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In this episode of Imperfect Marketing, host Kendra Corman sits down with Amir Elion, founder of Think Big Leaders and a global expert on innovation and AI strategy. Together, they unpack how artificial intelligence is transforming innovation, marketing, and the way businesses think about creativity and efficiency.

Amir shares his journey from leading innovation initiatives at Amazon Web Services to helping organizations around the world use AI to scale ideas faster and smarter.

🚀 The New Face of Innovation

• AI as a Catalyst for Innovation – Why Amir believes AI doesn’t replace creativity—it amplifies it.
• Systematic Innovation – How innovation is more science than magic, with best practices, methodologies, and even ISO standards.
• Scaling Creativity with AI – How AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini can help teams ideate, prototype, and role-play with personas 10x faster.

💡 AI in Marketing and Business

Amir shares real-world examples of how companies are applying AI to streamline marketing processes and drive efficiency:

• Automating SEO and Content Workflows – How a gaming company now processes and localizes thousands of new titles using AI-powered workflows.
• Smarter Marketing Research – Why tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude have become Amir’s personal “research assistants.”
• Avoiding the ‘AI Slop’ Trap – The importance of human oversight, editing, and providing examples to teach AI your brand’s tone and standards.

⚠️ The Risks and Responsibilities of AI

• “Human in the Loop” Principle – Why every AI workflow still needs human review, editing, and approval.
• Ethical and Compliance Challenges – How organizations can balance innovation with data privacy and risk management.
• Three-Tier Risk Model – Amir’s framework for identifying low-, medium-, and high-risk AI use cases to guide safe adoption.

🧰 Tools and Tips for Getting Started

• Don’t try every AI tool—pick one or two and learn them deeply.
• Master your tools before scaling: tweak settings, explore model options, and learn how to “squeeze the lemon.”
• Start small, focus on use cases that save time and amplify creativity, not replace human input.

🧭 Lessons from Amazon on Innovation

Drawing from his time at Amazon Web Services, Amir reveals how Amazon’s “Working Backwards” approach fuels innovation:

• Start with the customer, not the product.
• Write an imaginary press release describing your future product before you build it—if it’s not clear and compelling, you’re not ready to launch.
• Always focus on delighting the customer, not just building something new.

🎯 Amir’s Biggest Marketing Lesson

Amir admits his biggest mistake was falling in love with the product instead of the customer. Early in his VR/AR startup days, he focused on selling technology rather than solving customer pain points—a mistake that taught him the importance of clarity, audience insight, and consistency.

🔑 Key Takeaways

Looking to leverage AI? Want better results? Want to think about what you want to leverage?

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