ChatGPT is approaching one billion weekly users. In just over three years, it has transformed from an obscure tool into a global infrastructure used on a daily basis.

However, the most interesting question for business leaders is not about scale. It is about what changes in marketing when the way people seek information changes radically.

Elke Karskens, Head of International Marketing at OpenAI, frames a shift that deserves the attention of every decision-maker:

“For years, brands competed for attention. Today, consumers come to AI with intention. They ask questions, solve problems, seek help. The attention economy was about brands being interesting. The intelligence age is about brands being useful.”

What changes for Portuguese SMEs

This transition has direct implications for how an SME communicates, attracts clients, and builds authority.

1. Useful is more valuable than interesting

For decades, marketing was optimised to capture attention — impressions, clicks, reach. The metric was: “How many people saw it?”. The new question is different: “Did this help someone make a decision?”.

Content that solves a real problem — a decision-making framework, a diagnostic checklist, or an actionable case study — is worth more than content that generates fleeting emotional reactions.

An SME that produces practical knowledge is building an asset that compounds and grows in value over time. One that produces entertainment is merely buying temporary attention.

2. Human judgement is the new competitive advantage

AI can conduct research in seconds. It can analyse data, generate text variations, and move from idea to visual concept in hours, not weeks; but AI does not decide:

• What the right message is, in the right context, at the right time.

• Which strategy makes sense for this company, with this team, in this market.

• When to move forward and when to wait.

Those decisions remain human. And they become more valuable, not less. AI democratises execution; judgement differentiates the decision-maker.

As Karskens notes: “Taste, context, and judgement become even more valuable.”

3. AI does not replace creativity — it liberates it

There is a common fear: if AI can generate content effortlessly, what is left for the marketer or the manager?

The answer is simple: what has always mattered remains — strategy, discernment, and vision. The ability to look at five options and choose the right one — not because the AI said so, but because 30 years of experience say so.

AI removes the repetitive grunt work that used to consume creative professionals' time. What remains is the work that genuinely creates value: thinking better, deciding with greater clarity, and executing with more consistency.

The Naveg.AI Consulting vision

Naveg.AI Consulting operates right on this frontier. Over 30 years of executive experience — in management, leadership, marketing, internationalisation, and transformation — amplified by AI as a tool for analysis, research, and preparation.

AI is the assistant that researches, synthesises, and structures. The decision is human. The judgement is human. The accountability is human.

It is this combination — real-world experience + technological capability — that defines the 21st-century boutique consultancy: it is not AI replacing consultants; it is AI amplifying consultants who already know what they are doing.

Does your company want to integrate AI intelligently — as a tool in service of human judgement? Book a conversation with Tiago Trigo, founder of Naveg.AI Consulting.