AI cuts content costs with just ~10%, if you want to keep quality

Using AI for content production can save you up to 40% of your time. This sounds like the magic trick to lower the costs of your content team, right?

Well, sorry to bring the bad news; it isn’t. 

→ Yes, initially, you save ~40% time. But done right, you'll save  ~10% after reinvesting time in configuration and strategic thinking. And for roughly 1% investment in licenses and training, that’s still a strong business case.

Let’s break it down into what you need to know, what matters, and why I’m ranting about this.

Top 3 AI mistakes CEOs and CMOs must avoid

There are roughly 3 mistakes or misconceptions made by senior management.

1. AI is an excuse to ditch 40% of the content team and lower costs
   ‘If AI has a 40% time saving, I can cut 40% of my team’ is a common thought. And that makes sense if you reason solely from AI. 
   
   But you forget the most important thing: you want high-quality content, and AI cranking out your content is not the way to rise above mediocrity.
    
2. AI is an excuse to ramp up the content volume with the same number of employees
   ‘If AI has a 40% time saving, I can produce 40% more content’. Also, a common mistake. Because more content doesn’t equal more sales. More content usually means more mediocre content. And that mediocrity is precisely what you don’t want.
    
3. With AI, everyone can write
   Wrong. Producing content and writing remain crafts. Don’t underestimate the art, the creativity, and the dirty mind that’s needed to create outstanding content. 
   
   It’s a bit like singing; everyone can sing, but not everyone is a singer.

Bottom line: if you use AI only to automate and speed up, your cost savings can be as high as 80%. But don’t start complaining if you see a huge drop in your SEO and, over a longer time, a drop in brand awareness, brand recognition, and, eventually, sales.

→ Please, don’t use AI as a lame excuse to cut your costs. Use AI to improve quality, not quantity or speed. 

Why some employees keep their AI usage quiet

It’s good to realize that many employees keep it quiet when they use AI. It's out of fear of you, your budget, and your people-cutting thinking.

According to Jarno Duursma, there are 3 reasons why employees keep their AI work quiet.

• Afraid of more work or increased workload. More productivity means more work and, eventually, a higher expectation to keep up that faster pace.
   
• Afraid of losing their job, hours, or colleagues. Hours might be cut. Or a colleague that can be automated might be made redundant.
   
• Loss of credit and getting praise and credit for their good and fast work.

This is the harsh reality. And it’s not a positive thing. 

What to do, how to use your 40% AI time saving wisely

This 40% time saved and won is a great and unique opportunity to improve quality. 

How?

• You need 20% of that time for AI configuration, management, learning, and staying on top of the new stuff. Over time, this percentage will drop; for now, it’s too new with too many daily updates. 
   
• Another 10% is for headspace and vamp up strategic thinking, doing better research, improving your insights on your users’ intent, and updating your content accordingly. This is where the magic, engagement, and effectiveness happen. 
   
• The last 10% is for cutting costs. So, if you have a team of 10, you can fire 1 instead of 4. And my kind suggestion is to fire the mediocre ones, those who haven’t embraced, played, and fooled around with AI yet. You want to keep the inquisitive and innovative ones, usually the more seniors or extremely talented juniors.

The real business case: 1% costs for 10% savings

Roughly stated, the ballpark numbers

• Implementing AI costs about 1% of an employee's yearly salary for licenses and training
   
• Time saving is more or less 1 hour per day per employee, or about 10% or their time

Easy business case, right?

Wrapping it up

AI is here to stay. We all know that it’s amazing to speed up and is of great help. But please, don’t use it to cut your costs; first, use it to improve your quality.

Once you have your quality trick in place, you can start cutting, shaving, and saving.

For the short term, around 10% cost savings is realistic. Because the other time that frees up, you can use that to learn and manage to work with AI and improve the quality.

And if you are going to cut, choose wisely. Keep the seniors, the innovators, and the inquisitive, and let go of the cutters and the slackers.

By the way, as a CMO or CEO, don’t forget to use AI yourself. You can’t preach what you don’t practice. You also need to learn to work with AI.

Disclaimer: this article originates from November 24, 2024. In February 2026, still relevant. 

About my confessions

More about me and my confessions. Why I hold content to a higher standard. And why I write what most people in this industry won't say out loud.

I'm a content strategist with a university background in marketing, media, sociology, and psychology. I've worked in this industry for 25+ years and for 50+ global brands and agencies. 

I've seen a lot. Made many mistakes. Learned even more. 

Now, I share all this to inspire everyone working in marketing and communication to more accountable work. There's already too much crappy content out there; no need to add to it.

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