EPISODE DESCRIPTION When AI can write copy, analyze campaigns, generate research, and produce video, what should students still learn deeply enough to do themselves? David LaCombe, fractional CMO, educator, and author of Marketing2aT, argues that the answer starts with judgment. Technical fluency still matters, but young professionals also need business acumen, empathy, communication, perspective, and enough expertise to know when an AI answer is useful and when it is wrong. Jason and David move from marketing into a bigger education question: AI cannot remain a separate class or occasional classroom tool. It is becoming part of the work itself. They discuss design thinking, deliberate practice, AI as a thinking partner, T-shaped skills, the value of generalists and specialists, and why students need opportunities to test ideas, get feedback, and make decisions in uncertain conditions. The takeaway: prepare students to work with AI without handing their judgment over to it. Then look at your own curriculum and ask where AI should become part of the thread rather than an add-on. ABOUT THE GUEST David LaCombe is a fractional CMO, marketing educator, and author of Marketing2aT: Become the Marketer Every Team Wants. His work focuses on helping marketers connect technical skill with business judgment, communication, and cross-functional understanding. GUEST LINKS LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidlacombeWebsite: https://davidlacombecmo.com/Marketing2aT: https://books.google.com/books/about/Marketing2aT.html?id=c7rx0QEACAAJ TIME STAMPS 00:00 - From paramedic to marketer and author06:27 - What AI changes about marketing09:34 - Design thinking, empathy, and customer understanding15:04 - AI content and what small organizations can realistically do19:03 - Brand consistency, AI video, and avoiding slop24:58 - Deliberate practice, feedback, and learning faster27:34 - AI in higher education and the limits of prohibition31:42 - Beginner's mind and AI as a curriculum thread35:00 - Teaching students to use AI without giving up their thinking39:24 - Marketing2aT and the case for T-shaped professionals41:44 - What should a 14-year-old study for an AI-shaped future?46:24 - Generalists, specialists, and why expertise still matters48:09 - Philosophy, perspective, and human judgment50:02 - Work, passion, relationships, and balance CONNECT WITH JASON PADGETT Jason Padgett | AI Solutions Architect | Co-Founder, Wooden Boy Industries | Host, AGI Podcast | AI Adoption, LLM Systems & Human-AI Workflows AGI - Advance Grow and Innovate with AI Podcast Network🌐 https://schoolsout.agipodcast.ai/ CoFounder, Wooden Boy Industries🌐 https://woodenboyindustriesai.com/ Chief Solutions Architect, Chakra AI Solutions🌐 https://chakrasolutions.ai/ 📧 jason@agipodcast.ai RESOURCES MENTIONED Marketing2aT: Become the Marketer Every Team Wantshttps://books.google.com/books/about/Marketing2aT.html?id=c7rx0QEACAAJ Yeshiva University Digital Marketing and Mediahttps://www.yu.edu/katz/digital-marketing-media Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmullhttps://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/216369/creativity-inc-by-ed-catmull-with-amy-wallace/9780804127448 CORRECTIONAt 52:54, Jason gives the Skynet date as August 31, 1997. The date in Terminator 2 is August 29, 1997.