The ROI Question: Marketing in the AI Age
- Date
- 2026-04-08
- Location
- San Francisco, CA, USA
- Host
- RAISE Summit
About this event
AI has changed the speed of marketing, but it has also made one question harder, not easier: what is actually driving results? If you work in marketing, growth, brand, or product, you have probably felt the tension between the pressure to adopt new AI tools and the need to prove that any of it is worth the investment. The ROI Question: Marketing in the AI Age is a chance to step back, compare notes with peers, and have a sharper conversation about what is working, what is mostly noise, and how teams can make smarter decisions. About the Event This in-person meetup in San Francisco is built around a timely, practical theme: how marketing teams should think about return on investment when AI is reshaping workflows, strategy, measurement, and execution. The topic matters because AI is no longer a future consideration. It is already influencing campaign creation, audience targeting, experimentation, reporting, and internal expectations around efficiency. Rather than treating AI as a vague trend, this event focuses on the operating questions behind it. How do you judge whether a tool, workflow, or autonomous system is creating real value? What changes when speed increases but attribution gets messier? How do you balance experimentation with accountability? Expect a community-centered format designed for thoughtful discussion and useful networking. This is not about hype cycles or broad claims. It is about hearing how other people in the room are approaching the same challenges, comparing frameworks, and leaving with a clearer way to evaluate AI's place in your marketing work. What to Expect The evening will center on conversation, perspective-sharing, and connection with other people navigating similar decisions. Because the theme touches strategy, execution, and measurement, you can expect discussion that spans both high-level thinking and day-to-day realities. Topics likely to come up include: How teams are defining ROI for AI across different marketing functions Where AI is saving time versus where it is adding review overhead The difference between productivity gains and measurable business impact How autonomy changes workflows, approvals, and ownership What marketers need to measure when AI is part of the process How to separate durable advantages from short-term novelty You should also expect room for informal networking. Some of the most useful moments at events like this come from hearing how someone else is solving a problem you are still trying to frame properly. Whether you are deep into adoption or still deciding where to begin, the format is meant to support honest conversations instead of polished talking points. Bring your own questions. The strongest discussions at a meetup like this happen when attendees contribute real scenarios: tooling decisions, reporting challenges, team alignment issues, or the difficulty of showing leadership that a new AI-enabled approach is doing more than just producing more output. Why Attend If you have been trying to make sense of AI's impact on marketing performance, this event gives you a better lens. The value is not only in discussing tools. It is in learning how other professionals are thinking about tradeoffs, success metrics, and implementation decisions in an environment where expectations are moving fast. You will leave with more than general inspiration. You can expect clearer questions to ask inside your own organization, stronger language for discussing ROI, and a better understanding of how peers are approaching experimentation without losing rigor. That is useful whether you are managing a budget, leading a team, advising clients, or trying to improve your own execution. There is also a community benefit. AI can make marketing feel fragmented, especially when every team and company is testing different systems. Being in the room with others who are actively evaluating the same shift helps you calibrate your thinking. It can confirm what is worth pursuing, reveal blind spots, and surface practical ideas you can adapt immediately. This is especially relevant if you are tired of abstract AI conversations. The best reason to attend is simple: you want a grounded discussion about outcomes, not just capabilities. Practical Details When: Tuesday, April 7 at 6:30 PM PDT Where: In person in San Francisco, USA Because this is an in-person gathering, plan for an evening that combines structured discussion with natural peer interaction. San Francisco is an ideal setting for this topic, with a strong concentration of people working at the intersection of technology, growth, and experimentation. If you are local, this is an easy opportunity to reconnect with the wider marketing and AI community. If you are visiting or based nearby, it offers a focused way to spend an evening with people who are likely asking the same serious questions you are. Come ready to listen, contribute, and talk candidly about what ROI means in a moment when AI is changing not just the tools marketers use, but the standards by which their work is judged.
Who should attend
This is for people who want a smarter, more grounded conversation about AI in marketing and who care about outcomes, not just adoption. - You lead or support **marketing strategy, growth, demand generation, brand, content, or lifecycle work** and want clearer ways to evaluate whether AI is improving performance. - You are a **marketing leader, team lead, or operator** trying to balance experimentation with accountability, budget pressure, and the need to show measurable impact. - You work in **product, operations, or go-to-market roles** and collaborate closely with marketing teams that are rethinking workflows, automation, and decision-making. - You are exploring **autonomy and AI-enabled systems** and want to understand how other professionals are thinking about trust, oversight, and ROI in real-world use. - You value **peer exchange and candid networking** more than surface-level trend talk, and you want to meet others in San Francisco who are actively working through the same questions. - You are skeptical of hype and looking for a community discussion that helps you sharpen your thinking, pressure-test your assumptions, and take useful ideas back to your team.