Aviatrix CMO Automates 80% of Marketing Work with AI, Boosting Output 4X While Prioritizing Empathy and Creativity

Scott Leatherman, chief marketing officer at Aviatrix, a multi-cloud networking and security company that reached a $2 billion valuation in 2021, has transformed his marketing team’s workflow using artificial intelligence. Since fully adopting large language models (LLMs) in the fall of the previous year, his team has automated 80% of its routine tasks. Each marketing team member now has access to four or five dedicated LLMs for different functions, supported by a comprehensive AI stack for video production and analytics. The shift has been rapid and transformative. Instead of spending time on repetitive work, the team now focuses on the 20% of tasks that truly excite them—the creative, strategic, and human-centered aspects of marketing. Leatherman acknowledges that early on, the team’s eagerness to produce quickly led to a lack of critical review. “We’d rush things out without ensuring the human touch—storytelling, curiosity, questioning—was present,” he said. To address this, the team developed custom prompts to ensure outputs are factually accurate and not just aligned with internal biases or ego-driven narratives. He noted that while tools like ChatGPT often reinforce his own perspective—especially in personal journaling—he deliberately uses Claude for a more challenging, less flattering tone. “Claude is more of a jerk to me,” he said, highlighting the importance of balancing AI feedback with self-awareness. One of the biggest challenges remains empathy. AI struggles to understand the emotional weight of the audience’s reality. For example, security professionals face immense pressure—managing massive budgets, defending against sophisticated cyberattacks, and dealing with simple human errors like clicking on malicious emails. Writing from a place of judgment or fear—common in AI-generated content—doesn’t align with Aviatrix’s values. “We don’t want to scare people into action,” Leatherman said. “We want to empower them.” The speed of production has increased dramatically. A technical blog that once took eight hours now takes two, and the team now publishes six blogs per week—up from one. Social media output has multiplied fourfold. This acceleration is essential in a fast-moving market where content is constantly being generated by AI. Despite the heavy reliance on AI, Leatherman emphasizes that the team remains in control. “We’re not letting digital twins run the show.” Instead, they use AI as a powerful tool to amplify human creativity and strategy. Looking ahead, he sees the future of B2B marketing shifting toward short-form video, animated content, and interactive media. What once cost $50,000 and took months to produce can now be done for $5,000 to $10,000 in under two months, thanks to tools like Midjourney and Higgsfield. As AI continues to evolve, the key will be creativity and originality to cut through the growing noise. For Leatherman, AI isn’t replacing marketing—it’s redefining it. The goal isn’t just speed, but meaningful connection. And that, he says, still requires the human element.