Using Perplexity AI as an Autonomous 'CMO'
In a new demo, Jon Radoff showcased using Perplexity AI as an autonomous 'CMO' for a product launch. The AI was tasked with generating and executing a complete marketing strategy hands-free, illustrating how agentic AI can take on complex, high-level marketing functions.
Jon Radoff, the entrepreneur behind the demo, has a history of building companies at the intersection of online communities and gaming. He founded Beamable, a platform for creating online games, which was acquired by Skillz in January 2026. His career includes creating one of the first commercial MMORPGs and taking a web content management company public. The demo showcases agentic AI, a class of AI that can operate autonomously with minimal human oversight to achieve complex goals. Unlike traditional AI that follows predefined workflows, agentic AI can break down objectives into sub-tasks, reason about the next steps, and adapt its strategy based on real-time feedback. This allows it to manage an entire campaign, from ideation and content creation to performance tracking and optimization. Perplexity AI, the tool used, functions as an "answer engine" that synthesizes information from various sources to provide direct, cited answers rather than just a list of links. For marketers, it accelerates research by analyzing competitor strategies, identifying market trends, and gathering consumer behavior insights from reports, news, and social media discussions. It utilizes a technology called Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) to fetch real-time web data, which helps to reduce inaccuracies. The use of AI in marketing is becoming a key focus for CMOs, with nearly 93% of marketing teams planning to budget for generative AI in 2026. Many marketing leaders now rely on AI-generated insights for strategic planning, including customer segmentation, demand forecasting, and campaign optimization. The shift is toward viewing AI not just as a tool for automation, but as a strategic partner in driving growth. This move towards autonomous agents is prompting a change in creative workflows and agency models. Agencies are integrating AI tools like Adobe Firefly and Midjourney for rapid concept visualization and asset generation. The focus is shifting from speed and efficiency to using AI as a "creative sparring partner" to explore a wider range of ideas. This elevates the role of human creativity toward strategy, curation, and ensuring brand distinctiveness in an increasingly automated landscape.
