As businesses around the world increasingly integrate artificial intelligence into nearly every facet of their operations, a growing number of industry leaders are calling for a return to the fundamentals: human judgment, taste, and craft.
Among them is Krithika Shankarraman, a former Vice President of Marketing at OpenAI and the first marketing hire at Stripe, who now serves as an Entrepreneur in Residence at venture capital firm Thrive Capital.
Speaking on a recent episode of Lenny’s Podcast, Shankarraman warned that in the era of AI saturation, success may hinge less on how widely artificial intelligence is used, and more on how thoughtfully it is applied by people.
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“Taste is going to become a distinguishing factor in the age of AI because there’s going to be so much drivel that is generated by AI,” she said. “That power is at anyone’s fingertips.”
Shankarraman pointed out that AI tools have made it easier than ever to deploy, brand, and market a product. But that ease, she argued, has come with a flood of uninspired, indistinct content. The result is a noisy marketplace in which genuine quality is harder to spot — and more valuable than ever.
“The companies that are going to distinguish themselves are the ones that show their craft,” she said. “That they show their true understanding of the product, the true understanding of their customer, and connect the two in meaningful ways.”
For her, this means companies should avoid using AI as a substitute for human insight and creativity. Instead, AI should serve to augment and amplify what a skilled team is already doing — not replace it.
“To me, that is going to be a real differentiator for not only great marketers but great companies to stand out in the field,” she said.
Shankarraman emphasized that understanding the mechanics behind a product, from its design to its target audience, is essential. She warned that marketers who rely too heavily on generative AI without understanding core principles risk producing empty content that fails to connect with customers.
“What it means to market a product, what it means to show up as a fantastic operator, is in and of itself changing,” she said. “Understanding the underlying mechanics of what you’re trying to achieve is key.”
That line of thinking, she noted, also explains her ongoing support for foundational education in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). A deep grasp of basic concepts, she argued, allows practitioners the freedom to apply or adapt technology like AI in effective and creative ways — rather than becoming bound to it.
“This is why I would still be a very firm believer in STEM education, is that you understand the fundamental concepts,” she explained. “And then you can have a choice and optionality in how you decide to apply those concepts, but the concepts themselves have to be there in the foundations.”
She also spoke passionately about the importance of cultivating a growth mindset — one that values learning for its own sake, not just for credentials or completion.
“Because being of that growth mindset, if you go to school just to earn the grades or to finish the coursework, it’s a very different mindset than if you go to school to learn those concepts and to understand how to apply them,” she said.
Still, even with an optimistic view of what AI can help people accomplish, Shankarraman expressed concerns about the direction in which some AI companies are heading. She warned against short-term thinking and competitive “one-upmanship” that emphasizes model performance over social responsibility.
“Long story short, what I’m trying to say is that all of these companies have to think in a much more long-term oriented fashion,” she said. “Because it’s not about a race of the best chatbot and the best outputs. It’s about, how does AI become a positive force for humanity?”
Her comments arrive at a time when major tech firms are fiercely competing to release more powerful AI models, often with little transparency about how those tools are trained, governed, or deployed. Many people have raised alarms over the ethics of large-scale data usage, misinformation risks, and the potential for biased or dangerous outputs.
Shankarraman did not dismiss the value of AI — far from it. She considers it a breakthrough tool. But she made clear that meaningful innovation will still depend on the human capacity to use these tools with clarity, taste, and purpose.
In a world increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence, her message is that it is not just about what AI can do — it’s about what people choose to do with it.