Promode.ai: Bridging AI Automation with Human Creativity in Marketing

From Corporate Insight to Startup Innovation in Kansas City

Kansas City entrepreneur Matt Scanlon knows that marketing is as much art as science. After years in the corporate world, he saw firsthand how emerging AI tools promised efficiency but often delivered bland, generic output. Determined to bridge the gap between automation and creativity, Scanlon teamed up with marketing expert Heather Gerdes to found Promode.ai, a startup rooted in Kansas City that aims to empower marketers rather than replace them. “Pro Mode is a marketing technology,” Scanlon says, describing how the company was born to solve a common problem: when businesses use AI in their marketing workflow, they often encounter “inaccurate or generic output” and even compliance issues due to AI “hallucination”[1]. The founding duo realized that marketers needed a better way to harness AI – one that would leverage a company’s own knowledge and creative spark instead of relying on off-the-shelf answers.

Scanlon’s vision for Promode.ai was shaped by real pain points he observed in large organizations. Even well-resourced marketing teams often struggle with siloed information and a loss of strategic intent as ideas trickle down from executives to content creators[2][3]. “Marketing departments and companies have all kinds of data, all kinds of information everywhere and nowhere for it to go,” Scanlon explains, noting that valuable insights sit idle because “it’s not stored in a format that is usable by AI”[4][5]. In founding Promode.ai, Scanlon and Gerdes set out to build a platform that bridges AI automation with human creativity, ensuring that a marketer’s creative ideas aren’t lost in translation but instead supercharged by AI.

An Innovative Data Pipeline for Smarter Marketing

At the heart of Promode.ai’s innovation is a powerful data pipeline and AI-driven marketing engine. Scanlon describes the solution as giving marketers the ability to assemble their own training data for AI – essentially feeding the AI with the company’s unique knowledge base[1]. This approach tackles several common AI marketing headaches head-on:

• Generic or Inaccurate AI Outputs: Off-the-shelf AI can produce content that misses the mark. Promode.ai combats this by training on rich, relevant data specific to the client, resulting in more accurate and on-brand content[1].

• “Hallucinations” and Misinformation: By grounding AI in vetted internal and industry sources, the platform reduces the risk of made-up facts or claims, which is crucial for regulated industries[1].

• Compliance and Regulatory Requirements: Promode’s transparent data management means every AI-generated output can be traced back to an editable source, making it easier for regulatory teams (FDA, SEC, etc.) to review and approve marketing content[6][7].

Scanlon emphasizes that rich data management is the missing link for effective AI in business. “The ability to store and assemble your own training data, in my mind, is the thing that would distinguish good AI deployment from bad,” he says[8][9]. Promode.ai’s platform acts as a central repository for a company’s marketing knowledge – from brand guidelines to research papers – treating it as a living asset just as important as a CRM database[8]. By doing so, Promode ensures that when AI generates content, it’s drawing on a well of persistent, usable data rather than scraping random inputs that disappear after one use[10][11].

One vivid example of this data pipeline in action comes from the healthcare sector. A medical device marketing team might have hundreds of clinical research papers stored on a shared drive, collecting digital dust. “Maybe they were used once by somebody, but there’s no... persistent throughput” connecting those papers to the company’s products or messaging, Scanlon notes[12]. Promode’s solution? Ingest that entire library of articles, parse and embed them into AI-native formats (such as vector embeddings for large language models). Suddenly, what used to require “dozens of people many, many weeks” of reading and distilling can be done on-demand[13]. A marketing team’s junior content creator can be told, “here are the three papers… we’re going to use this quarter to put out thought leadership content,” and with Promode.ai, the AI has those sources at its fingertips[13]. The platform collates everything into one workflow, eliminating the need for “six different tools by 12 different people” and creating a seamless pipeline from raw data to published content[14].

This data-centric architecture is Promode.ai’s secret sauce – and its competitive moat. Scanlon, a self-professed lifelong AI enthusiast, was surprised by how few people were thinking about “how to inject data into these large language models and manipulate them” when ChatGPT first exploded onto the scene[15]. He believes the future of AI in business will hinge on data architecture. In fact, major corporations are already paying millions in consulting fees to figure this out[16]. “Data architecture is just the foundational table stakes for any type of business AI adoption,” Scanlon argues, predicting that within a few years it will become a baseline focus for everyone[17]. By being the first to build a scalable data architecture for marketing, Promode.ai aims to stay well ahead of the curve. “I’m just not seeing anybody thinking about it in a scalable app format yet… being the first ones learning it the hard way means there’s going to be a lot of catching up to do,” he says of his head start[18].

Empowering Marketers with a Human–AI Synergy

Promode.ai’s philosophy isn’t about handing the keys entirely to automation – it’s about augmenting human creativity with AI horsepower. “For me, marketing is the department of probability,” Scanlon explains, contrasting it with more deterministic business functions[19]. In his view, a successful marketing concept still “is seeded by a creative, skilled marketer who really understands their customers and their problems,” while “AI is just the computer that assembles all of the ancillary data and workflow that it takes to bring that concept to life”[19]. In other words, Promode’s tools do the heavy lifting with data and automation so that marketers can focus on the big creative ideas.

"It's really giving marketers the creative permission to be human — more human than they've ever been."[20]
– Matt Scanlon, Co-founder of Promode.ai

Scanlon notes that early on, many people treated AI like a magical oracle or “some type of Google alternative,” expecting it to spit out fully-formed strategies or copy at the click of a button[21][22]. Promode.ai actively works to shift this mindset. The company educates its clients that AI is a powerful tool, not a replacement for human insight. “Your creative ideas are still necessary,” Scanlon emphasizes – marketers need to “ignite that spark” which the AI can then amplify into execution[23]. By offloading the grunt work (like sifting through data or drafting variants of content), Promode’s platform frees up marketers to do what they do best: strategy, storytelling, and creative problem-solving. “Most of marketing has been clicking the buttons, reading the text… managing outputs,” Scanlon reflects, noting that too often the creative spark gets lost in routine tasks[24][25]. Promode.ai wants to flip that script, giving marketers more time and headspace to be creative and strategic. In fact, Scanlon sees his platform as “freeing marketers up to think creatively again”, restoring the human element in marketing after years of over-automation[26].

This balanced approach resonates with clients who crave both efficiency and authenticity. B2B buyers still demand human-level strategic insight and relatable content, even as they expect faster turnaround and personalization that only AI can provide[27][28]. Promode.ai’s early deployments have shown that it’s possible to have both. By anchoring AI outputs in a company’s genuine expertise and voice, the content remains authentic to the brand and audience, while the speed and volume of output increase significantly. Scanlon lightheartedly mentions that if his platform can “put more attorneys out of business than marketers” by automating tedious compliance checks, he’d be doing the world a service[29][30] – a tongue-in-cheek way of saying that Promode is designed to remove obstacles, not creative jobs.

Impact from Enterprise to Small Business Markets

In under a year since launching its beta, Promode.ai has already run about 60 deployments for clients, learning which markets benefit most from its technology[31]. The team initially imagined helping small and mid-sized organizations strapped for marketing resources, and indeed those groups face the very inefficiencies Promode addresses[32]. However, they quickly found that the greatest immediate need was among larger firms. “The problems that we solve are… upper end of mid-market, if not enterprise,” Scanlon discovered as the product gained traction[32]. Enterprise marketing departments, especially in regulated fields like healthcare and finance, have been early adopters. These organizations often have sprawling content libraries and strict oversight, making Promode’s controlled, data-driven approach a perfect fit. For example, medical device manufacturers have embraced Promode.ai to ensure marketing content stays compliant with FDA guidelines while still leveraging the latest research in their field[6]. All of Promode’s data handling is transparent and editable, so a company’s legal or compliance officers can easily review the source material behind any AI-generated copy[7]. This capability has been a game-changer for enterprise clients who need both speed and peace of mind.

Promode.ai’s approach also holds huge promise for marketing agencies and smaller businesses. While the startup’s focus is trending upmarket today, Scanlon predicts that “eventually that adoption trickles downmarket”[33][34]. Marketing agencies could use Promode’s platform as a force-multiplier, enabling a small team to service many clients with personalized content derived from each client’s unique data. Regional small businesses, including those in the Kansas City area, stand to benefit in the future as well. As AI becomes more accessible, Promode.ai envisions empowering local businesses with the same level of marketing sophistication as a Fortune 500 company – without needing an army of staff. Scanlon’s bet is that within a few years, even small firms will consider data architecture and AI integration a must-have, not a luxury[17][35]. By planting the seeds now among enterprise pioneers, Promode.ai is helping build a path that others can follow as the technology becomes mainstream and more affordable.

The impact of Promode.ai’s work is already being felt close to home. “Promode.ai is really a forerunner in seeking to break new ground for companies and organizations in the Kansas City area with their AI content platform,” noted one local industry observer during a recent interview[36]. From manufacturing giants to budding startups, there’s a growing excitement in the Kansas City business community about harnessing AI for marketing. Promode.ai’s success stories serve as inspiration, showing that you don’t have to be in Silicon Valley to innovate with AI – Kansas City’s own are leading the charge.

Kansas City Roots, Global Ambitions

Looking ahead, Promode.ai’s goals reach well beyond the metro area. In the next year or two, Scanlon hopes to deepen the company’s presence in the enterprise world, solidifying its role as an essential platform for marketing teams navigating the AI revolution. By continuing to refine their data architecture and accumulate real-world learnings, the Promode team is building a defensible moat that will keep them ahead of would-be competitors[18]. They’ve embraced the hard lessons of being first-movers in this space, confident that those efforts will pay off as others try to catch up. Ultimately, Promode.ai aims to shape the future of AI-powered marketing from right here in Kansas City. It’s a future where every marketer – from the chief officer of a global enterprise to the solo strategist at a local small business – can create with the efficiency of AI without sacrificing the human touch.

About Promode.ai

Promode.ai is a Kansas City–based marketing technology startup co-founded by Matt Scanlon and Heather Gerdes[39]. The company’s platform allows marketing teams to build custom AI training datasets from their own content and knowledge, enabling automated content generation that remains accurate, compliant, and on-brand. Launched in 2024 (beta), Promode.ai has helped clients from regulated enterprises to creative agencies streamline their workflows, achieving significant gains in content output and quality. By combining rich data management with cutting-edge AI, Promode.ai’s mission is to bridge AI automation with human creativity for businesses of all sizes.

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