#167 What AI Can't Replace in Great Marketing with Abe Kasbo and Nick Usborne

Feb 16, 2026

Nick Usborne, a 40-year veteran copywriter who trains teams to use AI with emotional intelligence. Abe Kasbo, an agency founder and author challenging digital-first thinking. They debate where AI helps and where it hurts, defend the irreplaceable role of authentic brand story, and share practical tactics for audits, prompts, and keeping marketing original and human.

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INSIGHT

Digital-First Isn’t Always Smart

Digital-first hype has led to wasted spend and problems like ad fraud and fake accounts.
Abe Kasbo warns marketers to reassess where digital actually adds value instead of following the clickocracy.

ANECDOTE

Webinars Built A Scalable Pipeline

Abe Kasbo described a mid-market client who wanted LinkedIn but needed business transformation first.
Verasoni shifted to webinars and email and grew the client's live email list from ~3,000 to ~130,000.

ADVICE

Test AI Externally Before Broad Deployment

Don’t make clients AI guinea pigs; let early adopters test tools first.
Evaluate AI results carefully and cancel vendor contracts if the human experience suffers.

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"Brand is your story. That's the one thing that is unique about you." -Nick Usborne

Abe Kasbo is the Founder and CEO of Verasoni, a global marketing communications advisory and agency that delivers integrated strategies for Fortune 500, middle-market, and startup clients, and he serves as a trusted advisor to C-suite leaders on branding, communications, and public relations. He is the author of Irresponsibly Digital, a call to action challenging businesses to rethink digital-first strategies with greater purpose, creativity, and measurable impact, and he has been featured in major outlets including The New York Times, Forbes, PBS, and Fox Business. Abe is an award-winning entrepreneur and humanitarian, including the 2025 Small Business Council of America Humanitarian Award, a documentary filmmaker whose PBS-distributed film The Arab Americans explores 150 years of cultural impact, and a founder of multiple philanthropic initiatives. He is a Seton Hall University Entrepreneur Hall of Fame inductee and holds advanced degrees in public administration, political science, and international relations.

Website: https://verasoni.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abe-kasbo-3828913/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/verasoni

Nick Usborne is a veteran copywriter, trainer, and digital marketing pioneer with over 40 years of experience helping brands and writers create clear, human-centered content. He trains digital marketers, copywriters, and content teams to protect authentic brand stories while using AI responsibly to generate content at scale, through his "AI + Emotional Intelligence" approach. Nick has written for global brands including Apple, Reuters, The New York Times, and Citibank, spoken at leading industry conferences, and led in-house trainings for organizations such as Intuit, Merck, and Walt Disney Attractions. He is widely recognized by industry leaders for his clarity of thought and continues to teach writers how to future-proof their work in the age of AI.

Website: https://storyaligned.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickusborne/

In this episode, we discover expert insights on blending AI, brand storytelling, and authentic marketing.

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