How Companies Can Go from Zero to Scale Using AI for Marketing ft. Lillian Pierson
January 8, 2026
The year may have changed from 2025 to 2026, but some fundamental truths about AI haven’t. In the latest episode of Bringing Data and AI To Life, host and GVP Solutions Sales and Business Development at Informatica, Amy Horowitz, kickstarts the year with Lillian Pierson, Fractional CMO & Growth Advisor, Data Mania LLC and a marketing AI educator, for a candid and eye-opening conversation on how companies can build AI-native growth systems that deliver measurable ROI, architect high-performing teams with fewer resources, while avoiding the pitfalls of "shiny object syndrome." These are the frameworks and real-world strategies that help early-stage startups and Fortune 100 companies alike harness AI for exponential growth.
But most importantly, the strategies that keep humans in control of what matters most.
The year may have changed from 2025 to 2026, but some fundamental truths about AI haven’t. In the latest episode of Bringing Data and AI To Life, host and GVP Solutions Sales and Business Development at Informatica, Amy Horowitz, kickstarts the year with Lillian Pierson, Fractional CMO & Growth Advisor, Data Mania LLC, for a candid and eye-opening conversation on how companies can build AI-native growth systems that deliver true and measurable ROI.
What You’ll Learn
- How to apply the ACT Framework (Identify bottleneck → Construct system → Test & iterate) to systematize growth marketing
- Why building AI-native content systems delivers 8x faster output and 3.5x more leads
- The critical balance between automation and human judgment
- How to shift from team management to growth architecture
- Why AI replaces execution, not strategy
- The practical entry point to AI adoption
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This podcast is brought to you by Informatica, the leader in enterprise cloud data management.
Links:
Lillian Pierson on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lillianpierson
Data Mania Website: http://www.data-mania.com/
Amy Horowitz LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyhorowitz
Informatica Website: https://www.informatica.com/
Data & AI Architecture Summit: https://now.informatica.com/ai-architecture-summit2025.html?Source=INFAPodcast
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Bringing Data and AI to Life Guest and Audience Feedback
Leave us a voice note!
Previous guests include:
Salema Rice host of Data Governance and Data Integration Solution Sales, Willem Koenders of ZS Associates, Tanja Ubert of Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, Graeme Thompson of Informatica
Check out our Top episodes:
- Why Do We Still Struggle to Trust AI? with Graeme Thompson from Informatica
- Data Quality Over Quantity and the Human Element, with Tanja Ubert from Rotterdam University
- The Power of Data Governance and Responsible AI with Salema Rice, Chief Executive Officer at CDO Today