ChatGPT is approaching one billion weekly users. In just over three years, it has gone from an unknown tool to a global infrastructure of daily use.

However, the most interesting question for anyone running a business is not about scale. It is about what changes in marketing when the way people search for information fundamentally changes.

Elke Karskens, Head of International Marketing at OpenAI, formulates a transition 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, look for help. The attention economy was about brands being interesting. The era of intelligence is about brands being useful.”

What changes for Portuguese SMEs

This transition has direct implications for how an SME communicates, attracts customers, 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 decide?”.

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

SMEs that produce practical knowledge are building an asset that accumulates and gains value over time. Those that produce entertainment are buying temporary attention.

2. Human judgement is the new competitive advantage

AI can do research in seconds. It can analyse data, generate text variations, and go from idea to visual concept in hours, not weeks. But it does not decide:

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

• Which strategy makes sense for this business, 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 unleashes it

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

The answer is simple: what is left is what always mattered. Strategy. Criteria. 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 work that consumed the time of creative professionals. What is left is the work that truly creates value: thinking better, deciding with more clarity, executing with more consistency.

The vision of Naveg.AI Consulting

Naveg.AI Consulting operates exactly on this frontier. More than 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 responsibility is human.

It is this combination — real 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 business want to integrate AI intelligently — as a tool at the service of human judgement? Schedule a conversation with Tiago Trigo, founder of Naveg.AI Consulting.

(Versão em português disponível sob pedido.)