{"id":12769,"date":"2026-06-15T14:12:53","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T18:12:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/2026\/06\/15\/why-ai-needs-better-plumbing\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T11:45:30","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T11:45:30","slug":"why-ai-needs-better-plumbing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/news\/why-ai-needs-better-plumbing\/12769\/","title":{"rendered":"Why AI Needs Better Plumbing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Today we are joined by Bob Walczak, CEO of MadConnect, to talk about the infrastructure challenges behind AI, automation, and modern marketing. We discuss why the biggest bottleneck is not the AI model itself but the connections between platforms, how intelligent connectivity helps agents take action across complex tech stacks, and why the future belongs to organizations that can turn data, systems, and automation into real business outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"h-5-key-takeaways\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><b>5 Key Takeaways<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>1. AI\u2019s biggest challenge isn\u2019t intelligence\u2014it\u2019s connectivity.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While the industry is focused on building smarter AI agents, the real bottleneck is often the infrastructure underneath them. AI can only take action if data can move reliably between platforms, making APIs and interoperability the critical foundation of any successful AI strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>2. \u201cAI is the new UI.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The conversation argues that marketers will increasingly interact with software through natural-language AI agents rather than logging into multiple platforms. The platforms themselves don\u2019t disappear; they become part of the infrastructure layer while AI becomes the primary interface through which work gets done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>3. Building integrations is easy. Maintaining them is expensive.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Many companies build their own connectors, but the ongoing maintenance burden creates hidden costs. Engineering teams often end up spending time fixing broken APIs and adapting to platform changes instead of building innovative products and services. Connectivity becomes a distraction from core business growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>4. The next frontier is self-healing infrastructure.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rather than simply detecting failures, future connectivity platforms will automatically identify issues, diagnose root causes, and propose or implement fixes. This \u201cself-healing\u201d approach reduces downtime and creates the stable foundation AI agents need to operate at scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>5. AI won\u2019t replace marketers\u2014it will amplify them.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The vision presented isn\u2019t one where AI eliminates jobs. Instead, agents handle repetitive tasks such as campaign trafficking, reporting, optimization, and data movement, allowing marketers to spend more time on strategy, creativity, audience insights, and business growth. The goal is not less human involvement, but higher-value human involvement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: none; min-width: min(100%, 430px); height: 150px;\" title=\"Why AI Needs Better Plumbing\" src=\"https:\/\/www.podbean.com\/player-v2\/?i=sdyh9-1aec94b-pb&amp;from=pb6admin&amp;pbad=0&amp;share=1&amp;download=1&amp;rtl=0&amp;fonts=Arial&amp;skin=1&amp;font-color=auto&amp;logo_link=episode_page&amp;btn-skin=fb0584\" width=\"100%\" height=\"150\" scrolling=\"no\" data-name=\"pb-iframe-player\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group aw-mig-inline-images is-content-justification-left is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-c88056ad wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group aw-mig-inline-images is-content-justification-left is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-c88056ad wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/modern-marketing-measurement\/id1831113980\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"128\" height=\"128\" src=\"https:\/\/network.advertisingweek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/12\/100apple.png\" alt=\"apple podcasts\" class=\"wp-image-7392\" style=\"object-fit:cover;width:32px;height:32px\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/4vORpYLYTj8A1JFWibSvn1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"128\" height=\"128\" src=\"https:\/\/network.advertisingweek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/12\/100spotify.png\" alt=\"spotify podcasts\" class=\"wp-image-7393\" style=\"object-fit:cover;width:32px;height:32px\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=EFhe8aY8_t0&amp;list=PLcTvMd3G4U6_Doo0PKJQlDTIyMgsdFNud\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"2048\" src=\"https:\/\/network.advertisingweek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/04\/youtube-icon-2048x2048-ndntqyit.png\" alt=\"youtube podcasts\" class=\"wp-image-8368\" style=\"object-fit:cover;width:32px;height:32px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/04\/youtube-icon-2048x2048-ndntqyit.png 2048w, https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/04\/youtube-icon-2048x2048-ndntqyit-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/04\/youtube-icon-2048x2048-ndntqyit-1024x1024.png 1024w, https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/04\/youtube-icon-2048x2048-ndntqyit-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/04\/youtube-icon-2048x2048-ndntqyit-768x768.png 768w, https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/04\/youtube-icon-2048x2048-ndntqyit-1536x1536.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"h-for-more-on-this-topic-read-this-aw360-exclusive-article\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">For more on this topic, read this AW360 exclusive article:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/ais-biggest-marketing-problem-isnt-intelligence-its-infrastructure\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/network.advertisingweek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/06\/aiinfraconcept.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12771\" style=\"object-fit:cover;width:1600px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/06\/aiinfraconcept.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/06\/aiinfraconcept-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/06\/aiinfraconcept-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/06\/aiinfraconcept-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/06\/aiinfraconcept-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><p> AI\u2019s Biggest Marketing Problem Isn\u2019t Intelligence. It\u2019s Infrastructure<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s a look at where marketing technology is heading and what that means for the people using it every day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":12770,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[5],"topics":[34,23],"class_list":["post-12769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-data","topics-modern-marketing-measurement-podcast","topics-podcast"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.0 (Yoast SEO v28.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Why AI Needs Better Plumbing | AW360<\/title>\n<meta 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