BrandStar, a national powerhouse strategic marketing and broadcast production company, has teamed with Tom Morris, Founder & CEO of Vailant, the holding company for Selah Pools, an AI-driven pool and outdoor design company, to launch an industry-first AI Executive-in-Residence Program.
This new program is being launched in conjunction with BrandStar’s Content and story-scaping Marketing Division WNDR, the author of Selah’s national brand launch and its parent, Vailant’s, narratives.
Morris, a proven technology strategist, studied AI at UC Berkeley Haas School of Business. As Vailant’s CEO, he prepared for their AI launch for five years and now holds WNDR’s inaugural executive residency for AI.
Under the AI in Residence Program, Morris will work with the BrandStar/WNDR team to establish best practices to address AI’s disruption of the sales and marketing sphere. Vailant, as an AI platform company, will serve as proof of concept through its AI-driven design platforms and maximizing AI technologies for a next-generation array of sales and marketing strategies.
“OpenAI’s ChatGPT, in less than six months, became the fastest-growing consumer application in history and has captured everyone’s imagination,” said Morris, who, in a prior residency program with Milacron Marketing LLC led their fledgling AI division in 2016 in consulting with Tesla Motors in Fremont, California. “And, as much as AI impacts many ‘end-products’ in the sales process, it is genuinely disrupting the sales and marketing sphere.”
The initiatives to be developed under the AI Executive-in-Residence includes:
- Supporting WNDR and all pertinent BrandStar portfolio companies in developing an AI strategy, product roadmap, and go-to-market strategy.
- Building predictive and prescriptive models using Multi-modal AI to identify potential customers and anticipate their needs.
- Mentoring the management teams of WNDR portfolio companies on various aspects of their business concerning the use and deployment of AI technologies.
- Building relationships with universities, industry experts, and potential partners to access resources and accelerate growth.
“We are truly honored to have an AI sales and marketing visionary with the experience and drive of Tom (Morris) leading this initiative,” said Jeff McClelland, Division Leader, EVP Chief Strategy & Client Officer for WNDR. “While many are jumping on the AI bandwagon, Tom began developing its potential years ago and consequently can help drive a mutually beneficial cooperative effort. We saw this as a timely and forward-thinking way to benefit our team with learning and a way to accelerate our client’s brand go-to-market efforts.”
