critical AI skills that every marketer should consider mastering to stay relevant and impactful in the AI era. These are actionable capabilities that can make you indispensable in your organization.
AI thrives on clean, well-defined processes. Without them, it’s like trying to race a Ferrari on a dirt road—you’ll go nowhere fast. If you don’t optimize your workflows, you risk automating chaos, leading to inefficiencies and poor outcomes.
For example, if a marketing team automates its email campaigns without first mapping out its lead nurturing process. Instead of targeted, meaningful follow-ups, prospects receive redundant or irrelevant messages—alienating them rather than converting them.
On the flip side, process optimization can lead to tangible business results, as seen in these five case studies.
What to Do -
Automating poor processes won’t just waste resources; it could damage your brand’s reputation. Customers will notice if the machine churns out subpar experiences.
DISCOVER how to improve processes and find time to integrate AI.
You don’t need to become a full-stack developer, but understanding coding fundamentals gives you the ability to collaborate with tech teams and make informed decisions about AI tools. Without this critical AI skill, you risk being sidelined in critical conversations.
Imagine trying to explain an AI-driven marketing campaign you want to build to your tech team but lacking the language to describe what you need. You ask for a “better workflow,” but without specifying logic, dependencies, or integrations, the result doesn’t meet your expectations.
Even though we are headed toward “no-code,” having a grasp on coding language and concepts will serve as a strong foundation (at least I am finding them helpful!)
What to Do -
Marketers without basic technical fluency will struggle to understand what’s possible, leading to missed opportunities and an inability to advocate for strategic tech solutions.
Data isn't just numbers—it's at the heart of effective AI-driven marketing. Understanding how to work with data will be crucial as AI continues to dominate decision-making. Data fluency allows you to turn raw information into actionable insights, enabling smarter decisions. This AI skill also allows you to speak more fluently with the data experts in your organization.
Without a clear understanding of data governance and structures, you risk feeding flawed data into your AI models and miscommunicating with your data teams. For example, an e-commerce company that doesn’t clean its customer database could end up targeting the wrong audience segments with expensive campaigns that don’t convert.
A 2018 Forrester study of B2B marketers found, “Eighty-two percent of respondents cited managing data across the business as a challenge.
What to Do -
Data fluency ensures you can interpret AI-generated insights, optimize campaigns, and make informed, impactful decisions. Companies with data maturity reported 73% more rapid sales cycles and a 73% higher marketing ROI.
READ: The Complete Guide to Marketing Analytics
AI makes experimentation fast, cheap, and scalable, but many marketers are still hesitant to embrace a testing mindset. The result? Missed opportunities for innovation.
Marketers who iterate quickly will stay ahead of the competition and maximize ROI. A case study from ClickMechanic showed that AI-driven experimentation led to a 60% increase in revenue within just two months.
What to Do -
Without experimentation, your campaigns risk stagnation, and you’ll lose out to those who know how to conduct AI-driven tests at scale.
DEVELOP a Team Ready to Ride the AI Wave
AI can transform decision-making from a battle of opinions to a process rooted in data and diverse perspectives. But if you’re not using AI to inform decisions, you’re leaving value on the table.
Consider a marketing team debating how to allocate their budget. Without AI, decisions are often influenced by the loudest voice or outdated data. With AI, the team could analyze performance metrics across channels, forecast ROI, and make an informed choice in minutes.
A study by Accenture showed that AI-powered decision-making helped a leading US retailer unlock $300 million in media buying opportunities and value creation
What to Do -
Sticking to traditional decision-making methods potentially means slower responses, more mistakes, and less confidence in your outcomes. Think of ways AI can super-charge your meetings and decisions.
Jobs are made up of tasks, processes and decisions. As AI takes over tasks, marketers must be prepared to add value in new ways, including:
By mastering these five skills, you’ll be prepared to adapt as AI becomes an integral part of marketing organizations.
Upskilling doesn’t have to be overwhelming.
Need help upskilling or defining high-impact use cases? Marketingfrontier.ai is here to help.
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