EP156: Marketing As Product: How AI Is Changing Everything

5 snips

Jan 6, 2026

Alan Kipust, a senior product leader who built customer-focused digital products at Amazon, Uber, Chewy, and Ford. He talks about treating marketing like a product and why AI is accelerating roadmaps. Short sprints, hackathons, and daily AI for repetitive analysis get highlighted. He outlines must-have product skills and how automation frees teams to focus on strategy and personalization.

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INSIGHT

AI Shortens Roadmaps And Enables Task-Based Builds

AI is a transformative tool that will accelerate product roadmaps and shorten sprint cycles.
Teams will solve discrete tasks first and then stitch them into larger systems over time.

ADVICE

Start Using AI Every Day

Use AI daily for analysis, brainstorming, and repetitive optimization tasks to increase efficiency.
Partner with IT or product teams to pick endorsed tools and prototype automations for costly tasks.

INSIGHT

Automate Repetition To Unlock Strategic Work

Repetitive marketing tasks can be automated and then managed rather than manually executed.
That shift frees people to focus on strategy and higher-value work.

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The marketing landscape is changing faster than ever—and the marketers who treat their work like product and embrace AI will win.

This week, Leader Generation host Tessa Burg talks with Alan Kipust, Mod Op’s Executive in Residence and a leader in product management, to discuss how AI is fundamentally reshaping what marketing teams can accomplish and how they should think about their work.

You’ll learn which AI applications actually move the needle, the power of a good hackathon and the skills every marketer needs to master. Wherever you are in your career, this episode will change how you approach your work tomorrow.

Leader Generation is hosted by Tessa Burg and brought to you by Mod Op.

About Alan Kipust:

Alan Kipust is a senior product management executive with a distinguished track record building and scaling digital, logistics, and customer-centric businesses for some of the world’s most recognizable brands. Over a fifteen-year career at Amazon, Uber, Chewy and Ford Motor Company, he has led transformative initiatives across e-commerce, mobility, customer operations, and subscription ecosystems. Most recently, as Senior Director of Product Management for Ford’s Digital Experience organization, Kipust oversaw the company’s subscription commerce and advanced Ford’s global data privacy and commitments. Prior to Ford, he served as Senior Director of Customer Experience at Chewy, driving enterprise-wide customer experience strategy, deploying proprietary CRM systems, and helping maintain the brand’s industry-leading satisfaction rating.

With deep expertise in scaled operations, platform design, and technology-driven transformation, Kipust has shaped the digital and operational backbone behind major global businesses. At Uber, he served as Global Head of Vehicle Product Management, directing the product and fleet strategy for a 60,000-vehicle program that supplied a significant share of global driver availability. Earlier in his career, he spent seven years at Amazon, where he launched Amazon Flex and built Amazon Logistics’ first integrated customer-and-driver support operation. A holder of multiple U.S. patents and an advisor to several high-growth companies, Kipust is known for his product vision, operational rigor, and ability to build high-performing teams in complex, rapidly evolving environments. He can be reached on LinkedIn or at Alan.Kipust@modop.com.

About Tessa Burg:

Tessa is the Chief Technology Officer at Mod Op and Host of the Leader Generation podcast. She has led both technology and marketing teams for 15+ years. Tessa initiated and now leads Mod Op's AI/ML Pilot Team, AI Council and Innovation Pipeline. She started her career in IT and development before following her love for data and strategy into digital marketing. Tessa has held roles on both the consulting and client sides of the business for domestic and international brands, including American Greetings, Amazon, Nestlé, Anlene, Moen and many more. Tessa can be reached on LinkedIn or at Tessa.Burg@ModOp.com.