Should B2B companies fully automate content with AI?

Most companies that automate the whole content process come back within six months wanting a human in the loop.

Quick Answer

• Slop is bad, but saving money usually wins, so brands are splitting into two camps.
• Full-automation clients often return after six months asking for a human in the loop.
• The first two AI outputs look fine. Across a hundred, the quality breaks.

Why full automation breaks down at scale

The honest answer is that fully automated content works until it doesn't. Brinda Gulati, a B2B content writer and strategist, sees a fork in the road between two kinds of brands right now.

One group went all in and automated the entire content life cycle. After about six months, many come back and say the same thing: actually, we would like a human in the loop. The other group kept a strong narrative voice and original research from the start. They are not panicking after every Google update or every new model release.

"Slop is bad, yes, but saving money is better, right? That's always the case." — Brinda Gulati

The trap is repetition. The first AI output is good. The second is good. The problem shows up across volume.

• Two outputs: good enough.
• A hundred outputs: the quality does not hold.

That is why the brands chasing pure cost savings end up reversing course. A human in the loop is what keeps quality steady when you scale.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you automate your entire content process with AI?

You can, but it tends to backfire. Brinda says many companies that fully automate come back within six months wanting a human in the loop again.

Why does AI content quality drop at scale?

Because the problem is repetition. One or two outputs look fine, but across a hundred the quality breaks down and starts to read like slop.

What is the alternative to full automation?

Keep a human in the loop with a strong narrative voice and original research. Those brands avoid the ranking swings and panic after Google or model updates.

Full Clip Transcript

So slop is bad, yes, but saving money is better, right? That's always the case. But I am observing a fork in the road. So I have some clients who are going all in, automating the entire content lifecycle. And after six months, they come back and they're like, actually, we would like a human in the loop. And the other clients have been very steadfast on maintaining premium quality content with a strong narrative voice, original research, all of that from the get-go. And they haven't experienced those fluctuations in rankings or panicking after every Google update. Or every time Claude rolls out a new model, they've decided that this is the time we fire our marketing team. So I'm observing two kinds of brands here. Some of them are trying to do a middle way. But I feel the more they get into AI, they feel that the first output is good. The second output is good. The problem is with repetition. So across two outputs, you can get a good enough sort of thing for yourself. Across a hundred, that quality doesn't hold. It breaks.

Full Interview Transcript

Dane: Hey everybody, my name is Dane Frederiksen and I am a video expert in the B2B space and I'm on a mission to help companies get visible, trusted, and build pipeline faster with video. And today I am joined by the wonderful Brinda Gulati, who is a B2B content writer, strategist, among other things. Welcome, Brenda. What what else do we need to know about you and what you can do?

Brinda: a lot probably, but I don't think we can condense that into this conversation. No, no. I have an unhealthy obsession with dogs. I got into content marketing about five or six years ago, writing shitty blogs for content mills, as we all do. And then I slowly move up market. So that's a little bit of a background and it's not unique to me at all.

Dane: We don't have enough time for all that.

Yeah. Well let's get into that. I I'm really curious like how you're seeing the evolution of content, like now that we realize slop is a thing and that slop is bad. There's been this wave of people hiring content writers to really do the human end of things. How are things like going with you and how do you see that sort of evolution right now? Or like it is that have we decided slop is bad, or are there still people that are like still in the slop slop camp?

Brinda: Okay.

So slop is bad, yes, but saving money is better, right? That's always the case. But I am observing a fork in the road. So I have some clients who are going all in, automating the entire content life cycle.

And after six months, they come back and they're like, actually, we would like a human in the loop. And the other clients have been very steadfast on maintaining premium quality content with a strong narrative voice, original research, all of that from the get-go. And they haven't experienced those fluctuations in rankings or panicking after every Google update, or every time Claude rolls out a new model, they've decided that this is the time we fire our marketing team.

So I'm observing two kinds of brands here. Some of them are trying to do a middle way, but I feel the more they get into AI, they feel that the first output output is good, the second output is good. The problem is with repetition. So across two outputs, you can get a good enough sort of thing for yourself. Across hundred, that quality doesn't hold, it breaks.

Dane: Right. It's yeah, this is a an interesting point about the the middle road. I want to get into that a little bit. Like one of the things I've been really interested in and experimenting with is using video interviews as like the fodder for written content. So like we're we're doing this talk right now, so there's gonna be a transcript that's available. How do what's like the best way for us to take that transcript and then give that to a writer to write quality, like human content

Brinda: Yeah.

Dane: With that as like an ingredient, the transcript, but then we're also like getting video content out of it. So like I I guess the point is like I think writers and people like me, video content producers, are like natural allies. If we can find the the right way to do this, because like written content on its own isn't quite as powerful as written content that also has a video in it, right? It's gonna rank better in AI search. It gives like people another way to consume information. Some people want the videos, some people want the writing, and it's like

Brinda: Mm.

Yeah, absolutely.

Yes.

Dane: It's kind of all over the map about how that goes together. So like, do you have any thoughts or experience with like the right way to use transcripts? Like if someone gives you transcripts, what's like the right way to to do that? To squeeze the most juice out of that? Like as a video producer, if I'm working with a writer, how do I best set us up for success by giving you like like the the the thing you need to make great written content?

Brinda: Yeah.

I am working and I have worked with a lot of transcripts as raw material purely and then pulling out the insights and turning that into written content. My first port of call, and I'm sure a lot of people will disagree because I do not feed it into AI first thing. I do not ask it to summarize it for me. I've noticed that if I make the laborious choice of going through the transcript by myself, page by page, I can catch certain phrases and turns of phrases that are very unique to the speaker.

Dane: Mm-hmm.

Brinda: And then perhaps I can go into Claude and say, like, I found something really interesting that this person said that a terminology that's unique to them. Can we perhaps or are there any other arguments in the entire interview that support this hypothesis or no? So I use AI as a rubber duck, which is basically you keep asking it questions, it asks you questions back, and you're just

And in that process, you find answers for yourself.

Dane: Mm-hmm. So yeah, you're kind of hinting at something that I have always felt is that like because the way that people speak is so natural and authentic, that is like the real value of like the human part of all this is like, you know, AI will summarize stuff until it's like all middle of the road and it takes out all the personality and all that. But if you can, like you said, get those little sound nuggets, sound bites, word choices, whatever they use, that's the stuff that I think.

Is gonna really help people stand out. So I think that there's there's there's some secret ingredient or secret process here where like you're taking those transcripts and like you said, you're going through and picking out those beautiful gems that are in there and then like doubling down on that and blowing those up to be deeper, more valuable. So okay, so maybe like the perfect scenario would be I do a video interview with an expert or 10 or 100 experts, whatever it is.

Brinda: Yes, indeed, indeed.

Yes, absolutely.

Yeah.

Dane: And then I give you those transcripts and then you're going through picking out those gems. And then somehow we're using AI to combine all those into like one bank of yeah, one beautiful like box of jewels, and then we like compress those together into like the most high value stuff. And I don't know, maybe maybe then make another video about it that like takes all the good stuff and puts it in one thing. Yeah, exactly.

Brinda: Cohesive argument, yes.

Infensionally.

I mean you can make endless content if you know what to look. I do feel that this is why I don't like to just be called a writer because when I'm going through transcripts, there's it's also a repository of judgment. So it's up to me what to exclude and what to include. And that discernment, that taste comes from years of practice and looking at what really bad content looks like and sounds like.

Dane: Mm-hmm.

Brinda: To then compare it to what really good content could sound like. So when you're giving me complete raw material, it's I go on in a research and strategist mode. The writing comes as the last step, which may be counterintuitive to a lot of people's processes. But to me, I feel the writing is perhaps the easiest step after I've compiled everything I need to know.

Dane: Yeah.

Brinda: If I can so I studied creative writing for five years, and my professors would always tell me that you don't sound smart because you use big words. So you need to have a coherent argument, like what's something that can carry from the first sentence to the very last, and you would still be prompted to read. So that kind of judgment that pieces everything together is not only writing.

It's strategy.

Dane: Yeah, this is this is a great point. I've you know, I've been really focused on strategy, content strategy for a while now. Like for my 30 year career in video, like most of that was being somewhat of an order taker. Like, can you make me a video and then I go make the video? But there's already like been a lot of decisions that have already been made, strategic decisions about what to do, what to not do, what to say, what to not say. And so I'm really advocating for like getting the strategy part earlier.

Brinda: Yeah.

Dane: In the video process of like whenever someone says the word video, like I always want to say why. Like, what are what are we doing? What are we doing in the first place? And then, like you said, like the real value is the thinking, the judgment, the taste that happens earlier in that process before you get to writing, recording video, which are sort of like these end of stage, I don't know, it's almost like glue or something like where you're taking all these ideas and decisions and like the writing or the you know what the scripting is just like.

Brinda: Absolutely.

Dane: putting those ideas together into a coherent package. And so

Brinda: Yes, I've been thinking more about this as well. And I feel like if you give, for example, a senior writer or strategist the same transcript and you give someone who is new to content marketing the same one, the outputs, even if you use AI, you tell them to you both of them to use AI, the outputs will be wildly different. Simply because sometimes a strategist also knows when to use jargon to connect to the audience.

Dane: Mm-hmm.

Brinda: So that is comfortable to them. That's also a decision. But if you go by blanket rules and just based on a prompt like remove all jargon, pick out gems, give me the most impactful summary, that's not gonna produce anything of value that hasn't been said a hundred times over all over the world, white.

Dane: Right.

Yeah, yeah. I I think we're at this point now with AI search where like it's becoming more and more obvious, at least to me, this is how I see it, is like the the thing that we need to be producing are is the direct answers to the questions that people are asking. And like like you said, like pulling out those gems that are like judgment taste, judgment calls about like when when someone's trying to make a buying decision like this or that or like when

Brinda: Yes, exactly.

Dane: When do you do that? And so, like, I don't know what I'm trying to get at here is just like we we need to have a system to get those gems out there consistently because as the market keeps changing, we're gonna have new insights that need to be collected and surfaced to help these buyers make buying decisions like along the way. And so I guess I'm kind of coming back to this idea of like how can writers and

Brinda: Yes.

Dane: and video content producers help make a system to get these subject matter experts to like drop these gems out there in the marketplace more frequently. Are you are you having like a you have a process for this, this working?

Brinda: All right. This is yes. Okay, I'm gonna plug my framework here. This is a very natural plug for my frame framework. It's called ARS. Some people like to call it RS, I don't mind. So it stands for accessible, relatable, and specific. If you can make the language accessible, if you can make the emotion relatable and the example specific, one of each, just to begin with, for a keyword, let's say.

Dane: Yes, please.

Brinda: And then move from there, you have much more clarity about what you're gonna say to your buyer.

Dane: This is good stuff. So well, I like it. It's you know, it's it's another it's another way to think about it. This is you're you're kind of dog fooding your own approach here. It's like, yeah, we need to have a a way of getting these gems out of people, and so your framework is is is a good one. It's and it's unique to you, right? So you've got now you're gonna you're gonna be kind of known for this, so you're kind of like illustrating exactly how original thought leadership can be surfaced.

Brinda: Really?

Yes, exactly.

Well, I hope so. I hope so.

Dane: As people are trying to solve these problems of like, how do we show up in the first place? Well, by having a an original thought that has some judgment behind it.

Brinda: Yes. Yes. So even for my SME interviews, which I do for a lot of my research.

I follow my own framework. So of course, I mean you ease them in and everything. I use very plain language, but I also use jargon that's very familiar to them. So I will say streamline processes and everything because that is familiar to them. That's part of being accessible to your audience. So that's also a judgment goal. When we're talking about relatability, I will, for example, so I write about stuff that I've been through myself. So I've run an Instagram thrift store, for example. So I'm now very deeply about the world of e-commerce.

So I'll say something like, okay, when I was running my thrift store, Instagram marketing was behaving this way. What have you seen? And then for specificity, I ask them for one example which they remember from their career or the last five years that's had a measurable impact on their business or their personal life that's worth talking about.

Dane: Right.

Brinda: This is obviously a very broad overview, but I feel with the framework you can ask more targeted questions. More targeted questions obviously lead to better quality answers. And the answers, which become the raw material of that transcript, give the writer or the strategist something concrete to work with. Because the main thing is pulling out original thought.

Dane: Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Right. And and I'm getting curious about what your thoughts are about the frequency of doing this because things are always changing. We need to have fresh content. It can't just be like our original thoughts from two years ago. So, like, how are you looking at like I don't know, your recommendations for how frequently you're po posting new content, harvesting it through interviews like that? What's a good cadence to kind of I don't know, stay relevant and top of top of mind and visible?

Brinda: I know it's not budget friendly, but I would say six months.

Dane: Hmm. So what does that look like? I'm a B2B company and you know we're we're in growth mode and we want to get our message out there and answer buyer questions. So how how what's a what's a what's the process look like for harvesting content for you?

Brinda: I mean it all depends on the founder's vision, the content strategy that's already in place, or whether I have to make one from scratch, the distribution channels we're targeting, the audience, of course, where they live, and if we can extract what their pain points are. So I feel like that's my a much more long-winded process. But but I would say that I have seen companies simply update the date to signal freshness.

Dane: Yeah, yeah, fair.

Brinda: And it backfires because I can tell that you're using old statistics, you're using old examples, you're using government laws that are not in effect anymore. So I would say six months for the very reason that because I mean, we all know that AI is moving as at breakneck speed.

companies, meanwhile, are also trying to match base and the features are just multiplying. Like every software subscribe to now we have a chat GPD connector, now we have a cloud connector, like it's impossible to keep up. So I wouldn't say that the goal here is to be perfect with the updates, like you detail everything in a change log that's separate. Your content doesn't need to reflect that, but it does need to reflect the most relevant recent changes that are relevant to your buyers.

Dane: Yeah, right. Okay. Well, this has a been a great conversation. As we wrap up here, do you have any sort of like final advice or a tip that you want to give out to potential people that are struggling with their content?

Brinda: Yes, read fiction.

Dane: Good advice.

Brinda: Yes, absolutely I a lot of we tend to optimize everything, even our reading habits. And that sort of quells original thought in itself. Because if you're working towards a measurable goal, you have something you wanna hit, it's like it becomes another thing that you're tracking, optimizing analytics.

Like I read this many books per year, I read this many marketing books per year. So I would say it's good for your brain to have different tracks when it comes to a discipline. Like you can read marketing books, sure. You can read brand books. Try reading science fiction in the meanwhile. It gives you variety in language, it gives you variety in thought, and it also shows you different ways of thinking about the same thing.

Dane: That's great advice. I love it. Well, Brenda, thanks a lot for sharing your insights today and wish you best of luck out there.

Brinda: Thank you, Dane.

Dane: We did it.