Human-First AI Marketing Podcast by Avenue9

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In this episode of the Human First AI Marketing Podcast, Mike Montague talks with Reverend Dr. Christopher Benek, a techno-theologian and author of The Church Leader’s Guide to Artificial Intelligence.  about AI ethics, spiritual questions, human identity, and how leaders can think more clearly about the role of technology in our lives.

Christopher brings a refreshingly optimistic perspective. He argues that AI is still in its early “fiddling” stage, and the real leadership challenge is learning how to use it with wisdom, context, and conscience. The conversation moves from practical questio...

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A couple of weeks ago, a politician read his chatbot's instructions out loud into the official record of his legislature. Everybody laughed at him. That same morning, a CEO somewhere forwarded a giant AI strategy document to their team with the same tells buried in it, and nobody laughed at them. Their staff just quietly lost the afternoon.

For episode 100, I'm going solo to make the argument I most want on the record:

AI does not belong in the C-suite. 

I run an AI marketing a...

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For our 99th episode of the Human-First AI Marketing Podcast, we’re celebrating with a special compilation: The Future of AI: Predictions from Our 2026 Experts. This episode brings together highlights from this year’s guests as they share where they believe AI is headed, how it will reshape work, marketing, leadership, creativity, and customer trust, and what business owners need to understand before they chase the next shiny tool.

Across these conversations, one theme comes through clearly: the future of AI will belong to the leaders who combine smarter tech...

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In this episode of the Human-First AI Marketing Podcast, Mike Montague welcomes back Rachel Minion to talk about Creating Rockstarr AI and what it really takes to build AI systems that can support a small business without stripping away its voice, values, or strategy. Rachel shares how she starts with the essentials: defining the ideal client profile, clarifying the offer, capturing brand voice, and turning that context into a knowledge base that makes AI outputs sharper, more useful, and more aligned over time.

Mike and Rachel also explore the practical side...

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In this episode of the Human-First AI Marketing Podcast, Mike Montague talks with Dr. Angela Mulrooney, Founder of Unleashing Influence Inc. and author of Own Your Genius, about what it really takes to stay relevant, trusted, and influential in the age of AI. Their conversation explores identity fracture, the pressure to reinvent yourself, and the importance of defining your “niche of genius” before using AI to amplify your voice, content, or business.

Angela and Mike unpack why AI can make generic expertise louder, how leaders can avoid becoming “Swiss cheese” experts, and why...

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In this episode of the Human-First AI Marketing Podcast, Mike Montague talks with Dr. Angela C. Myers, author of Versatile: Human Intelligence in an Artificial Age, Founder of Polymaths Place, LLC, and creator of The Polymath Place. Together, they explore why polymaths, multidimensional learners, and curious generalists may be especially well-suited for the AI era, where adaptability, creativity, and connected thinking are becoming essential business skills.

Angela shares why the age of narrow specialization is giving way to broader human intelligence, how AI can free us from routine mental drudgery, and...

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In this episode, Mike Montague talks with Kristen Kent, founder of Evergreen Content Ops, about what it really means to create human-led, AI-assisted content.

They explore why “more content” has become a weak strategy, how AI can create content debt when teams skip tone, voice, audience connection, and content pillars, and why the human belongs at every stage of the process. Kristen makes the case for using AI to support better thinking, better organization, and better content systems instead of passively accepting whatever the tool produces.

Mike and Kristen also...

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In this episode of the Human-First AI Marketing Podcast, Mike Montague talks with Josh Porter, founder of Thunderwolf Consulting, host of the Marketing Pack Leaders podcast, and bestselling author of The Last Human Marketer. Together, they explore what product marketing looks like in a world where AI can generate messaging, write positioning, and help teams move faster than ever; while every company risks sounding suspiciously similar.

Josh shares what AI scale-ups, SaaS founders, and marketers need to understand about differentiation, trust, customer experience, and human judgment. The conversation covers w...

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What if most businesses are chasing the wrong AI strategy?

In this episode of the Human-First AI Marketing Podcast, Mike Montague sits down with Stephan Bajaio of VibeLogic to explore the future of SEO, AEO, AI search, and web presence. Together, they unpack why the current rush to optimize for AI rankings feels a lot like the dot-com boom, why many companies are focused on visibility instead of value, and why small and mid-sized businesses may have a bigger advantage than they realize. Stephan shares practical insights from decades of enterprise...

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AI Adoption with Maryrose Lyons explores what it really takes for SMBs and midmarket teams to learn, adopt, and apply AI in a way that improves daily work. Maryrose Lyons, founder of the AI Institute, joins Mike Montague to talk about why AI training needs to stay live, current, practical, and human-led as tools change faster than traditional courses can keep up. The conversation covers AI certificates, team confidence, prompt quality, Claude Code, Microsoft Copilot, custom GPTs, agents, and the shift from experimenting with AI to building real capability inside the...

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Everybody is talking about generative AI. They're missing the bigger opportunity.

In a recent conversation with James Thornton, CEO of Daz 3D, we explored a side of artificial intelligence that most business leaders aren't paying enough attention to.

While much of the current AI discussion revolves around generating text, images, and videos, Thornton's work sits at the intersection of 3D content creation, gaming, digital avatars, AI training data, and virtual world building. His team helps create the digital assets that power everything from entertainment experiences to the next generation...

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In this episode of the Human-First AI Marketing Podcast, Mike Montague sits down with Shea Murtaugh, CEO of Hoffman Murtaugh and founder of LeapShift AI Collective, to explore how smart SMBs are scaling faster with AI without burning out their teams or losing their humanity. Shea shares how AI has transformed her agency’s productivity from a traditional 40-hour workload into what feels like 120 hours of output per week, including building an entirely new AI community brand, website, logo, and launch system in a single afternoon. Together, they unpack the leadership mindset shifts re...

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In this episode of the Human-First AI Marketing Podcast, Mike Montague sits down with Matt Ruffner of Opticl.ai to unpack one of the biggest shifts happening in marketing right now: the move from traditional SEO to AI search visibility. With more than half of searches now happening through AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity, businesses can no longer rely on rankings alone. AI engines are evaluating trust, reputation, sentiment, and authority in entirely new ways, and the rules are changing faster than ever before.

Mike and Matt explore...

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AI search is changing the rules faster than most businesses can react; this episode breaks down what that actually means for SMBs trying to stay visible and competitive. Mike sits down with Brittany Trafis to unpack the shift from traditional SEO to AEO (Answer Engine Optimization), where buyers are no longer clicking links but asking AI for direct recommendations. The conversation explores why this moment feels like the early days of search again, and why small and mid-sized businesses suddenly have a real chance to outrun larger competitors.

You’ll hear pr...

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Most businesses are sitting on their most valuable marketing asset and completely overlooking it. In this episode, Mike Montague talks with Joe Toscano, former Google insider and featured expert in The Social Dilemma, about why customer conversations, service calls, and real stories are the missing link in modern AI marketing. They break down how the explosion of AI tools has made it easy to create more content, yet harder than ever to stand out, and why authenticity, context, and ethical data use are becoming the new competitive edge for SMBs and midmarket teams.<...

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Most AI content today feels like fast food; quick, scalable, and forgettable. In this episode of the Human-First AI Marketing podcast, Mike Montague sits down with David Dobrin, CEO of Original Voices, to explore a better way to feed your marketing engine. They break down the idea of a “human context layer” for AI, where real audience insights, not generic data, shape your messaging. You’ll hear how digital twins, human-in-the-loop validation, and audience intelligence are helping marketers move beyond AI-generated noise and into content that actually resonates. 

The big takeaway is simp...

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Most businesses are treating AI like a vending machine; type in a prompt, get an answer, and hope it works. In this episode, Mike sits down with T. Renee Smith to unpack why that approach falls flat and what it really takes to make AI work in the real world. They explore the shift from seeing AI as just another tool to treating it like a strategic partner; one that needs training, context, and leadership to deliver meaningful results. From the differences in how people approach AI to the biggest misconceptions holding businesses...

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Most businesses are using AI to move faster, create more content, and keep up with the noise. The problem is that speed without differentiation just amplifies average. In this episode, Mike Montague sits down with Jonathan Aberman to unpack a smarter way forward: treating originality as a measurable, strategic advantage in a world where AI is trained to produce sameness. They explore why creativity alone isn’t enough, how AI can mimic “good” marketing, and why the real edge comes from producing ideas, insights, and connections that stand apart.

For SM...

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In this episode, Mike Montague talks with Dan Baird of Wrench AI about why the future of marketing belongs to businesses that can target the right people, personalize the right message, and prove what is actually working. They unpack the shift from generic AI content and mass outreach to smarter systems built on lead scoring, behavioral signals, personality-driven messaging, and better audience research. The conversation makes a strong case that hyper-targeting and hyper-personalization are not just shiny tactics; they are how SMBs and midmarket companies can reduce waste, improve conversions, and compete far...

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Most businesses are sprinting into AI, cranking out more content, launching more automations, and moving faster than ever. The problem is, speed doesn’t fix a broken foundation. In this episode, Mike Montague sits down with Carmela Fortin to unpack the “pre-AI layers” most teams skip; the human factors like clarity, alignment, buyer psychology, and real conversations that actually determine whether your marketing works.

You’ll learn why more AI content often leads to fewer results, how to spot the hidden gaps in your strategy that data alone can’t reveal, and what h...

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Most businesses are producing more content than ever… and getting less response. Why? Because somewhere between automation and scale, they lost the one thing that actually converts; their voice. In this episode, Mike Montague sits down with Rachel Minion to unpack the real challenge of marketing in the age of AI: how to grow without sounding like everyone else. From the “AI slider” between human and machine to the rise of robotic outreach and creepy personalization, this conversation gets honest about what’s working, what’s not, and why authenticity is becoming your biggest co...

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Artificial intelligence is moving fast; faster than most business leaders realize. In this episode of the Human-First AI Marketing Podcast, Mike Montague sits down with AI researcher Dr. Craig Kaplan to explore what may be the next major shift in technology: the transition from AI as a simple tool to something closer to an intelligent entity. The conversation tackles the big questions people are asking right now: Will AI become smarter than humans? How quickly could that happen? And what does it mean for businesses navigating the AI revolution?

Along the...

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In this episode, Raj Singh, VP of New Products at Mozilla, breaks down the “ownership economy”; a world where starting a business is getting simpler, faster, and cheaper because the builder toolkit keeps losing friction. You can spin up a real brand presence quickly, look professional early, and test ideas without burning months on dev or a big stack of services. 

Raj also gets blunt about what actually wins once “anyone can build anything”: trust and distribution. He explains why the noise is exploding, why old growth tactics get less reliable, and why r...

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In this episode of The Human-First AI Marketing® Podcast, Mike Montague sits down with Brett Farmiloe, CEO of Featured.com and Help a Reporter Out (HARO), to talk about the real PR opportunity most small and mid-market companies are missing in 2026. You’ll learn how getting featured in credible media outlets isn’t just great for brand awareness, but it’s also how you get cited in AI models, improve your SEO, and build the trust that drives high-value sales conversations.

From the rise of reactive PR to the surprising ways AI is r...

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What happens when AI meets immigration, one of the most complex, emotional, and high-stakes journeys in someone’s life? In this episode, Mike Montague talks with Grant Frazier and Ryan Bradley, co-founders of Global Entry Hub, about how they’re using AI to make immigration support more accessible, trustworthy, and human. You’ll hear how they built a multilingual AI assistant that guides people through global immigration processes, and why accuracy, empathy, and trust had to come before speed or scale.

This conversation goes far beyond immigration. It’s a masterclass for mark...

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In this episode of the Human-First AI Marketing® podcast, Mike Montague talks with Bryan Harris, founder of Growth Tools, about the fine line between automation and authenticity. Together, they explore how AI is transforming client acquisition, coaching, small business marketing, and why human connection is still the most valuable asset in your business. If you've ever wondered when to use AI and when to pick up the phone, this one’s for you.

Bryan shares how Growth Tools uses AI to reduce repetitive work, sharpen offers, and help SMBs solve their big...

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Bots do the busywork, but you do the brilliant work. 

In this episode, AI futurist and author David Espindola joins Mike to explore how small and midmarket companies can redesign roles around AI so humans spend more time on creativity, trust, and real customer relationships. They unpack the real difference between human and machine intelligence, the risks of anthropomorphizing tools like voice agents, and the importance of a "human in the loop" throughout your marketing & sales workflows. 

You will hear practical guidance on where SMBs should start, how to de...

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In this episode of The Human-First AI Marketing® Podcast, Mike Montague sits down with Mia Umanos, CEO of Clickvoyant and host of the AI Kid You Not podcast, to explore what AI means for both modern shopping and modern parenting.

We cover everything from the surprising lack of optimization in e-commerce experiences, to how AI is rewiring our brains, and why that matters. You’ll hear practical insights for SMBs trying to compete in an AI-powered world, what frontier AI leaders already know (but aren't saying), and why the real danger isn...

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In this episode of the Human-First AI Marketing® podcast, Mike Montague sits down with content marketing strategist and fractional CMO Charlie Van Derven to explore a simple but powerful truth: AI can help you scale—but it can’t build trust for you.

Together, they dig into:

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What if you could plug your business into AI and instantly see where your next 10X opportunity is hiding?

That’s exactly what Solomon Thimothy, serial entrepreneur and founder of ClickX, is doing for growing companies right now. In this episode, Solomon joins Mike Montague to unpack the new growth formula for modern marketers: data + focus + automation.

They dig into why most small businesses are sitting on mountains of unused data, how to connect tools like HubSpot, Google Analytics, and Claude to surface real-time insights, and why do...

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What if your next big AI idea isn’t a product, but a responsibility?

That’s the challenge Noelle Russell brings to this conversation. She’s an AI innovator who’s helped launch Amazon Alexa, led teams at IBM and Microsoft, and trained more than 3 million people in AI literacy. She's also the author of the hit book "Scaling Responsible AI: From Enthusiasm to Execution". Her message isn’t just about bigger, faster, or smarter technology; it’s about building AI systems that still feel human.

In this episode...

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What happens when a technologist, artist, and optimist walks into an AI podcast? You get Christian Hammer, CEO of Ngentix, a longtime tech leader, and a humanist dropping wisdom on the balance between automation and authenticity. In this episode, Christian and Mike Montague talk about how businesses can actually trust automation, what makes AI systems reliable, and why most marketing automation tools still fall short. Spoiler: it’s not about more tools; it’s about smarter context and better design.

You’ll hear fresh takes on everything from AI-enabled financ...

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In this episode of Human-First AI Marketing, host Mike Montague of Avenue9 sits down with Dr. Anastassia Lauterbach, AI and robotics expert, professor, and creator of the Romy and Robby educational book series, to demystify artificial intelligence and explore how it really works. From breaking down common myths about generative AI and “artificial consciousness” to explaining what tokens, training, and accurate intelligence mean, Dr. Lauterbach delivers a masterclass in separating AI facts from fiction.

Together, Mike and Anastassia uncover what today’s business leaders need to know about using AI responsibly and ef...

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In this episode of the Human-First AI Marketing Podcast, host Mike Montague sits down with Jason Berkowitz, founder of Break the Web Agency, to unpack what it really means to do SEO in 2025, without losing your mind (or your humanity). They explore how small and midsize businesses can stop chasing Google updates and AI trends and instead focus on timeless marketing principles that actually drive growth. From building topical authority and earning trust to integrating AI tools in a way that supports, not replaces, human creativity, this episode redefines what effective, sustainable SEO...

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In this episode of the Human-First AI Marketing Podcast, host Mike Montague sits down with Michael “Buzz” Buzinski, author of The Rule of 26 and host of the Buzzworthy Marketing Show. Together, they unpack what it really takes for small and midsize businesses to thrive in today’s AI-driven marketing world. From avoiding “random acts of marketing” to building scalable strategies, Buzz shares how SMBs can cut through the noise, optimize their websites, and focus on the metrics that truly drive revenue growth.

Listeners will discover why AI isn’t replacing marketers anytime soon...

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In this episode of the Human-First AI Marketing Podcast, Mike Montague sits down with  @SebastianChedal    co-founder of Fountain City and Testfox.ai, to talk about what really drives success when implementing AI inside small and mid-sized businesses. Spoiler: It’s not the tools. It’s the people, the process, and the problems you’re solving. Together, they unpack what it means to be AI-ready, how to avoid the 80% failure rate of AI projects, and how to align your data, workflows, and expectations for long-term wins.

You’ll learn why capturing messy data is bet...

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In this episode of the Human First AI Marketing Podcast, host Mike Monague sits down with Jonathan Kvarfordt, Head of Growth at Momentum.io, to explore how AI is transforming the way SMBs approach sales, marketing, and customer success. From eliminating tedious CRM updates to capturing the authentic voice of your customers, Jonathan shares how AI tools can give go-to-market teams back their most valuable resource, time. You’ll hear how forward-thinking leaders are using AI not to replace people, but to amplify their impact, free up bandwidth for revenue-generating work, and make be...

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In this episode, host Mike Monague sits down with Grant Fuellenbach of Go First Consulting to unpack what it really takes for small and mid-sized businesses to scale sustainably. From builders and contractors to growing SMB teams, Grant shares how predictable systems and smart AI integrations can help business owners escape the chaos of juggling bids, paperwork, and project management. You’ll learn how to move beyond the “shotgun approach” to AI by implementing practical systems that reduce bottlenecks, streamline operations, and deliver better client experiences.

Together, Mike and Grant explore real-w...

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What happens when small business owners and marketing leaders stop trying to do it all themselves? In this episode of the Human First AI Marketing Podcast, host Mike Montague sits down with Jaime Jay, founder of Bottleneck Distant Assistants, to explore the power of delegation in a world transformed by AI. Together, they explore the critical distinction between task delegation and establishing a true “delegation department,” the significant impact of turnover on business costs, and how combining AI and human assistants can drive productivity, creativity, and growth.

Listeners will learn about Jaim...

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What if AI wasn’t just another shiny object but a way to get back to what actually works in marketing? In this episode, Mike Montague sits down with David Berkowitz, founder of the AI Marketers Guild and author of The Non-Obvious Guide to Using AI in Marketing, to talk about how small and mid-sized businesses can avoid the trap of AI slop and instead use smart tools to create real connections, trust, and creativity at scale.

Together, they unpack the risks of lazy automation, the rise of spammy AI outreach, an...