MAICON 2025 Takeaways: Why the Future Is Human + Machine

SmarterX and Marketing AI Institute’s MAICON 2025 just wrapped, bringing 1,500 marketers and business leaders together in Cleveland, Ohio.

The event featured three days of keynotes, breakouts, and workshops all focused on the explosive impact of AI across marketing and business. But beyond the tactics and technology, a much deeper theme emerged: as AI accelerates, the value of human connection and true innovation is becoming more important than ever.

Fresh off the event, I unpacked the biggest lessons from MAICON with SmarterX and Marketing AI Institute founder and CEO Paul Roetzer on Episode 174 of The Artificial Intelligence Show.

The Unmistakable Value of Human Connection

For Roetzer, the number one takeaway from the week was the palpable desire for human connection. In a world increasingly influenced by AI, the value of in-person community soars.

“I think people just want that community feel, that human connection, that ability to be with each other and to inspire each other,” he says.

That culture of generosity was on full display, with speakers openly sharing entire workflows and actionable strategies. Roetzer also noted a surprising shift in the audience make up.

“There were a lot of people there who were just there for the AI side, the business side of the event, and that was really cool to see,” he says.

10% Thinking vs. 10X Thinking

This business focus tied directly into the core theme of Roetzer’s AI Innovation workshop held during the conference.

While most companies are correctly focused on using AI for efficiency and productivity, he warns that this path has a critical catch. If a company simply uses AI to do the same amount of work, “we will need fewer humans.”

The only way to take a responsible, human-centered approach, he argues, is to grow.

“It's the only option. So we have to accelerate growth, and that happens through innovation,” Roetzer explains.

To frame that, he offers the following contrast:

Optimization is using AI for “10% thinking,” he says. It’s using technology to make existing work better, faster, and cheaper. True innovation with AI, however, calls for “10X thinking.”

He contrasts optimization—using AI for “10% thinking” to make existing processes better, faster, and cheaper—with true innovation, which he calls “10x thinking.”

“Innovation is using AI to do new things that create new forms of value for customers and the organization,” he says.

The “Move 37 Moment” for Every Knowledge Worker

Roetzer carried this theme into his opening keynote, titled “The Move 37 Moment for Knowledge Workers”

The talk, named after a pivotal moment in the AlphaGo documentary, explored the unsettling realization when the world’s best Go player realized an AI had become superhuman at the game.

“My premise was that we will all have that moment,” Roetzer says. “It may be at individual tasks to start. But you will increasingly have these moments where you realize that the AI is better than you at the thing you do.”

This isn't just a distant theory. Roetzer points to the massive economic incentives driving this change, as AI companies build tools to target the trillions of dollars in wages currently paid to knowledge workers in the US alone.

While the topic was heavy, the ultimate message was one of opportunity:

During the keynote, Roetzer reframed the future as “human plus AI” not “human vs. AI.”

The Bottom Line

As AI continues to automate routine tasks, the real, defensible value shifts to innovation, strategy, and the uniquely human ability to connect and build community.

It’s a lesson Roetzer plans to build on by diversifying in-person events into new geographic markets.

“I'm very bullish on in-person events because you can't fake it,” he says. ““I think good things happen when you get really good people together.”