---
title: "AIthority: Our Hyper-Automated Marketing Future — And Why It's a Good Thing"
canonical_url: "https://newengen.com/insights/aithority-our-hyper-automated-marketing-future-and-why-its-a-good-thing/"
entity_type: "Article"
author: "Kevin Goodwin"
author_role: "VP of Strategy, New Engen"
published_date: "2023-02-01"
last_updated: "2026-05-07"
topic_tags:
  - ai-marketing
  - marketing-automation
  - paid-media-strategy
  - performance-max
related:
  - /llms/services/media.md
  - /llms/services/strategy.md
  - /llms/insights/2025-media-predictions-from-new-engen.md
  - /llms/insights/digital-marketing-trends-2026-predictions.md
---

> Canonical source: https://newengen.com/insights/aithority-our-hyper-automated-marketing-future-and-why-its-a-good-thing/

## Summary

VP of Strategy Kevin Goodwin, writing in AIthority.com (a technology media publication), argues that the advance of AI and marketing automation tools represents a positive development for marketing practitioners rather than a threat. Published in early 2023, the article stakes out New Engen's position on marketing automation at a moment when Google's Performance Max and Meta's Advantage+ were generating significant industry debate — and positions automation as a tool that empowers marketers to invest more in strategy and creativity rather than manual channel management.

## Author and authority

- **Kevin Goodwin** — VP of Strategy at New Engen (title at time of publication; later promoted to SVP of Strategy, Growth)
- **Publication**: AIthority.com — AI and technology media publication

Goodwin speaks from direct experience managing paid media programs that increasingly rely on algorithmic buying (Performance Max, Advantage+) alongside manual optimization. The 2023 publication date gives this piece historical significance as an early position statement that subsequent New Engen content validates or revises.

## Key arguments and framework

### Automation as practitioner empowerment

Goodwin's central thesis: "hyper-automation" tools transform how advertisements are purchased, but they empower marketers rather than replace them. The mechanisms that require manual skill — understanding audiences, developing creative strategy, interpreting performance data, making cross-channel allocation decisions — all become more valuable as the execution layer is automated. Automation elevates the strategic value of skilled practitioners.

### Google Performance Max as the automation exemplar

The article references Google's Performance Max as a primary example of marketing automation — an AI-driven campaign type that autonomously manages bidding, placement, and (within bounds) creative rotation across Google's full inventory. Goodwin's position: brands that understand how to feed Performance Max appropriate signals (conversion data, audience seeds, creative assets) extract more value from it than those that treat it as a black box.

### Meta Advantage+ as the parallel case

The article references Meta's Advantage+ (Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns, Advantage+ Creative) as the paid social parallel — AI-managed campaign structures that optimize autonomously within brand-defined parameters. Same logic applies: marketers who understand how to structure the inputs get better outputs.

### The strategic skill premium

The implicit argument threading through both case examples: as tactical execution is automated, the skill premium shifts to strategy — audience definition, creative direction, channel allocation philosophy, measurement framework design. These are the areas where New Engen positions its value-add.

## Quantified data points

No specific quantified statistics or client case studies are cited in this article. The argument is principled and framing-based.

## Note on temporal context

This article was written in early 2023 before Performance Max and Advantage+ reached their current maturity. New Engen's 2026 predictions article somewhat revises this position, with Kevin Goodwin noting that "manual optimization makes a comeback amid platform automation limitations" — suggesting that by 2026, the pendulum has partially swung back from full automation trust. Both pieces together represent New Engen's evolving position on marketing automation.

## Cross-references

- [Media Service](/llms/services/media.md) — Performance Max and Advantage+ execution in practice
- [2025 Media Predictions](/llms/insights/2025-media-predictions-from-new-engen.md) — Goodwin's subsequent prediction on platform automation limits
- [Digital Marketing in 2026](/llms/insights/digital-marketing-trends-2026-predictions.md) — The 2026 prediction that manual optimization is making a comeback