Transcript: The Future of AEC Marketing: AI Innovation and Strategy

Lindsay Diven: 1:14

Hey there, I’m Lindsay Diven and I’m passionate about everything marketing, productivity and career growth. With over 17 years of experience in the architecture, engineering and construction industry, I know firsthand the ends and the outs of this exciting field. For my early days as a marketing coordinator to becoming an award winning marketing professional and firm principal, I’ve learned the ropes through countless late nights and challenging deadlines. Now I’m thrilled to bring you the marketers take flight podcast. Here I’ll be sharing simple yet powerful, step by step marketing strategies that you can implement to achieve the same level of success. Consider me your go to marketing mentor, someone who truly gets the unique challenges you face in the AEC industry. Whether you’re an AEC marketing pro or industry newbie, this podcast is your personal coffee date with your marketing bestie. Together, we’ll navigate the ever changing landscape of online marketing and digital trends, ensuring you stay ahead of the curve. If you’re ready to unlock the marketing secrets they never taught you in college and tailor them specifically to the AEC industry, then you’re in the right place. Now let’s get started. As an AEC marketer, staying ahead of the curve is crucial for driving success in this ever evolving landscape of our industry. That’s why I’ve invited a special guest who is at the forefront of emerging trends and technologies Kristin Kautz from the JAM Idea Agency. In this episode, we’ll both be discussing the biggest trend that is affecting not only AEC marketing but the entire industry, and that’s AI, or artificial intelligence. Kristin has been testing and using these tools and will shed light on the exciting ways AI is already being utilized and the immense potential it holds for the future of our industry. We’ll discuss the challenges you may face, some ways that you can embrace these emerging technologies so be a techno optimist is what you like to call it and the skills needed to thrive in this new era, whether you’re a marketer, another type of AEC professional or simply fascinated by the captivating intersection of technology and marketing. Trust me when I say that you’re in for an absolute treat today. Join the both of us on this incredible journey as we navigate these exhilarating new trends and technologies and unveil some secret strategies to ensure that you stay ahead of the game. So, without further ado, let’s dive right in. Okay, welcome to the show, Kristin Kautz. She’s one of the owners of the JAM Idea Agency, and I saw Kristin speak at the S&P SRC conference earlier this year in New Orleans and I knew I had to bring her on the show because she is just a bundle of energy, great presenter. But she also is just like so ahead of all of these new emerging technologies And she just gave us like a lesson real fast in there. So I knew I wanted to bring her on the show to talk to us a little bit about what’s going on these new emerging technologies, these new trends and how AEC marketers can take advantage of that. Because who doesn’t want to use tools to help them do their job better, faster? So welcome to the show, Kristin. Thanks for being on, thanks for having me. Yeah, so before we get to all the like week out on the really cool stuff, for those of our listeners who don’t know you, can you tell us a little bit about yourself, how you got into the AEC industry and how you help firms today?

Kristin Kautz: 5:10

So it’s funny that we’re talking about technology and programs and apps and things like that today, because I got into the AEC industry about 20, probably 25 years ago. I interviewed at HOK here in Houston and I was having the discussion with the director of marketing to become a marketing. They called their second tier marketing professionals And he said what about PageMaker? And for the people in the room, PageMaker was the predecessor to InDesign And I basically screamed I love PageMaker. And he said you’re hired on the spot. And so I feel like something about my history and my start in AEC has to do with a program. So this is a good, relevant beginning.

Lindsay Diven: 5:54

Nice And tell us a little bit about JAM Idea Agency and what you guys do, how you work with firms today.

Kristin Kautz: 6:01

So my career path marketing professional I became a director of marketing at a firm in Florida. I came back to be director of marketing for a firm here in Houston. So I’ve done big, a little E I’ve done E, I’ve done full A. And my last it was with a very large civil engineering firm that grew from about 80 million to 325 million in about five years while I was there. Not everything to do with me, but I feel like my team was part of that success. But Lori Grubbs and I, we started JAM Idea Agency almost a year ago in March. We’re a little bit past our one year anniversary. We just wanted to be more creative and work with more firms, and so that was that. And part of this journey was we wanted to start to use new technologies and different types of marketing that our industry is not well known for being innovative with.

Lindsay Diven: 6:52

What.

Kristin Kautz: 6:52

No way. Yeah, I say that lovingly. AEC has been very good to us, right, very, very good to us And to me. This is a really good community, it’s a really good industry And we are wicked smart Full stop. For some reason, we are just not really out of the box thinkers when it comes to that innovation. The way it’s always been done, you know, the good old system And we look at new technology is something to be fearful of until it kind of just hits the mainstream. So. But that has to change. So we’re going to talk about that today.

Lindsay Diven: 7:29

Nice, nice Yeah, and similar to when you started JAM Idea Agency. I have, you know, my company. marketers take flight in the marketing for that. I get to try out and test because it’s my company.

Kristin Kautz: 7:40

It’s our company, yeah.

Lindsay Diven: 7:42

It’s all these new tools and technologies, so that’s kind of the benefit of having, and then I find what works and I bring that to my day job. So it’s kind of similar vein with that, okay. So let’s get into it. I’m going to just kind of hit you with a bunch of questions and we’re going to just go kind of, you know, as fast, as slow as you want, but let’s first start with what are two or three emerging trends you’re seeing right, now in. AEC marketing.

Kristin Kautz: 8:08

Okay. So I read that question. I thought it was really funny because I’m just going to say AI. So I’m literally just going to say AI. And when you talked about seeing me in SRC, what’s interesting is I was giving the presentation on programs and software and apps and Chrome extensions And I’m using my air quotes here. Technology is that we’re just interesting, right. But after that presentation and I got everyone so like wow, oh my gosh, My presentation since then have started to then morph into also education about AI. So what it like, what it is why is it having its moment right now? It’s challenges and opportunities, and I always I am a techno optimist. I’m not a techno catastrophizer. So, like the opportunities, the risks and the challenges are also the opportunities. But educating our industry about what the tools are and it’s not about a particular piece of software anymore, it’s about understanding AI is a shift in workplace and workforce dynamics. It’s not about how, like when, in design right, if it, when design was introduced, or a piece of software and you’re like, oh, that can live in marketing, or this thing can live in IT. The AI even though I’m excited about all the tools and we’ll talk about that, I want the audience to also understand and this is the white’s a trend. It’s the one trend I want to talk about because it is going to touch everybody everywhere, from the president down side to side. But it’s not about one technology. The AI is the trend. Getting your head wrapped around this type of it’s a new work pattern. It’s a pattern. Yeah, so I don’t have three trends, I just have one, and it’s AI. Okay, yeah, there we go.

Lindsay Diven: 9:57

That’s great. That’s great. Yeah, I can see it’s going to be a total disruptor in the overall work processes, right In how you know, not only marketing, but like how engineers and architects program and design Buildings, right And infrastructure and everything like that. So I haven’t thought about that too much because I’m not really in that world. I’ve been focusing more on the marketing. So I like that we’ve you’ve started here And I like that you said, because I feel like I am also a techno optimist. I like to think about, okay, well, what new opportunity is this going to? you know, just like when Amazon online retailing, e-retail it’s closing all the stores but it’s opening up all these other jobs of warehouse jobs and logistics And it’s shifting Like we’re going to need to learn some new skill sets And I’m sure we’re going to talk about that a little bit, especially as AEC marketers want to like keep growing their career. That career path is going to look totally different, totally different. Yeah, and I can’t remember where I heard it now, but it was on some podcasts and they were saying oh, it was the gentleman from the Shark Tank, Damon John. He was on a podcast, the guy who invented Fubu, and he came out with this children’s book about financial management, all this stuff. But what he was saying was the kids that are in college. So my son is in college. They will be working in jobs and they’re studying jobs, or jobs that they will be working in don’t even exist yet. Don’t exist right now, and like my daughter that’s in seventh grade, the job that she will be working in, or the career that she’ll be working in five, six, 10 years from now, doesn’t exist yet Exactly Yeah. So I like to try to say optimist, optimistic that, okay, let’s just keep learning and keep re-skilling and keep learning this. So if anybody that’s like scared, look at it the other way. It’s an opportunity to keep learning and growing. Yeah, we don’t again.

Kristin Kautz: 11:57

There are so many people out there right now talking about AI, so there’s one right, there are coders and developers and really I mean techno, really hardcore techno people And they do. They talk about and we did a survey was why And the number one thing is like fearful of jobs, but it’s, your job could get replaced. I mean that is just the truth, but it’s always been the case. Our jobs could be replaced, but there are going to be, like you said, there are new jobs that are going to emerge from this. There is no doubt about it. I will also say and I am gonna say this directly because if your firm is not getting on board with this, your firm will be irrelevant, like we are. I’m gonna say it and it’s scary, but it’s also. We’ve seen that path. I’m old enough to have seen Again. I was this morning thinking about the horse and buggy. When the horse and buggy person said cars are a fad, I mean that’s just a given. We don’t have horse and buggies anymore. We don’t have people who are designing bridges or neighborhoods or homes or buildings by pencil and paper anymore. So that’s just the way of the world. We are gonna keep emerging and evolving And right now it just kind of seems to be at this exponential rate. But marketers and I’ve said this before I have the opportunity now. I’ve been speaking on this now since I kind of feel like I’ve been speaking on it forever And so much stuff has changed. Since January I’ve given like 30 speeches, so it’s like and everyone changes. My point is I give a lot of talks to marketers as well as you do, and we have the ability to lead this discussion right. So, like, we get to be leaders and have a value for our firms, but firms that don’t pay attention to AI are not going to be here. But that doesn’t mean another firm isn’t gonna pop up that’s going to be doing AI, and so there’s a job there, right? Anyway, so it’s just a shift. You’re right, the shift Yeah.

Lindsay Diven: 13:52

Okay, so we’ve talked a little bit about how AI is shaping the workplace, shaping the processes, going to be shaping our jobs. I mean, let’s just be real, it’s already shaped my daily work product. Oh, absolutely So. Can you give us some like specific examples of how AI is currently being utilized either by you or other firms in the industry today?

Kristin Kautz: 14:16

So I can’t find a firm that is using AI systemically in the firm. So that’s the first where this is definitely needed. But there are people using it. If you’re a leader, if you don’t think your staff is using it, you are mistaken. If you are in a firm and you don’t think your peers are already using it, you are mistaken. I know this to be true, and so I’m going to say how people are using it, not necessarily firms. People are using it and they’re just starting to play with the technology. And obviously chat GPT is just the big one. That burst on the scene last October and it’s beta testing, and then in January, when it kind of got turned on to the public And that’s where I’m also going people think AI is chat GPT. And so they equate it, like that’s the brand name of it, but chat GPT is one part of this larger thing that’s happening. So I would say right now, especially since your audience is marketers, I mean, we’re using it to write, we’re using it for photo manipulation, we’re using it for video manipulation. I’ve taught that you can do presentations with it instantaneously, with prompts. I just used it this morning to help me write, and I’m a writer, I love to write, so I’m gonna say that I love to write, but I’m using it to help me write press releases and things on difficult or technical. We look for technical writers right now, right, and so I can help make something more technical or less technical. But I say this when you put something into the AI technology for everyone’s who’s listening, who’s listening please just make sure that when you get it out of the technology, that you put your own stamp on it, you manipulate it in some way, you edit it, you look at it for truth and accuracy and clarification. You shouldn’t pull anything out of a tool that it’s great but it’s not perfect yet. So, yeah, so I think there are lots of marketers. I mean, obviously we can talk about something in a second, but just yeah, we do our writing, we do communications, we do images, we do videos, social media, things like that. I think that’s probably how your audience is using these different tools, and I also want to mention that what’s happening is. In January, I was mentioning all these different pieces in technology, and right now, companies that are emerging are bundling those things. So before, when you had to go to 10 different places to do these 10 different pieces and I call it in my presentation, I call it stack the hacks. Right, yeah, to do one thing, then another, then another, all of those stacking the hacks are now in one company or one app or one website. So that’s even a shift that’s happened only in the past couple of months that these things are starting to become all in one. So we mentioned Adobe has come out with their own AI and Firefly. It’s definitely not perfect At the moment, I think, it’s still in beta testing. You can sign up for it and the wait list is very short, but it is nowhere near great. But is it gonna be great tomorrow? Yes, so, and so all these companies that are kind of starting to all in one. That’s where I think the trend for AI is going, which is why I say don’t get so caught up on one piece of technology Right, just get used to the technology.

Lindsay Diven: 17:34

And not be afraid of it. Yeah, test it, go in and do it, absolutely Yeah there’s nothing to be afraid of.

Kristin Kautz: 17:40

We tell the caveat of when you put stuff into AI well, of any internet or program like that, just be careful of what you put in right Someone is taking on the other end of that side is your data is being stored somewhere, that information is going somewhere. So be very careful about what you put in for your firm or your own personal stuff. Just have that general awareness that we should all have of putting any information into our computers anytime, right, yeah, but go play with this stuff. It’s amazing.

Lindsay Diven: 18:11

Yeah, what are maybe one or two tools for somebody who’s like brand new to all this that you would recommend, maybe starting with ChatGPT? Well, for sure.

Kristin Kautz: 18:20

Yeah, yeah, for sure, if you’re starting to play with it, I’m thinking about the writing ones, like write Sonic is a good one. Copy AI is another one. Copy AI, if we can just talk about this one for a second. So I talk about the fact that AI has to sit on top of a database, a knowledge database of knowledge right Information, yeah, Some kind of information. That’s where it’s pulling from. It’s looking at the prompts you give it, it’s looking at that database, it’s analyzing that based on its quota, its algorithm, and then it’s outputting something that it’s hoping you’re looking for. That’s its process. It’s very simple. So simply get very complex and complicated, but you wrap your head around that It’s pulling information from somewhere. So OpenAI, which is the company that created ChatGPT that it’s kind of in cahoots with Microsoft. They are trying to develop and I’m using my hands like, pull it off the shelf product where someone can put this AI on top of your own assets, right?

Lindsay Diven: 19:25

In a closed loop system.

Kristin Kautz: 19:27

So instead of it pulling information from the internet or something like that, it’s going to be pulling information from your own intelligence and your assets. So I always say, let’s just future think for a second. Pretend, like if you’ve had this AI technology sitting on top of all of your proposals and you can prompt it to say, please go pull this approach from Brian Wilson that he wrote in 2022, from this proposal, and it pulls it for you. And what if you could put all the questions for your proposals in and it would just start to just generate those answers for you. Like it’s mind blowing. Okay, so I teach that as something. My phrase is what’s next is now, and it’s already here. It’s just not an off the shelf product yet, but that’s the direction we’re going, okay, so now I’m going back to CopyAI. So I was on CopyAI yesterday and there’s a free version. I use free tools all the time. Right, there’s only about three or four that I actually pay for. But CopyAI when you go into it even the free version there’s a place and I cannot remember what the language is right now but you may I’m not joking upload your own Word documents and PDFs. Okay, your own stuff. So you’re creating your own library of what it’s going to then pull from. And so I uploaded two or three of our personal proposals, right And again, knowing full well that somebody else on the other side of this could be stealing our information, but I’m okay with it, I’m testing this stuff out. So I uploaded our PDFs and then I went back into the technology and I said, please pull our fees from these two proposals, And it wrote me our fees, our paragraphs about what we charge and what we do for those fees, and so something that I have been talking about that is a futuristic thing is already in a free AI tool right now. It is mind blowing.

Lindsay Diven: 21:28

So if somebody out there is listening right now. They just want to give it a little.

Kristin Kautz: 21:32

Try CopyAI, get your free version, go upload a couple proposals and start asking it questions, and CopyAI uses the hashtag as a prompt for what document it’s going to go look for. So you can give it a couple of documents or just one document, but it uses a hashtag as a prompt. But go play with that. That is what’s coming on a smaller scale, like the big. That is how we’re moving. So, again, it’s not just about CopyAI. It’s about how you learn to give information of these systems the best prompts to get the right answers for what you need in order to make your life better, faster, more creative, more productive.

Lindsay Diven: 22:14

Yeah, I’m with you on that. We’re a HubSpot user and so HubSpot is using the open AI and overlaying it on your accounts. So you can ask, I can just ask it what was my website traffic last month and how did that compare year over year? It gives me the stats. So I’m thinking, as soon as I saw that, like my day job, we’re a Dell Tech provider. I’m like come on Dell Tech. If they already have the hey Dell Tech, which is like hey Alexa, they just need the AI over it to be like hold me my hit rate for last month and compare it year over year and tell me what it compared to year over year or quarter over quarter. So that whole idea of what you were saying, the computation or the actual code to search your data and give you a response to your prompt, it is here now. So I didn’t even think about proposals. But if you have a CRM database where you have all your project descriptions and all your project stats and all your employees, how hard is it? now? if we wanted to do some cool marketing stat, like at my last firm, we would keep track of the hundreds of thousands, millions of square foot of warehouse and manufacturing facilities we’ve designed. Yeah, like we’d have to pull a report and manually add it.

Kristin Kautz: 23:33

Or how many places to look for that. Like, you’re talking about your stats for your website and this is so old school, but yet it was only three or four years ago. I mean, I was pulling stats off of four different sites by hand. That would take me an hour to do a report for a client, and now you just ask it the question. But you’re right, I have a friend who is a director of facilities and she loves her spreadsheets. So I mean hundreds of spreadsheets. Right, Microsoft is the one who is really they’re going to kill it. And you could just pull the spreadsheets and ask it the question how many square footage, how much square footage of hospitals did we design? And I like we would have to do that by hand before, and now it is an instantaneous thing. So did your curiosity or creativity change? No, you just don’t have to spend hours getting the answer to what you want And you have to know how to ask the right questions. So that shift in thinking and analytical thinking is going to be really important.

Lindsay Diven: 24:31

And I think it really fosters creativity, because you’d be spending less of your energy on hunting down the data and more of your energy on the ideation and the strategy. In my mind, that’s kind of I’ve had way more time to be creative.

Kristin Kautz: 24:50

That’s amazing. Instead of summarizing.

Lindsay Diven: 24:53

I use ChatGPT to summarize my podcast show notes, write my email newsletters, write my social media captions. What used to take me like three or four hours takes me like 15 minutes now, And I still have to edit them, like you said, and put my own voice on them. So that’s great Now that we got everybody pumped up and excited what, in your opinion, or what you’ve seen? really, what are the key challenges that AEC marketers are going to face? I’m not going to say may face. They are going to face these new trends and this AI technology.

Kristin Kautz: 25:29

Let me think about the question as far as people in AEC, but also marketers. So one I believe, if we are going to be early adopters in this technology which I believe that we are and we will be because we know it’s potential to make our lives better that our firms are going to be slow to catch up to even us and the industry is going to be slow. So one fighting that battle again with your own firm or people about the value of this technology. So I was having a discussion with the CMO and she had seen one of my presentations and was talking to AI with her president And he was like he finally was like just I’m sick of talking about AI, like don’t talk to me about it anymore. And I was just like shook, so she’s. But she fought back and she said no, we’re going to, we’re going to keep talking about this. And she brought in the risk director for the firm and the risk director’s eyes got really big And then the president said maybe we should talk about this, do you know? so it’s like how do we, how do we fight the people in our firm who just say we’re going to turn it off, we’re just not going to have AI. We’re going to turn off chat, tft or access to Firewallet?

Lindsay Diven: 26:43

Yeah, exactly.

Kristin Kautz: 26:44

Which is their right. I mean I’ve talked about this before. It’s your right to do that. It’s not the right answer. But if you are so scared of it as a firm or whatever, or as a leader, and you’re going to turn it off, I mean that’s going to be a fight with other people in your firm who are using it. So that’s not just a marketing problem, it’s a how do we move an industry and firms that are just again, I say this lovingly because AUC is we’re smart and we are a good industry We’re just heavy with not being able to move quickly into the future. So, marketers, I think as early adopters maybe every early adopter has this problem, right, you know, trying to figure out how to use this technology when the rest of your people around you just don’t want to or don’t understand it or are fearful of it. But the challenges are, like I said, security. Please really, really understand that. Be very careful when you are putting any information in. I think it was oh God, it was Samsung or something. It was one of the big firms and one of their engineers put proprietary code into ChatGPT and then it was out there for everybody. I mean it was a big data breach of security. So be really careful what you put out there. Be really careful what you put about yourself or your firms or your clients. Just really be careful of that. Accuracy is a huge problem. The stuff that it’s coming back, it’s false confidence on the AI’s part. I mean they are now citing sources that it’s making up right.

Lindsay Diven: 28:10

Yeah, I’ve seen some of those yeah Right.

Kristin Kautz: 28:14

So I did a search. My previous firm was LJA, So I did a search on Bing and I was like, what are the three largest land development projects that LJA did in Houston? And it came back with three. The first one was accurate, The second one was accurate And the third one was an absolute lie. We had nothing to do with this project but it was very competent that we did And it cited sources, including LJA’s own website. But I knew it was false because I had worked there, obviously in marketing and in our projects, but somebody else who put that in there would not know that that’s not true.

Lindsay Diven: 28:44

Yeah, maybe like an engineer or a project manager that’s preparing for a meeting.

Kristin Kautz: 28:49

You have to give. this technology, I say, is amazing, it’s mind blowing. I am an optimist. It is very good. It’s not perfect and it’s going to get better. It gets gonna get better by tomorrow. But when you get information out, you have to automatically be taught to be skeptical. You have to be skeptical even if it’s citing a source, and I think we are training a generation. we’re just training people in general older people, younger people to believe what they see on their computers or whatever you know hashtag facts. And we are now, especially if it’s getting spit out by AI or somebody like Microsoft or Bing or Google, right, and it’s citing sources, we’re like, oh it’s there, it is. I mean, I think you saw the other day that picture of the Pentagon or something you know.

Lindsay Diven: 29:38

take the stock market.

Kristin Kautz: 29:39

Are you joking? Like this is just the end? like be skeptical, Be skeptical, Do not believe everything that it comes out. Put your own stamp on it, look at it with open eyes. And so that’s the part two. Even with marketing, like just know that, even if the stuff is sitting on top of your own assets as well, or in HubSpot too, I would still tell you, be skeptical when you get the information out and just make sure it’s it really is truly accurate. So yeah, Security accuracy. Yeah.

Lindsay Diven: 30:14

I’ve told some of my students, you know, for security, like I don’t put anything in that I wouldn’t put on our website or my website, like if I wasn’t going to put it online I probably wouldn’t put it into like ChatGPT or anything, but like marketing stuff, like we’re putting that online anyway. So you know, feel free to use that, because you’re not going to be talking about a confidential project or a confidential client in your marketing materials. So, or trade secrets I don’t know what engineering firm has trade secrets. We put them all in our proposal.

Kristin Kautz: 30:48

Well, they all think they do So you know, even if they think that they really aren’t trade secrets. Everybody thinks we’re different and we all have this you know, proprietary intelligence.

Lindsay Diven: 30:56

So yeah, Yeah, And then obviously like your own personal information right. Hopefully this goes without saying like don’t put any of yeah, We have to do that. So, yeah, we talked about some of the challenges that they may face, And those are valid security, accuracy, pushback, you know, just kind of from going too fast, I think. I don’t think it’s pushback that they don’t ever want to do it, although it sounded like that one CEO did. It’s more of a not right now. Let’s wait until we get some guidance from our peers. Let’s wait till every other firm is doing it. It kind of reminds me of so I got into the industry in 2005. And at that point it was like the websites were changing from flash to like WordPress and social media was starting And so everybody was like, well, why do we need a social media? And all they were all blocked Right. I remember sitting at my firm in 2014 or 2015 and our designers could not get onto YouTube to watch like Revit training videos because they had blocked YouTube. And we had an executive meeting about should we unblock YouTube from our office firewall. It was like they were watching it on their phones on cellular because they couldn’t even get on the Wi-Fi because it was locked, and I was like that was like it was like 2014, 2015. So this whole time that we’re in now reminds me of that time where there were some people that were like at the forefront of it. There were some people that, you know, there’s still our firms, like because I get students and they’re like we don’t know what to do for social media. How do we do social media, you know? and so that was 17 years ago, 10 years ago. So this feels a lot like that, yeah it’s.

Kristin Kautz: 32:50

I remember if you’re BIM and Rivet, right, they were switching from. They were, you know, 3d modeling and things like that. And I remember firms very slow to adopt The technology was really expensive. That’s when I was working for the small healthcare firm. I don’t think we had 25 people but it was still going to be a large capital outlay to get the technology and the software and switch everything over and get people trained up. So there’s a money cost to it, right. And then clients were like they didn’t have the technology to handle Rivet or BIM or the servers and the space that they needed. But the minute that some firms were early adopters, then clients were early adopters And then eventually the whole industry shifted to the software. But that was also over 15 years. It was still a slow adoption. But now you don’t have again going back to the horse and buggy weird thing. But like I don’t think that there are firms out there who are still hand drawing and they’re not doing 2D drawings, right. But that gave firms 15 years of we’ll wait and see. The technology will get cheaper. Our clients can’t handle it. So we can’t give our clients something that they can’t read or produce or work on. This is totally different. So I think it’s totally different. I don’t know how to explain that except for saying it’s totally different. It is not just touching a designer, it’s not just touching a client. It is touching how CEOs manage their firms. It’s going to change your org charts. It’s going to change accounting. It’s going to change human resources, it’s going to change legal, it’s going to change facilities. It’s going to change marketing. It’s going to change your designers. So this isn’t just a wait and see. You have to start asking these questions now. And I would even say, like last month I was saying you have to start thinking about this, and now I would say you have to start doing something about it. I mean, i’d be remiss if I didn’t put the plug in and say please hire me, I want to be your AI whisperer, like that is what I have 25 years of experience in this industry. I found something I am wickedly excited about, and then somehow I am that bridge between what the technology is and how I can literally see it changing our industry And I understand what those implications are going to be. So, yeah, this is not like yes, the iPhone, the smartphones were revolutionary, right? This stuff is changing. When I was looking at the questions you sent me. I was thinking about the questions a couple of days ago and my answers have changed by today. So, like that’s even my answers and how I’m looking at this technology, it’s changing every day. This is not a wait and see moment. So that’s why I said you don’t have to think about it in terms of one piece of software or one application or one extension or whatever. You have to wrap your head around the systemic shift in how someone is going to work for you in your firm. And so, yeah, it’s not a wait and see. I don’t know how. I just Yeah.

Lindsay Diven: 35:56

Yeah, it’s not a wait and see, yeah, So let’s hone in a little bit on marketers right now, because that’s the majority of my audience, but you could probably answer it for everybody too. But like, how can marketers best prepare themselves to embrace these new technologies and maybe not even stay ahead of the competition, but just keep up and just keep relevant.

Kristin Kautz: 36:20

So I would say play with the technology. Obviously, that’s the given is, start to play around with it. And you’re I don’t know how to say this without saying it So like you’re in it for yourself at the moment, I think, like you and I were talking about, you’re always being challenged. You need to keep growing, you need to keep learning, you need to stay current. So this is about really about you and how you are going to fit this technology and this AI into your own workspace and how you go about your day and what those skill sets are for you, because I really am concerned that if a firm does not engage in this, then that person who is engaged and is going to go find something else they really are. But if I’m talking to the individuals listening, then learn this technology, understand it’s important and start to wrap your head around it and get some better skills around prompting and being competent with the app than the extensions and the different types that are out there, and play with it so that you are really comfortable with it, so that you can move forward, no matter what your firm does.

Lindsay Diven: 37:31

Yeah, I think getting comfortable with it And I feel like you’re a lot like me. I’ve always been kind of just quick to pick up new technology like try a new CRM or a marketing automation platform or just this wording. I was using a new tool called Video. that just breaks up on videos into short videos Yep easy yesterday, Lauren, I was asking Yeah, so I just am quick. It doesn’t intimidate me, but I do know for a lot of marketers, especially a lot of very creative marketers like writers, they are technology adverse And so I feel like you can’t be like that anymore. I think, being nervous and trying and testing out something new, I think you’re just gonna have to do it Like I think you’re just gonna have to, and the good thing about these tools, like Video or ChatGPT, is that they’re designed to be so easy and so user friendly. We haven’t even talked about Canva and all of Canva’s new AI tools, but they’re designed to be very user friendly, so it’s not like the software of the past.

Kristin Kautz: 38:38

Right, oh, yeah, exactly, yeah, yeah. so that’s the part too. I use a lot of videos in my presentations now, and videos that I don’t produce, like. I steal them from Google and Microsoft because they do them so much better. They put millions of dollars into them. But in order to show someone what we’re talking about, I’m like, okay, I’m gonna run this video for you. And then, after they see the video, they’re like, oh, because we can talk about it, but you really do not understand what it is until you’re in one of these programs. And so what you’re saying about, okay, let’s just go back to InDesign. So you had to learn all of the tools and the dropdowns and the drags and the I mean all this stuff with an InDesign right? AI technology is you being creative and giving it. It’s called a prompt. So for those people out there, you tell it what to do. You are designing something just with your words. It’s like you’re speaking to an assistant saying, hey, I’ve got this idea and I want this page. Like you can build a website now with just by telling something. So pretend like we wanted to build a webpage and you’re like okay, I have this idea in the navigation, I wanted to say this, and then I want a picture on the right, and then I want, you know, a video down here. You describe it just like that And that’s what the prompt is, and the AI is then doing it for you. So you don’t have to know. I’ve said this before in presentations which just again, PageMaker just dated me. But back in the day we had to go into Photoshop and remove a pixel by pixel by pixel by pixel of a background, and now you’re just like hey, remove the background from this image and it’s done instantaneously. You don’t have to have the skill set to make that. To execute it, ai is going to execute it for you. You have to have the skill set and the creativity and the vision to tell the AI what to do. That is a monumental shift in thinking. But going back to what you said, it’s completely creative. The more creative you can be and the better off you are at telling somebody what your creative vision is, then that AI can go execute. You don’t have to be the person who knows how to move a box around on InDesign anymore or how to you know. Drop a photo. Yeah, I love it.

Lindsay Diven: 41:01

Yeah, because I’m not like a strong video editor but like using cool, like video and some of the other ones. They just do it for me, Right, And it’s great Because that is not my strength. And then tools like Canva, like you, don’t even have to use Photoshop. You can just do the remove the background Right, Or highlight if there’s a trash can and one of your project photos or cone. How many times have we took pictures and there’s a cone And it’s like, eh, remove the cone. So so I love that.

Kristin Kautz: 41:29

Yeah, think about proposal people who are. They’re good at collecting information and collaboration and thinking bigger about what they’re actually writing to and the audience and the client that they’re writing to. They don’t have to spend the four hours getting rid of a cone or making a photo, you know, less blurry or something like you don’t have to spend your time on that anymore. You could just spend your time doing what your brain is meant to do, which is get with your people. Be more strategic. Write better for your clients. Be more thoughtful about your you know, targeted responses, tailoring the responses. We have now found hours in the day to do better proposals for our clients. That we’ve always wanted, so yeah, I love it.

Lindsay Diven: 42:16

I love it Okay. So before we close out today, I’m going to end with my rapid fire questions. Are you ready? I think so, yeah, okay. So question number one what is your number? one piece of advice for marketers who are new to the AEC industry.

Kristin Kautz: 42:33

Find a peer who is your own, like level right, an entry level. If you’re new to the well, you could be a seasoned marketer, but still new to the AEC. Find a peer and find a mentor Love it, love it, yeah.

Lindsay Diven: 42:49

Question number two what has been your favorite or most memorable win?

Kristin Kautz: 42:54

You and I talked about this and when I first read the question, I will tell you immediately. I just went to a feeling and so my firm that I worked for before my boss. I adored him, adored him and he died of COVID in 2020, but one of my just best feelings, which I would consider a win, would be that we were a very large, growing firm. We’d always been number two in the rankings and I can’t remember what the ranking is at the moment, but that didn’t matter. I remember I was at a regional conference for S&PS in the north and I got a phone call from a journalist that wanted to interview us because we got ranked number one and I remember I scooted off to a little corner to call him and number one, he took my phone call, which I just think is awesome because we had that relationship and then, two, I got to tell him that we were number one and so. I don’t know. It’s a feeling of I got to make his day, and so then I think bigger picture about this is the people that we worked for, even our own president, vice presidents and stuff. He in particular, because he was a president of a large firm, he had to deal with S all day. That’s the MacCus word, right. You know he had to deal with people’s whining or complaints or a lawsuit or revenue projections, like you know tough stuff, and I got to be the one that gave him good news And so there was just something about. That’s what I consider to win, yeah absolutely. Yeah, I remember that for his day.

Lindsay Diven: 44:27

It’s always good when you can deliver it, when you get that project win or the ranking or the award, yeah, and then you get to tell people.

Kristin Kautz: 44:37

Yeah, it’s even better, you can share that joy.

Lindsay Diven: 44:40

Yeah, it was not.

Kristin Kautz: 44:41

Yeah, it was a good thing, and I think we also, as marketers so many people are we’re people pleasers, you know. so I’m surrounded by them and we want to do our best work and we want people to be happy with us. And so when I read the question, I was like that’s not a win for like a company or whatever That was. it was also personal for me. It would just I remember that, making me feel so good because he was so happy.

Lindsay Diven: 45:05

Yeah, I love it. Okay, And then question number three what are you excited about AI? I could have guessed that question or that answer.

Kristin Kautz: 45:16

I’m excited. I am excited that, like I said, even at this stage in my career, I can’t believe this is happening on my watch, right. So I’m so jealous that younger your children, younger children, you know, they’re growing up in this world where this is just going to become commonplace for them. But we get to see the wonder of it I mean, we the shift and the fact that we are around when this is happening and can implement it and be useful. And, yeah, I’m excited about this. It’s just so fascinating And it’s it’s something so different than just like letterhead and business cards, right. So this is really really cool, which hopefully AI can then take off our plate as well, because it’s the beta part.

Lindsay Diven: 46:00

Yeah, Love it, Love it. And then last question today, if listeners want to get a hold of you, you’re a firm work with you. Give us all of your contact information. What’s the? best way for them to reach you.

Kristin Kautz: 46:14

So my email obviously easy, right? It’s [email protected]. And my name is Kristen Kautz And I actually had a speaker’s agent just telling me to do a website, so you can find us at jamideaagency.com. I’m also on LinkedIn. I also have a Kristen Kautz k-r-i-s-t-i-n. K-a-u-t-z.com. You can find me there. That’s AI related, but also if you send something out to your listeners. I started the group after SRC called Digital Gorillas on LinkedIn And you can join And that’s kind of where I put just stuff that I’m thinking about or that I see, and I’m trying to update it as fast as humanly possible, but that’s where I put the stuff.

Lindsay Diven: 46:58

Yeah, I love it. I’m a part of that group And so I’m glad you mentioned that, because I was going to. I noticed it one day. I don’t even remember how I found it, but I joined it There you go. Good Yeah, so you put up some neat stuff there. So thank you so much for taking the time. It sounds like you’re really busy with sharing the word of AI and helping firms implement AI, so thank you for carving out some time with us today. It’s been a pleasure to speak with you.

Kristin Kautz: 47:27

Pleasure as well. As long as I can always talk about AI and help people in our industry understand it, it is a good day.

Lindsay Diven: 47:33

And that wraps up another enlightening episode of Marketers Take Flight. I hope you were as captivated as I was by the incredible insights shared by my special guest, Kristin Kautz. The world of AEC marketing is evolving at lightning speed And it’s essential that we all stay informed, adaptable and ready to embrace the opportunities that lie ahead Again, be that techno optimist. So, as I conclude, I want to express my deepest gratitude to Kristin Kautz for generously sharing her expertise and vision with us. Make sure to connect with her and stay connected with Marketers Take Flight for more thought-provoking discussions, actionable insights and expert guidance. Thank you again for joining me on this journey of exploring new trends and technologies, and remember the sky’s the limit for AAC marketers who dare to embrace innovation and remain steadfast in their pursuit of excellence. Until we meet again, keep rocking those marketing strategies and chasing your goals Until next time. Bye for now.