The AI ROI Reality Check: What Actually Drives Value in AI Marketing | Kelly Cutler

Are AI tools truly delivering business value, or are they simply creating the illusion of productivity? In this keynote session, Kelly Cutler, Associate Professor at Northwestern University, explores the reality behind AI return on investment (ROI) in modern marketing organizations. While industry research highlights faster data analysis, translation, content creation, and operational efficiency as major benefits of AI, real-world evidence tells a more nuanced story. Drawing on industry benchmarks and in-depth qualitative research involving executive leaders and a large organization where more than 400 marketers use AI every day, Kelly examines why many organizations struggle to convert productivity gains into measurable business outcomes. Discover why saving hours with AI does not automatically create value, how time savings often become consumed by additional meetings, and what separates companies achieving meaningful AI-driven growth from those experiencing hollow productivity gains. Key Topics Covered ✅ AI ROI and business value generation ✅ Marketing AI adoption strategies ✅ Productivity vs performance outcomes ✅ Prompt engineering and prompt fluency ✅ AI governance frameworks ✅ Organizational change management ✅ Executive perspectives on AI implementation ✅ Cultural resistance to AI transformation ✅ Marketing technology and innovation ✅ Future of AI in marketing leadership Speaker Kelly Cutler Associate Professor, Northwestern University Event Location The Dublin Royal Convention Centre, Dublin, Ireland Who Should Watch? Marketing leaders CMOs and marketing executives Digital transformation professionals AI strategists Business leaders evaluating AI investments Innovation and technology teams Marketing operations professionals Researchers and academics interested in AI adoption #AIROI #ArtificialIntelligence #MarketingAI #GenerativeAI #MarketingLeadership #DigitalTransformation #BusinessStrategy #PromptEngineering #AIGovernance #MarTech #MarketingInnovation #NorthwesternUniversity #ExecutiveLeadership #FutureOfWork #AIAdoption .......................... Kelly Cutler of Northwestern University examines the gap between AI productivity gains and genuine business value. Using industry benchmarks and executive research, she reveals how prompt fluency, governance frameworks, leadership alignment, and organizational culture determine whether AI investments deliver measurable ROI or simply create the appearance of efficiency.