Javier F. Saavedra, Managing Director at t2ó ONE, joined the “Tertulia de la comunicación” on A Media Sesión (Radio Intereconomía) to talk about how AI is reshaping marketing, and what companies should do about it.
Artificial intelligence is no longer a promise: it is already part of our day-to-day work. But as more brands adopt the same tools, a new question emerges. How do you stay different, and how do you stay close to people, when everyone is using the same technology?
The goals haven’t changed. The channels have
After working with leading brands across eight countries, t2ó ONE sees clients asking for the same things as always: business impact, brand building, sales, loyalty and customer satisfaction. What is new is where decisions get shaped. Since the arrival of ChatGPT and other large language models, algorithms and conversational AI have gained real influence over what consumers choose.
This creates a double challenge for brands: winning over consumers, and winning over the AI agents that increasingly sit between brands and consumers. Choosing the right partners to navigate this is key to becoming the brand that comes out on top in its category.
Human talent is the differentiator
AI helps brands create better, plan better, buy media better and measure better. It also automates low-value, repetitive tasks, so teams can focus on strategy, on understanding the business and on being close to the client. The risk is that brands start to look more and more alike. People, with their judgement and even their mistakes, are what bring originality and authenticity to communication.
From adoption to transformation
At t2ó ONE, 85% of the roughly 600 people in the group are already certified through an internal AI programme. The adoption phase is well advanced, and the group is now moving into transformation: changes in how teams are structured, how they work, and how clients are involved in the operation. Javier was clear that this does not mean mass layoffs. It means building new profiles and dedicating internal talent to higher-value work.
To help clients along the way, t2ó ONE created the Holistic Search Lab. Because AI tools and models keep changing, the approach is simple: learn together, test together, discard what doesn’t work and integrate what does.
Common mistakes
Javier pointed to three:
- Not taking AI’s disruptive nature seriously. Fortunately, this is rare.
- Stopping at adoption. Many companies use the tools without changing how they work.
- Not measuring the return. This is the hardest one, because the technology is still maturing. It means weighing the cost of tools, hours and energy against the real impact on the business, which is also a matter of governance.
And on failure, his view is that it is part of innovation. If you never fail, you haven’t pushed far enough. What works gets integrated; what doesn’t gets dropped.
Advice for companies starting out
- Sponsorship from the top. Like any disruptive transformation, it needs the backing of senior leadership.
- A dedicated team to lead the change and support the organisation.
- Investment in resources and tools. Don’t cut corners during the exploration phase.
- Governance with guardrails. Clear rules on what can and cannot be done, and solid organisational security.
The takeaway
The future of digital marketing is already here, and it is moving fast. The brands that will stand out are those that combine technology with human talent, measure what matters, and win over both people and the algorithms that influence them.
Watch the full interview here:
