From Data Paralysis to Power: How Former Meta & Google Experts Use AI to Help Businesses Overcome Marketing Challenges

✍️ Opinions

Sanvi Barjatya

01 Jun 2025 — 5 min read

Neeraj K Kushwaha, Co-founder and CEO, third i., AI to Help Businesses Overcome Marketing Challenges

This article has been contributed by Neeraj K Kushwaha, Co-founder and CEO, third i.

It’s no news that marketing has taken a 180-degree shift, especially in the current AI era. McKinsey reports claim that gen AI could increase marketing productivity by 5–15%, yet sadly, the majority of marketers and decision makers do not leverage AI beyond ChatGPT. The reason? Either marketers are unaware, or the solution is too expensive. Now that’s a huge gap and opportunity in the marketing ecosystem.

In 15 years of my journey in the growth and marketing industry, I have helped businesses in the growth phase, scale, and firsthand seen the passion, grit, and ingenuity small business owners pour into their work. So, I’ve also witnessed their universal frustration: the mountain of marketing data, the endless reports, and the nagging question—“Am I winning?”

For many, the answer was no. In our research, 46% of SMBs are still unsure whether their marketing is effective, and 51% feel stuck with their current solutions. The average business juggles up to 15 different tools just to manage growth marketing. That’s 22 million advertisers globally facing a triple threat:

Limited Resources: Not everyone has a data science team on hand.
Lack of Expertise: Deciphering data can feel alien.
Time Crunch: Who has hours to untangle data silos?

So, after 15 years of witnessing the SMB struggle, third i’s co-founder, Anand and I saw an opportunity in the new marketing landscape - the era of AI.

The New Marketing Reality: Data Overload and Decision Paralysis

For years, businesses have been told that “data is the new oil.” The result? Organisations of every size now collect mountains of information from every digital touchpoint—websites, social media, email, ads, and more. But as any marketer or business leader knows, more data doesn’t mean more clarity. In fact, it often means the opposite.

In our early days of building third i, our conversations with marketers identified 3 core challenges:

3 challengers that marketers face — 3 Challengers that Marketers Face

Data Paralysis: Teams spend countless hours sifting through dashboards and reports, unsure which numbers matter.
Decision Paralysis: With so many metrics, channels, and tools, teams second-guess every move, fearing that a better option is just around the corner.
Execution Paralysis: Even when insights are found, implementing them is slow, campaigns stall, opportunities slip away, and momentum is lost.

This cycle drains resources, confidence, and can leave even experienced marketers feeling stuck.

Revolution in Marketing: From Analytics to Action

The marketing industry is now at a tipping point. The era of collecting data for its own sake is over. The new era is actionable or decision intelligence—the ability to move from insight to impact, quickly and confidently.

Now, you would agree with me that AI is real, and you need to embrace it. But where and how should you start?

Here are 5 non-negotiable solutions you need:

Enhanced Personalisation: A solution that analyses your customer data to deliver tailored content, recommendations, and messaging.
Increased Efficiency and Automation: A solution that automates repetitive tasks like data analysis, content creation, and campaign management.
Data-Driven Insights & Predictive Analytics: One that identifies trends and opportunities, enabling smarter, data-driven decisions, including competitor analysis.
Improved Targeting & Segmentation: A growth marketing solution to segment audiences with precision for more effective and relevant campaigns.
Real-Time Optimisation: A solution to monitor and adjust campaigns instantly for better campaign performance and maximise marketing ROI.

Real-World Impact: What the Data Shows

Like I stated above, data is the core of marketing today, so let’s understand AI’s impact with real-world examples. According to McKinsey’s latest research:

71% of organisations now use generative AI in at least one business function, with marketing and sales leading the way.
Companies using AI in marketing report 5–15% productivity gains, representing up to $463 billion in annual value.
AI adoption in marketing has more than doubled in the past year, with early adopters seeing significant improvements in campaign speed, personalization, and ROI.

With the increasing adoption of AI in marketing, retailers have increased personalized email campaigns from 20% to 95% using AI, boosting click-through rates by over 40%.

Building a Winning Team: Human Expertise Meets Artificial Intelligence

While AI is a powerful enabler, it’s not a replacement for human intelligence. As a new-age founder, I like to call this “setting an AI-first culture”.

So, here are my 3 elements of a winning marketing team in the AI era:

Teams must reimagine, reinvent and streamline workflows, integrating AI automation into tasks ranging from drafting documents to processing payments, to unlock greater efficiency and accuracy across operations.
Teams need to be empowered with top-tier AI platforms and resources, ensuring everyone has the opportunity to experiment, learn, and upskill through hands-on training and real-world application.
As leaders, we need to cultivate an environment where sharing insights, best practices, and challenges around AI adoption is encouraged.

The Future of Marketing

From one marketer to another, let me ask you this: Do you want to look at yet another presentation or report? If you just said no, you’re on the right track. You see, the future of marketing belongs to those who can turn data into decisions—and decisions into results—faster than the competition. Basically adapt and execute faster.

Key takeaways for business leaders:

Embrace AI as a partner, not a replacement. Use it to automate the routine, illuminate the complex, and personalise the customer experience.
Invest in talent that can translate data into action. The best insights are useless unless they drive real change.
Focus on implementation speed and adaptability. In a world where markets shift overnight, the ability to act on insights quickly is a true competitive advantage.

Another major shift in the marketing realm is fractional, flexible or project-based teams. This model is an excellent opportunity for brands to embrace, as you’re gaining an extended arm for your team, with external experts.

Final Thoughts

We're in a new era, one where actionable intelligence, not just information, will separate the winners from the rest. Businesses that empower experts with AI-driven insights will be best positioned to thrive.

The bottom line: Don’t drown in data. Leverage AI and experts to cut through the noise, make smarter decisions, and unlock the full potential of your marketing efforts. The future is here, and it’s decision-driven, not just data-driven.

Quick Profiles

Neeraj K Kushwaha: He is the Co-founder and CEO of Third i since 2023. He has also worked at Meta in Growth Operations, Flipkart as Senior Manager - Ad Sales, and InMobi as Lead - Partner Management.

Anand Kumar Ramakrishnan: He is the co-founder of Third i and a Professional Development Coach at Lead Transitions. He started his career as a Test Engineer at Infosys, then worked at Google, served as Product Owner at Ratable, and worked at Meta in Developer Platform roles.