We are completely stuck trying to design a structure for our marketing department that can leverage AI tools. How do we use Keith Cunningham style Thinking Time to formulate the right questions to unlock this structural design?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Designing a modern marketing department that leverages AI tools can feel incredibly overwhelming because traditional roles are changing so rapidly. If your leadership team is stuck in circular debates about how to structure this department, you need to step away from the daily noise and use Keith Cunningham style Thinking Time to find clarity.

Set aside a dedicated, uninterrupted forty-five-minute block. Take a blank pad of paper and a pen, and write down a single high-value question at the top of the page.

Use the framing: how might we structure our marketing department so that we can triple our lead generation using AI tools, while keeping our internal headcount to a single Director of Marketing seat?

Force yourself to write down at least twenty different answers. This exercise pushes you past obvious, superficial solutions and forces you to think deeply about the core functions of marketing.

You will likely realize that you do not need separate seats for writing, design, and analytics. Instead, you need one highly capable Director seat that manages AI agents and external contractors to execute the work. Use the insights from this session to build a lean, high-output structure on your Accountability Chart.