The 60/40 Rule Still Works. AI Just Changed the Speed.

In 2021, when I was at Coyote Logistics (now RXO), I commissioned a study to answer a simple question:

What’s the right balance between technology and human expertise?

The answer at the time was clear:

60% technology. 40% human expertise.

I took that idea and applied it to marketing. My takeaway was straightforward: the best demand gen strategies are both 100% digitally driven and 100% customer-focused.

That still holds up.

But everything around it has changed.

AI Changed the Pace. Not the Playbook.

AI hasn’t rewritten the fundamentals. It’s rewritten the speed.

Things that used to take weeks now take hours.Things that used to require multiple teams can now be done by one.

For a lean team like mine at Passport, that’s been a massive unlock.

We’re building things today that, a few years ago, would have required engineering support, longer timelines, and bigger budgets.

Now we can:

• Launch personalized landing pages without developers

• Build interactive tools and calculators to drive conversion

• Analyze thousands of sales calls and customer conversations for trends

• Pressure test messaging faster than ever

  
  

That’s real leverage. AI has become a force multiplier.

But speed and output don’t equal quality.And they definitely don’t equal strategy.

You Can Feel When Something Is AI-Generated

We’re all starting to notice it.

You read something and think: this technically says all the right things… but it doesn’t actually say anything.

That’s because AI is great at assembling words. It’s not great at:

• Having a point of view

• Making judgment calls

• Knowing what actually matters

• Saying something slightly uncomfortable but true

  
  

That gap isn’t shrinking. It’s becoming more obvious.

And in a world where everyone has access to the same tools, original thinking becomes the differentiator.

At Passport, AI supports our team. It doesn’t replace it.

I still rely heavily on experienced marketers for:

• Deciding what we should say (and what we shouldn’t)

• Shaping the narrative behind campaigns

• Pushing creative in directions AI wouldn’t go on its own

• Calling out when something just feels… off

  
  

AI generates options. People decide what’s worth putting into the world.

AI Is Incredible for Research. Dangerous for Conclusions.

This is where I’ve personally seen the biggest shift.

AI has changed how fast you can get smart on something:

• Markets

• Competitors

• Customer behavior

• Trends

  
  

You can go deep in minutes. But there’s a trap.

Just because you can gather information faster doesn’t mean you understand it better.

Without interpretation, prioritization, and a bit of skepticism, you end up with polished summaries that lack real insight.

We use AI heavily for research at Passport. But we treat it as a starting point, not an answer.

Because without human judgment, you’re not building strategy.You’re just organizing information.

Where This Gets More Interesting: The Product Itself

What’s been more interesting to me lately isn’t just how AI is changing marketing.

It’s how it’s becoming embedded into the product.

At Passport, we’re not treating AI as a campaign theme. We’re building it into how global ecommerce actually works for our customers.

That showed up in our recent Winter Product Release.

We rolled out updates across Passport Global, Passport Portal, and Shopify—all focused on helping brands manage the growing complexity of selling internationally.

Some of that included AI. But not in a “look at our AI features” way.

More in a “this should just work better now” way.

Our internal principle is simple:

AI isn’t the story. Better global operations are. AI is just how we get there.

What That Looks Like in Practice

1. Removing Friction (Where AI Earns Its Keep)

Cross-border ecommerce is still too manual, slow, and error-prone.

That’s where AI actually shines.

For example, we’re using AI for HS code classification behind the scenes—helping generate product descriptions, match to country-specific codes, and reduce manual work.

It’s not flashy. But it matters.

We’re also surfacing AI-driven recommendations inside Passport Portal, like suggesting which markets a brand should expand into next based on real data.

The goal isn’t to add more features. It’s to remove steps.

2. Making Decisions Less Guessy

Global expansion comes with a lot of unknowns.

Duties, taxes, compliance, performance across markets—it adds up quickly.

We’re using AI to make that information more accessible and usable.

Inside Passport Portal, brands can:

• See top markets and products at a glance

• Identify shipments that need attention immediately

• Interact with their data through an AI chat experience

  
  

It’s less about dashboards and more about getting answers faster.

3. Keeping Humans in the Loop (On Purpose)

This is the part I feel strongest about.

In global ecommerce, there’s too much at stake to fully automate decision-making. Compliance isn’t something you “set and forget.” Neither is customer experience.

That’s why our approach is intentionally not hands-off. AI supports workflows. It doesn’t own them.

There’s still human oversight. Validation. Judgment.

Not because we’re behind, but because that’s what trust actually requires.

Why the 60/40 Balance Still Works

If anything, AI makes this balance more important.

Because now:

• Technology is easier to access

• Content is easier to produce

• Automation is easier to implement

  
  

Which means…

Human differentiation is both harder and more valuable.

Anyone can generate content. Not everyone can generate something worth reading.

Anyone can automate a workflow. Not everyone can design one that actually improves outcomes.

That’s why I still believe in the same ratio:

• 60% technology and AI → speed, scale, efficiency

• 40% human expertise → judgment, creativity, trust

  
  

You need both. But they don’t play the same role.

What I’d Update from 2021

The core idea hasn’t changed.

The best marketing is still:

• 100% digitally driven

• 100% customer-focused

  
  

But now there’s a third layer:

AI-enabled in execution. Human-led in thinking.

That’s the combination that actually works.

Final Thought

AI is everywhere right now.

But the companies that stand out won’t be the ones talking about AI the most.

They’ll be the ones using it in ways that actually make things better:

• Faster where it should be faster

• Simpler where it’s too complex

• Smarter where decisions are unclear

  
  

All without losing the human layer that makes people trust the outcome.

Because that part hasn’t changed. And it’s not going to.