Jon Moran, Head of MarTech Solutions Marketing at SAS chats about the importance of focusing on responsible use of AI in modern marketing in this martech catch-up:

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Hi Jon, tell us about your role at SAS and more about your tech journey so far?

At SAS, I am responsible for all marketing activities related to our MarTech and AdTech lines of business. This includes positioning, messaging, working with customers and more. Over more than 20 years, I’ve worked for a variety of analytics and data management companies, and have been involved in pre-sales consulting, tech development and enablement, and strategic product marketing. My tech journey has been one of learning, opportunity and growth.

Take us through SAS’s recent acquisition of Hazy and how it enables better data management and improved marketing data for marketing teams?

The acquisition of Hazy technology will enhance SAS’ generative AI and synthetic data generation capabilities. With these additive capabilities, customers can more easily innovate by overcoming common challenges related to data availability and quality. The acquisition helps data scientists and business and marketing analysts generate better, more complete data for marketing analytics activities. By performing more comprehensive analytical modeling, marketing teams can create more holistic customer audiences and provide better insights to frontline marketers.

What tips would you share with marketers when it comes to the way data should be stored and managed for improved marketing plans?

My main tip for today’s marketers is to be responsible with very careful with any customer data assets and treat them with care. Always account for data governance, privacy and security. Missteps and data breaches can result in severe negative impacts on customer loyalty and financial performance. One of the things we’ve done to ensure the protection of marketing and customer data is to employ what we call a “hybrid data architecture,” which means our software does not move or duplicate customer and marketing data. And when we do have to move it, it remains encrypted – both in transit and at rest. Because the software can access and use data for marketing purposes where it resides, organizations are confident they are not taking unnecessary security risks.

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What tips should marketing teams keep in mind when using AI to improve their data workflows?

When using AI from a data workflow or ETL perspective, it’s extremely important to keep a “human in the loop”. This means having a human involved in setting up data procedures, testing them and ensuring that the outputs are aligned with expectations. It is still too risky to let AI fully control the movement of sensitive data without human-based approval. AI can do a great job on things like summarization, analyzing trends, and even augmenting incomplete data. But we must ensure that, from a customer and marketing perspective, the right data is used and the wrong data does not get activated. Responsible use of data and AI enhances marketing efforts and campaigns while avoiding potentially serious harm.

A few myths surrounding customer data and AI?

Here are three:

1. The first myth is related to the widespread belief that a lot of marketers have immersed themselves in the use of generative AI (GenAI). Recent research that SAS conducted on marketing departments use of GenAI found that while 75% of marketers are using the technology daily, only 10% are currently using GenAI in a production capacity. This means marketers are still experimenting with GenAI and looking for ways it can add value.
2. The second myth is that, as a marketer, you must use generative AI. My take: Traditional AI such as machine learning and predictive analytics can perform a lot of the work done by generative AI (such as probabilistic summarization) and sometimes do it better. As I noted in my 2025 MarTech predictions, a lot of brands are getting consumed by the generative AI hype but are starting to realize that more traditional AI is the answer, particularly for front-end CX applications.
3. Third and biggest myth is that AI is a threat. There is no imminent risk of AI taking over all jobs or society. Rather, AI will spark new jobs and new careers, while GenAI and other tools will be integrated into marketing and advertising roles. Ultimately, I remain convinced that AI will not replace people, but instead, it will help people do more.

Top martech tools that have held your interest and attention in the recent months and why?

There are a lot of fascinating solutions out there – from AI- and GenAI-powered content-creation tools to advanced data and journey orchestration platforms.

My favorite – no surprise – is our marketing solution, SAS^® Customer Intelligence 360, which employs AI and GenAI to enhance marketing. Notable in it and other top MarTech solutions is the ability to:

• Use GenAI prompts to create customer audiences for marketing and advertising efforts.
• Apply GenAI to construct outbound customer journeys and inbound decision flows, all end-to-end.
• Embed deep analytics with business users in mind so that marketers can gather deep insights on CX performance and success without having to do any coding.

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