UKTV CMO adds AI strategy to her role, focusing on business problems over trendy tools
UKTV's chief marketing officer Penny Brough took on responsibility for the broadcaster's artificial intelligence strategy in November, expanding her title to chief marketing and AI officer. The move reflects a shift across the media industry where marketing leaders are increasingly expected to guide AI adoption across their organisations.
Brough said the expanded remit was a natural evolution rather than a sudden pivot. UKTV had spent 18 months transforming into a digital-first platform, and her team had already begun exploring AI applications within marketing before the formal change.
"I started by looking at AI within the marcomms function, but it quickly became apparent that it didn't make much sense to just look at marketing in isolation," she said. "We needed to look at it end to end."
Five workstreams, one strategic approach
UKTV is running AI pilots across five areas: marcomms, technology and operations, programming, data and insight, and digital products. Brough also oversees AI strategy for BBC Studios' global channels and streaming services.
Her approach prioritises identifying business problems first, then assessing whether AI can solve them. This avoids what she calls "tech debt"-the accumulation of tools adopted without clear use cases.
"What I'm looking at strategically is where AI can make us more efficient or effective in order to drive growth," Brough said. "That starts from an infrastructure and strategy point of view: where should we invest time, money and effort to pivot and transform the business?"
Within marketing, pilots include using AI for localisation-supporting subtitling, dubbing and editing for multiple markets. The broadcaster is also integrating AI into existing systems like Braze for customer engagement, segmentation and email optimisation.
Brough stressed the importance of human oversight, particularly within a BBC-owned business with strict editorial standards.
Building confidence across the organisation
A significant part of Brough's role involves reducing uncertainty about AI across UKTV's workforce. She said creative industries staff in particular feel nervous about the technology.
"I'm trying to get people to realise it takes away all of those day-to-day tasks-those manual tasks that take up so much time-that will then allow you to do the bigger strategic thinking and the bigger creative push," she said.
This includes rolling out training across the business, bringing in specialists to demonstrate practical applications and ensuring board-level support for adoption. Brough said staff who see AI working in their functions become champions who encourage others to use it.
She also emphasised the need for flexibility. When OpenAI recently shut down its Sora video generation tool, teams had to quickly find alternatives. This pace of change means betting on specific tools is risky.
"The best learning is: don't start with the tool. Start with the problem," she said.
Cross-functional collaboration reshapes the role
Leading AI has brought Brough closer to technical teams than a typical marketing role would. She now sits with leads from programming, technology, data and HR to identify where AI can work across functions.
"One of the reasons it's been good to think about it end-to-end is that you start thinking, this is a marketing use case. And then when I sit down with the other workstream leads they go: 'No, I could use that in programming, or I could use that in tech and ops,'" she said.
Working with HR on adoption strategy has become crucial. "Because you can put as much tech and infrastructure in place as you want, but if people don't use it is of no use," Brough said.
Why a marketer fits the role
Brough said marketers are naturally suited to lead AI adoption. They are curious about audiences, invested in connecting the business with those audiences in meaningful ways and focused on continuous improvement.
"I've always been passionate about learning and what's next, and how do we do better? How do we connect with our audiences better?" she said.
Over the next 12 months, UKTV aims to move from pilot projects to a business-wide approach. Priorities include defining strategy, strengthening data infrastructure and laying foundations for broader adoption.
Brough said AI helps her bridge the gap between what her role requires and the resources available to deliver it. "It just makes everything possible," she said.
Marketers looking to understand how AI fits into CMO responsibilities may find value in exploring AI Learning Path for CMOs or reviewing AI for Marketing resources.
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