AITech365 Interview with David Corchado, Co-Founder, Chief Strategy & Technology Officer at Avenue Z

Embrace AI and automation to enhance efficiency, you need to do multivariate testing for ads, proper keywords and tagging are essential for social and you need to be fairly close to real time for your analytics, but don’t discount the human element in building high quality content.

As a long-time CTO / Chief Digital Officer, now co-founder and CSO/CTO at Avenue Z, how have you adapted to today’s AI-enhanced business landscape?

Our company has embraced  AI to automate and optimize various aspects of our operations and to improve speed to delivery.

• Subsidizing our team’s experimentation with AI tools within a sandbox environment.
• Incorporating AI tools into our analytics to get to better real time decisions.
• Creating our own stored prompts that help us create content faster and revise copy more quickly. This is typically used at the ideation stage or in very early stages of drafts only.
• Automating repetitive tasks like aggregating reporting data and email communications with affiliates.

David, as a veteran, and a tech expert, tell us about your background and your current role at Avenue Z. Also tell us how Avenue Z differentiates itself from other companies in the same space?

My background spans over two decades in technology leadership roles, and I’ve seen a lot of change during that time. I was a software engineer when even code repositories were considered novel, now 60% of all code in Github is written by machines. Staying relevant has meant embracing constant change and not being afraid to leave old skill sets and tools behind even when they were core to your IT identity. With such a large ecosystem of 3rd party applications and workloads in the Cloud, and code that writes itself we now have a world where self improving systems are possible.  It is this interplay of machine led predictability and human led creativity where Avenue Z invests our time. We differentiate ourselves through a process called convergence marketing, a seamless fusion of AI-driven efficiency and human-centric engagement, providing a holistic and immersive customer experience across all touchpoints.

How is Avenue Z using technology to change the game with convergence?

Avenue Z is using technology to create a unified, immersive customer experience across various channels. By integrating AI tools for real-time data analysis and contextual targeting, we ensure consistent and relevant messaging. This approach not only improves operational scale but also personalizes interactions, fostering a more efficient recognition of needs and more relevant exchange of information with our audience. As a result, we can expect to see better, faster transactions and more customer loyalty in the campaigns we build.

What is convergence, and what benefit does it provide to modern B2B or B2C brands?

Convergence is the integration of various marketing channels and technologies to create a seamless and consistent customer experience. For modern B2B or B2C brands, convergence ensures that messaging is coherent and tailored to the audience’s preferences across all touchpoints. This approach enhances brand loyalty, engagement, and ultimately drives better business outcomes. When all these things are brought together properly it is finally possible to get marketing outcomes that are faster to market, less expensive, and of higher quality.

Also Read: AITech365 Interview with Syed Mohtashim Ahmed, SVP of Engineering & Operations at Act-On Software

With AI constantly evolving, how do trends in AI and machine learning impact Avenue Z’s client solutions and services, and what methods or technology does Avenue Z use to stay attuned to this constant AI evolution?

Trends in AI and machine learning significantly impact our solutions by enabling more precise targeting, personalized content, and efficient campaign management. Avenue Z stays attuned to AI evolution by continuously investing in R&D, collaborating with AI experts, and adopting the latest AI technologies. We also analyze performance data to refine our strategies and ensure that our clients benefit from the most advanced AI-driven solutions. To get by today you need to maximize your use of AI tools both for speed to market and to create content at scale. Consider how traditional channels like SEO must now change so they can be optimized to feed into AI responses. It means that as a Brand, you have to work hard to put out high quality content to differentiate from machine created content.

Could you explain how Avenue Z is integrating AI and machine learning into it’s marketing and PR solutions and services?

Avenue Z integrates AI and machine learning into its solutions by using data analytics for customer insights, building chatbots for customer service on websites, and our teams use AI-driven content creation tools for early drafts and iteration. The biggest value we see is in how fast we can act on data.

In data science we learn that the cost of working with data comes down to the “three V’s” – Volume, Variety, and Velocity. It is only through modern machine learning approaches that we can work in real time with large amounts of disparate data. Our analytics teams are developing rapidly in these areas and I can say that we are one of the leaders when it comes to providing actional commerce transaction data in near real time.

What is the biggest problem you or your team is solving this year?

The biggest problem we’re tackling this year is how quickly AI has shifted traditional digital channel outreach. Everything we build has the potential to be better and yet the risk of leveraging AI and getting a biased or inaccurate analysis is likely. The platforms are all racing to build a moat based on AI and that means that they have different tools and many are not fully developed. Staying on top of all this information and still putting out quality work is hard but critical. Otherwise we risk sounding the same way and doing the same thing as everyone else.

What advice do you have for other leaders who are looking to drive growth for their brand?

Embrace AI and automation to enhance efficiency, you need to do multivariate testing for ads, proper keywords and tagging are essential for social and you need to be fairly close to real time for your analytics, but don’t discount the human element in building high quality content. It’s still critical to build genuine relationships with your stakeholders and this includes journalists, thought leaders and client prospects. Authenticity, consistency, and most of all great storytelling is still the best way to get someone’s attention.

Is there anything that you’re currently reading, or any favorite books, that you would recommend? 

Books that I currently have on my nightstand include: $100M Offers by Alex Hormozi is concise ideas for building marketing sales funnels. Atomic Habits  by James Clear is a book about establishing good habits for work and life balance and If You’re Not First, You’re Last – By Grant Cardone.

Thanks, David!