“Things I’ve Learned from Lately” is a regular compilation of articles that have made me a smarter marketer. Hopefully, they’ll help you, too.

The Bots Are Coming for Marketers’ Jobs - In news that should be a wakeup call to agencies, Cosabella replaced its agency with an AI called Albert. The AI led the company to increase search and social return-on-ad-spend by 50%. Those aren’t the only impressive results. The rest of Albert’s success led the team at Cosabella to say they’ll “never have a human do this again."

Where Have All the Stores Gone? - The decline of retail has been much discussed and studied, but this piece from The Atlantic is one of the better written articles on the factors contributing to future, or lack thereof, of retail.

Pressuring the Duopoly - Marketers are slowly chipping away at the data black boxes of Facebook and Google as well as putting pressure on their duopoly. Nothing will happen fast, but for the first time ever it seems marketers are speaking up with their dollars.

Remembering Robert Taylor - Computing wouldn’t be what it is today without Robert Taylor. Taylor passed away this week, and his story is as amazing as his legacy.

What Makes a Good CEO - This piece looks at studies that have found what sets the best CEOs apart from the rest. They decide with speed and conviction, focus on impact, adapt proactively and deliver reliably. It’s a great read that gets into more detail.