A third of marketing teams struggle to extract real value from generic AI tools. Maria Liw, Global Head of Marketing at SimCorp, explains how structured AI training converted sceptical team members into confident practitioners, achieving 2-3x productivity gains whilst maintaining quality standards.
SimCorp serves financial institutions managing over $40 trillion in assets, with a marketing organisation of 30 to 40 people spanning global content, regional campaigns, events and brand. As CogniScale's first client, they pioneered a systematic upskilling approach rather than casual experimentation. The results sound almost unbelievable: 92% time reductions on industry interview writeups, 1100% productivity gains on specific tasks, and an overall 2-3x productivity increase across the team.
The conversation explores what changed when SimCorp moved from giving teams AI tools to experiment with, to designing structured training where participants worked on real projects during workshops. Maria shares how initial scepticism quickly transformed as team members experienced quality outputs and discovered AI could serve as a strategic thinking partner, not just a production tool.
Topics covered
• Why generic AI tools weren't delivering marketing value for SimCorp's team.
• Designing a pilot programme around real workflows and deadlines.
• The importance of slowing down initially to set up AI projects properly.
• Converting team scepticism into genuine enthusiasm through hands-on results.
• Using AI as a strategic partner and sounding board, not just a production tool.
• Building collaboration infrastructure as more teams adopt AI.
• Security, legal and compliance considerations when scaling AI adoption.
Advice for marketing leaders starting their AI transformation journey.
Timestamps
2:33 - Maria's background and SimCorp's marketing organisation06:38 - How Maria and Tim's collaboration began09:03 - Framing the pilot as a learning opportunity11:12 - Workshop experiences and hands-on learning13:43 - Participant reactions before and after training16:13 - Change management and team enthusiasm18:20 - Results: astronomical numbers that feel unrealistic21:10 - Stress relief and strategic thinking benefits23:16 - The importance of slowing down to move fast25:30 - Competitive advantage and future collaboration28:22 - Security, legal and compliance considerations29:56 - Advice for marketing leaders on AI adoption
Guest Bio
Maria Liw is Global Head of Marketing at SimCorp, a leader in investment management technology serving financial institutions that collectively manage over $40 trillion in assets. With over 30 years of experience in the FinTech industry spanning both buy and sell sides, Maria has held roles across all marketing disciplines. Most recently, she headed global digital and content before becoming head of marketing. Maria brings a unique perspective to AI adoption, having led SimCorp's marketing team through a structured transformation from AI experimentation to systematic capability building.
Resources and links
• Maria Liw on LinkedIn
• Tim Bond on LinkedIn
• SimCorp
• CogniScale (AI training)
• Upcoming Events and Roundtables
• Podcast community on LinkedIn
Listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts
Listen and follow on Spotify
Join our podcast community on LinkedIn
Rate and review the podcast on your platform to help other listeners discover the show.
Want to teach your team to build their own AI agents that act like teammates, boosting productivity, quality and job satisfaction? Get your free AI acceleration report (for listeners with teams of six or more), a quick team survey and consultation that maps priority workflows, time saved and ROI from an AI upskilling programme. Visit cogniscale.com/ai-acceleration-report and enter promo code PODCAST.
Have burning topics or questions for the podcast? Email podcasts@techpros.io
Find out more about TechPros.io