The AI Personalization playbook used by top brands

Описание: Why does personalisation in marketing still get stuck at first names in subject lines when AI can help us do so much more?

I’m Neha, and in this episode of The AI Marketer Podcast I sit down with Josh Mack, Director of Lifecycle Marketing at Thumbtack. Josh has led customer retention and lifecycle strategies at Uber, TripAdvisor and now Thumbtack, building growth engines powered by AI marketing and automation. He shares how shifting from campaign-first to learning-first has transformed customer engagement, why lifecycle marketing is about trust and relevance, and how data plus AI makes personalisation truly contextual.

If you care about lifecycle marketing, customer retention, marketing automation and building personalised customer journeys, this conversation is packed with lessons you won’t want to miss.

IN THIS EPISODE
(00:00) Intro
(01:54) What Marketers Get Wrong About Customers
(03:15) Why In-App Only Won’t Save You
(04:11) The Marketing Trick We All Fell For
(07:49) Can AI Really Build Trust?
(10:00) The Risk No One Talks About With AI
(11:00) The Secret Ingredient of True Personalisation
(13:47) Context That Changes Everything
(15:19) Why Scaling Personalisation Breaks So Easily
(17:55) Innovation Hype vs. Real Adoption
(20:11) Are All Companies Facing the Same Problem?
(21:13) Hot Takes That Might Shock You
(22:00) The AI Belief That’s Flat-Out Wrong
(23:33) Will AI Actually Write Your Emails?
(24:58) The Bigger Pain: Data or Personalisation?
(26:56) The Smartest Bet in AI Marketing Today
(28:22) The Real Balance Between Learning & Doing
(29:59) The Simplest Way to Start Smarter


Joshua Mack
A highly experienced marketing professional with 15+ years’ of experience in CRM and performance marketing. I have developed advanced skills and knowledge in building marketing programs from the ground up to create new areas of growth for organizations.

I am a results oriented, proven business leader that has managed the successful implementation and launch of numerous marketing programs. I have reshaped CRM strategy for organizations that has lead to increased customer retention and lifetime value. Confident and poised professional that has managed multi-channel customer relationship programs by devising a long-term strategy and ongoing marketing plan which incorporated social media, video, email, web, mobile and in-store vehicles to expand program growth.

I have developed exceptional skills in data analysis which allow me to monitor programs for additional ways to optimize and innovate. As a leader, I am not scared of taking risks that will benefit organizations and am energized by a fast-paced environment. I am eager to take on new challenges in order to drive key business objectives.

Neha Mittal | CEO & Co-founder | Just Words (Y-Combinator)
I’m the Co-founder and CEO of justwords.ai, a company born out of the experimentation inefficiencies I saw firsthand while leading growth initiatives at Twitter and Pinterest. At Twitter, I focused on Growth, particularly in Push notifications, while at Pinterest, I managed Retention, overseeing Email, Push notifications, Internationalization, and Performance Marketing, and built a scalable Growth platform.

Beyond growth, I’ve always been passionate about data. I spearheaded Twitter’s first Data Product team, developing a stronger classification and data lineage system to enhance privacy and data efficiencies. Before justwords.ai, I co-founded CityStructure.com and was the Founding Engineer at Sensorflow, both of which applied machine learning and large data to solve problems for traditional industries like real estate and energy. My journey into tech began with building large distributed systems for high-volume trades at Goldman Sachs.

I’m passionate about solving data problems and love the rush that comes from growth wins.
If you’re curious about what we’re doing at just words, you can find me here: https://calendly.com/just-words

ABOUT AI MARKETER PODCAST
AI in marketing isn’t hype: it’s happening right now. On The AI Marketer Podcast, I cut through the buzzwords to bring you real stories, practical hacks, and lessons from marketers who are already using AI to drive results. From personalization to decisioning to workflow hacks, you’ll learn what actually works, and how to make it work for you!