Technical expertise and IQ matter. Obviously. We want our architects, engineers, and contractors to know exactly what they’re doing.

But there’s another kind of intelligence that becomes increasingly important as you move into leadership: the ability to understand yourself, manage your emotions, and navigate everyone else’s.

My cat, Yeti Monster, has never attended an SMPS conference. She has never written a proposal, developed a marketing plan, sat through a networking event, or given a presentation in front of a room full of people.

And yet, she taught me one of the most important lessons I've learned about being brave: sometimes, you have to decide that you aren't going to be helpless anymore.

When most conversations about AI and marketing start, they usually jump straight to content creation: "Write this proposal section", "Draft this email", "Create this social post." And yes, AI can help with all of that.

But in AEC marketing and business development, one of its biggest advantages is its ability to cut through the noise so there is more room to think strategically.