Chris Perkins: AI Is an Incredible Cover Band. But It's Not the Original Artist.

AI can write the email. Build the campaign. Analyze the data. Recommend the next move. But can it actually sound like you? In this episode of the Go-To-Market Podcast, Amy Osmond Cook, CMO and co-founder of Fullcast, sits down with Chris Perkins, president of Model B, to talk about one of the biggest challenges facing modern marketing and go-to-market teams: how to embrace AI without automating away the very thing that makes customers trust you. Perkins is a veteran global marketer whose career has included client-side and agency leadership and campaigns reaching markets around the world. Today, he leads Model B, an independent marketing consultancy focused on helping companies drive growth. And he has a warning for marketers rushing to automate everything: "AI is an incredible cover band, but it's not the original artist." That distinction drives a fascinating conversation about authenticity, trust, AI agents, marketing technology, critical thinking, and where humans still belong in an increasingly automated GTM motion. Rather than asking AI to imitate everything humans already do, Perkins encourages teams to start with the problem. Ask what technology can solve, understand the strengths of different systems, and use automation to free people for the critical thinking, creativity, judgment, and relationships that machines still struggle to replicate. In This Episode, You'll Learn: Why "people buy people" still matters in an AI-powered GTM world Why authenticity may become more valuable as marketing becomes easier to automate How AI can help teams become more human, not less Why companies should be transparent about when customers are interacting with AI How Chris evaluates new AI and marketing tools Why marketers should challenge AI instead of simply accepting its answers How to use AI to create more time for strategic and critical thinking Why human judgment remains essential in complex customer conversations How GTM leaders can balance automation, efficiency, trust, and brand voice One of the most important ideas in the conversation is deceptively simple: stop asking AI to do everything the way you've always done it. Instead, start with the business problem. And when everyone has access to similar technology, your point of view may become one of the few competitive advantages nobody else can automate. Listen here.