
AI for Business Leaders: The AI Hat Podcast
Practical AI Strategies for Business GrowthAre you a business leader interested in using AI for growth but unsure where to begin? Do you want straightforward advice and real-world examples to help you successfully integrate AI into your business?Who is this show for?"AI for Business Leaders: The AI Hat Podcast" is designed for business leaders and decision-makers across all industries who are ready to explore and implement AI solutions for business growth. Whether you're new to AI or seeking to expand your current AI initiatives, this podcast offers clear guidance and expert insights.What can you expect from this show?Join your host, Mike Allton, founder of The AI Hat [https://theaihat.com/], as he breaks down AI concepts and explores practical applications for businesses of all sizes. Each episode features insightful conversations with AI experts and business leaders who share their experiences, strategies, and best practices. You'll learn how to:‣ Identify AI opportunities within your specific industry and business model‣ Develop a human-centered approach to AI adoption‣ Implement AI solutions to improve efficiency, productivity, and decision-making‣ Navigate the evolving AI landscape and stay ahead of the curveAbout your host, Mike AlltonMike Allton is a digital marketing expert with a passion for helping businesses thrive in the age of AI. As Chief Storyteller at Agorapulse and founder of The AI Hat, Mike brings his experience and straightforward approach to deliver practical AI insights and actionable advice. Connect with Mike on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeallton/Join the conversationTune in to "AI for Business Leaders: The AI Hat Podcast" and discover how AI can transform your business. Subscribe now and start your journey to growth!
Latest episodes

15 snips
Apr 19, 2025 • 58min
One Platform to Rule Them All: The Magai Approach to AI Integration with Dustin W. Stout
Are you juggling five different AI tools just to get through your workday? Trying to remember which login goes with which platform and wondering if you're actually saving time or just creating new headaches? You're not alone.Today we've got the AI whisperer himself, Dustin W. Stout. This guy isn't just another tech founder with fancy promises—he's been in the trenches as a digital marketing consultant for over a decade before founding Magai, which he brilliantly designed as "the world's best AI tools in one place." Think of Dustin as the Marie Kondo of AI tools—except instead of asking if your tech sparks joy, he's built a platform that actually brings the joy back to your workflow. He's helped countless businesses stop drowning in subscription chaos and start actually leveraging AI for growth. What would your business look like if you could reclaim all those hours spent switching between tools?The AI Hat Podcast host Mike Allton asked Dustin W. Stout about:✨ Consolidation Creates Clarity - Bringing your AI tools under one roof eliminates the mental overhead of managing multiple platforms, allowing you to focus on results rather than juggling logins and interfaces.✨ Integration Drives ROI - The real value of AI comes not from individual tools, but from how they work together in your business processes to save time and enhance decision-making.✨ Start Simple, Scale Smart - Begin your AI consolidation journey by identifying your most frequent use cases and finding a platform that handles those well, then expand as your needs and confidence grow.Learn more about Dustin W. StoutConnect with Dustin W. Stout on LinkedIn
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Magai
My Podcast Showrunner
AI Work Buddy - Your Own Personalized AI Assistant
AI Primer: A Comprehensive Guide
AI Training for Businesses
Explore past episodes of the The AI Hat Podcast podcast
SHOW TRANSCRIPT & NOTES: https://theaihat.com/one-platform-to-rule-them-all-the-magai-approach-to-ai-integration/Start your AI journey with the AI Marketing Primer.Brought to you by The AI Hat - Get Your AI On. Interesting in sponsoring an episode? Learn more here.AI Training for Business Leaders & Teams: https://theaihat.com/ai-training-for-business/Powered by Magai - why choose one AI tool when you can have them all? And Descript, the magic wand for podcasters.Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton, AI Consultant & Trainer at The AI Hat, where he's tirelessly helping businesses and marketers get ahead of the AI Revolution and apply advanced technologies to their roles. He's spent over a decade in digital marketing, bringing an unparalleled level of experience and excitement to the fore, whether he's delivering a presentation or leading a workshop. If you’re interested in helping business owners with AI in an upcoming episode, reach out to Mike.Powered by the Marketing Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

17 snips
Apr 16, 2025 • 12min
Gemini for Growth: 3 AI Breakthroughs for Your Business
Discover how Google's Gemini AI can transform your business with practical strategies. Learn to create compelling marketing content that boosts ROI and personalize campaigns for better customer connection. Uncover the secrets to automating operations, streamlining workflows, and making informed decisions with data. Dive into next-level customer engagement by enhancing communication and building loyalty through personalized experiences. Real-world examples showcase how companies like Kraft Heinz and Mercedes-Benz have leveraged these breakthroughs for success.

11 snips
Apr 12, 2025 • 39min
Marketing Automation 2.0: Why Agentic AI is a Game-Changer for Small Business with Alex Carlson
In this discussion, Alex Carlson, host of The AI Marketing Navigator and owner of Digital Pop, reveals how agentic AI transforms the marketing landscape for small businesses. He shares insights on automating marketing tasks without human oversight, enabling businesses to compete with larger firms. Alex discusses tools like Clay.com that enhance efficiency while tackling common adoption hurdles. He emphasizes a framework for effectively integrating AI into digital marketing strategies, empowering entrepreneurs to improve productivity and focus on high-value priorities.

20 snips
Apr 5, 2025 • 44min
The AI Advantage: How Small Businesses Can Punch Above Their Weight Class
Phil Pallen, a brand strategist and author of "AI for Small Business," shares his expertise on how small businesses can harness AI tools for efficiency. He discusses the concept of a "1+ business," enabling solopreneurs to deliver impressive results without needing large teams. The conversation covers the transformative potential of generative AI, practical strategies for embracing AI in branding, and tips for maximizing tool effectiveness. Pallen emphasizes a careful approach to adopting AI while maintaining personal connections with clients.

16 snips
Mar 29, 2025 • 45min
The You-niverse: How to Stay Human in an AI Marketing World with Mark Schaefer
Mark Schaefer, a globally-acclaimed keynote speaker and author of 10 best-selling marketing books, joins the conversation to explore the intersection of AI and human connection in marketing. He argues that authentic, imperfect content resonates more with audiences than AI-generated perfection. As AI technologies advance, he highlights the importance of maintaining genuine human touch and creativity in marketing. Schaefer also discusses the evolving nature of personal branding and the role of storytelling in building emotional connections.

Mar 22, 2025 • 39min
Future-Proof Events: How AI Ensures Your Events Thrive, Not Just Survive with Warwick Davies
Join event strategist Warwick Davies, known as 'The Event Mechanic', as he shares insights on how AI can revolutionize the event industry. He discusses strategies for leveraging AI to enhance personalization and optimize marketing efforts. Warwick emphasizes the importance of adapting to new technologies to stay competitive and how AI can alleviate repetitive tasks while maintaining essential human connections. Discover practical approaches to harnessing AI for data-driven decisions that can transform attendee experiences and boost engagement.

Mar 15, 2025 • 57min
Goodbye Traditional Branding, Hello AI: Transform Your Brand Story with Park Howell
In this engaging discussion, Park Howell, the Emmy-winning storyteller, unveils the groundbreaking StoryCycle Genie™, an AI tool revolutionizing branding by quickly crafting compelling narratives. He highlights how this innovation helps businesses escape tedious traditional processes and rapidly refine their brand strategies. The conversation covers the transformative power of AI in enhancing brand storytelling and audience engagement, discussing how tailored narratives can improve marketing effectiveness and drive brand growth.

Mar 8, 2025 • 40min
Beyond Design Tools: An Evolution in AI Creative Operations with Satej Sirur
Are your creative teams drowning in endless feedback loops, version control nightmares, and bottlenecks that seem to multiply by the day? You're not alone. Marketing teams everywhere are struggling with the growing demands of content creation, with 76% reporting they need to create more content than ever before, but with the same or fewer resources. The traditional design tools and processes we've relied on just aren't cutting it anymore.But what if there was a way to transform your creative operations from a constant source of stress into a streamlined, efficient powerhouse? That's exactly what we're diving into today with someone who's been revolutionizing how marketing teams work.I'm thrilled to introduce Satej Sirur, the co-founder and CEO of Rocketium, and a veteran innovator who's spent over two decades building groundbreaking software products. As an early team member at both Microsoft and AWS, Satej has been at the forefront of technological transformation. Now, he's leading the charge in revolutionizing creative operations for marketing teams worldwide. His platform is helping major brands overcome creative bottlenecks and scale their content production in ways that seemed impossible just a few years ago.The AI Hat Podcast host Mike Allton asked Satej Sirur about:✨ Beyond Tool Integration - CreativeOps is about orchestrating entire creative workflows, not just connecting tools.✨ AI as Process Catalyst - AI transforms creative operations by eliminating repetitive tasks and enabling scale.✨ Human-AI Collaboration - Successful CreativeOps implementation enhances rather than replaces human creativity.Learn more about Satej SirurConnect with Satej Sirur on LinkedIn
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Rocketium
Agorapulse, #1 ranked Social Media Management Solution
AI as Your Co-Host: Unleashing NotebookLM’s Potential in Content Marketing
Outthink Your Competition: AI in Marketing Strategy with Sunny Hunt
AI Marketing Primer: A Comprehensive Guide for Marketers
Explore past episodes of The AI Hat Podcast
SHOW TRANSCRIPT & NOTES: https://theaihat.com/beyond-design-tools-an-evolution-in-ai-creative-operations/Start your AI journey with the AI Marketing Primer.Brought to you by The AI Hat - Get Your AI On. Interesting in sponsoring an episode? Learn more here.AI Training for Business Leaders & Teams: https://theaihat.com/ai-training-for-business/Powered by Magai - why choose one AI tool when you can have them all? And Descript, the magic wand for podcasters.Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton, AI Consultant & Trainer at The AI Hat, where he's tirelessly helping businesses and marketers get ahead of the AI Revolution and apply advanced technologies to their roles. He's spent over a decade in digital marketing, bringing an unparalleled level of experience and excitement to the fore, whether he's delivering a presentation or leading a workshop. If you’re interested in helping business owners with AI in an upcoming episode, reach out to Mike.Powered by the Marketing Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mar 1, 2025 • 53min
Your Marketing Career Needs This AI History Lesson with Katie King
Remember your first email marketing campaign? Or maybe you're old enough to remember when "digital marketing" meant updating your GeoCities website? Well, just like those marketers who dismissed email as a fad in the '90s, there are those today who are missing the signs of AI's transformative power in marketing.Every day, I talk to marketers who are either paralyzed by AI's complexity or, worse, dismissing it as just another overhyped trend. They're making the same mistake marketers made with social media in 2008, mobile in 2010, and video marketing in 2015. The cost of waiting to adapt isn't just falling behind – it's becoming irrelevant.The challenge isn't just learning AI – it's understanding how we got here and where we're headed. Without this context, marketers risk making costly mistakes, investing in the wrong tools, or missing critical opportunities that could define their careers.That's why I'm thrilled to welcome Katie King to the show today. Katie is the author of "AI Strategy for Sales and Marketing" and has been at the forefront of digital transformation for over two decades. She's worked with global brands including Virgin, Samsung, and PwC, helping them navigate the evolution from basic automation to today's AI-powered marketing landscape. As a visiting lecturer at several universities and CEO of AI in Business, Katie brings both historical perspective and practical insights to help us understand where marketing technology has been – and more importantly, where it's going.The AI Hat Podcast host Mike Allton asked Katie King about:✨ History Repeats Itself: AI adoption follows familiar patterns seen in previous marketing technology revolutions.✨ Evolution Not Revolution: Understanding AI's gradual integration helps marketers adapt more effectively.✨ Future-Proof Foundation: Historical context provides the framework for making better AI implementation decisions.Learn more about Katie KingConnect with Katie King on LinkedIn
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
AI Strategy for Sales and Marketing: Connecting Marketing, Sales and Customer Experience
AI in Business
The Future of Lean: AI’s Impact on Business Staffing Models with Chris Daigle
Mastering AI: The Future of Data-Driven Personalization in Marketing with Zontee Hou
World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report
AI and Copyright: What Marketers Need to Know with Mitch Jackson
Play Before Pay: Why Having Fun with AI Leads to Marketing Success with Amy Walters
Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek
AI Work Buddy as an AI Assistant
AI Marketing Primer: A Comprehensive Guide for Marketers
AI Training for Businesses
Explore past episodes of The AI Hat Podcast
SHOW TRANSCRIPT & NOTES: https://theaihat.com/your-marketing-career-needs-this-ai-history-lesson/Start your AI journey with the AI Marketing Primer.Brought to you by The AI Hat - Get Your AI On. Interesting in sponsoring an episode? Learn more here.AI Training for Business Leaders & Teams: https://theaihat.com/ai-training-for-business/Powered by Magai - why choose one AI tool when you can have them all? And Descript, the magic wand for podcasters.Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton, AI Consultant & Trainer at The AI Hat, where he's tirelessly helping businesses and marketers get ahead of the AI Revolution and apply advanced technologies to their roles. He's spent over a decade in digital marketing, bringing an unparalleled level of experience and excitement to the fore, whether he's delivering a presentation or leading a workshop. If you’re interested in helping business owners with AI in an upcoming episode, reach out to Mike.Powered by the Marketing Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Feb 27, 2025 • 2min
Introducing The AI Hat Podcast
Dive into the transformative world of AI and its impact on business. Discover practical applications designed for leaders eager to enhance efficiency and productivity. Learn how to identify AI opportunities tailored to your industry and implement human-centered solutions. Gain insights from experienced guests on navigating the evolving AI landscape. This engaging discussion emphasizes the importance of staying informed and balancing innovation with ethical considerations.
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