Marketers looking to make their team faster, more creative, and more effective can read this synopsis and listen to this episode. This post challenges outdated assumptions about how marketing teams should work as Positionless. By drawing parallels to the evolution of basketball, it shows how marketers can break free from rigid roles, use AI to accelerate execution, and turn autonomy into a competitive edge.
Key takeaways:
What does the evolution of the NBA have to do with the future of marketing?
In the debut episode of Decoded, Future Commerce’s new podcast series, Optimove CEO Pini Yakuel draws a surprising but powerful parallel: just as basketball evolved into a positionless game, the best marketing organizations are moving away from rigid roles toward flexibility, speed, and autonomy.
Pini and Decoded host Phillip Jackson’s conversation is equal parts storytelling, strategy, and vision. And while the episode is packed with insights, here are just a few that might make you rethink how your marketing team is structured and what’s holding it back.
Stay in touch
Be the first to know all about the latest Marketing tips & tricks, Industry special insights and more
1. From Assembly Line to Autonomy
Marketing has long been built like a factory floor: copywriters, designers, analysts, and developers each doing their part, waiting on the next handoff. But as Pini points out, “The work doesn’t take long. The waiting does.”
Positionless Marketing reimagines the team not as a sequence of specialists but as empowered individuals who can launch full campaigns independently, with help from AI and automation.
2. AI Is the New Iron Man Suit
Pini doesn’t see AI as a replacement for marketers, but as their suit of armor. Whether it’s creating content, analyzing data, or optimizing campaigns, Generative AI becomes the tool that allows one person to move at the speed of five.
He calls it “multipotentiality:” a celebration of broad, creative, cross-functional talent now made possible at scale.
So, what happens to management in this new model? Pini is clear: it’s not about approvals or unblocking anymore. It’s about coaching, elevating quality, and helping talent do their best work without needing permission to begin.
In Summary
These are just glimpses into a conversation that challenges every assumption about how marketing teams should be built.
Rony Vexelman is Optimove’s VP of Marketing. Rony leads Optimove’s marketing strategy across regions and industries. Previously, Rony was Optimove's Director of Product Marketing leading product releases, customer marketing efforts and analyst relations. Rony holds a BA in Business Administration and Sociology from Tel Aviv University and an MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management.
