How AI is elevating Karina Templer’s digital marketing career

Having foresight in the workplace—especially when it comes to emerging tools—can lead to major gains. As businesses look ahead for the next big boost to their bottom line, more are turning to AI to optimize various operations. In fact, a 2024 McKinsey survey found that 78 per cent of organizations are using AI in at least one business function—up from 55 per cent in 2023. 

That surge is prompting employees like digital marketer Karina Templer to seek formal training in the field.

“With the rise of ChatGPT and generative AI, I knew I needed to further understand how technology and AI can help us make more informed decisions to stay ahead of the competition,” says Templer, whose role as manager of e-commerce media and technology at Hershey Canada includes overseeing AI capabilities. “We shouldn’t view AI as something we need to learn to avoid losing our jobs. It should be about how we use it to maintain and excel at our jobs.”

Using AI at work

At Hershey, Templer explores how to leverage AI to drive innovation. While some major organizations like Microsoft and Apple have developed their own AI tools, others like Hershey rely on third-party vendors to supply systems to support e-commerce, digital shelf analytics, and limited content syndication. But using these external providers requires a thorough risk assessment.

“AI is already part of our world, but it was important for me to better understand how to assess the third-party vendors we work with,” Templer explains.

To do this, Templer registered for Concordia Continuing Education’s AI Proficiency certificate in September 2023. The four-course program provides professionals across all industries with a framework for responsibly incorporating AI systems and strategies into their work.

During the program’s Responsible AI course, Templer and classmates were tasked with creating a governance and risk assessment framework to ensure that AI systems are deployed responsibly, ethically, and securely.

Before assigning the project, the course’s instructor, Temi Odesanya, a leader in responsible AI with AIG, provided participants with non-AI digital governance frameworks from organizations like McKinsey and Deloitte to serve as a blueprint. Building off of these best practice guides, Templer then built a custom framework to evaluate AI systems.

From this exercise, she developed a structure for her own workplace.

“It’s important to have knowledge of the tool before you use it for the company,” Templer explains. “Learning how to go through a very well-structured governance framework and risk assessment helped me assess all the suppliers we work with right now.” 

Turning learning into solutions at work

Templer’s new approach was put to the test in the fall of 2023.

As Hershey was finalizing a deal with a new external AI supplier, Templer was asked to conduct a risk assessment to vet the system. To facilitate the process, the organization’s legal and procurement teams directed her toward internal training. But after learning of its contents, Templer informed them that Concordia’s training had already covered everything.

“I have all of this knowledge from the Concordia program and I know what a risk assessment needs to look like,” said Templer, whose framework has also served as a learning tool for some of her colleagues. “I know what data is going into this platform, what’s going out, and how it’s being used, so I can go through the assessment myself because I know what I’m dealing with.”

Developing a method for assessing the efficacy and ethicality of third-party vendors has not only enabled Templer to streamline Hershey’s integration of AI; it’s also provided her with self-assurance to engage in new conversations.

“The biggest thing was the boost in confidence,” notes Templer. “Now I know I can speak with people in the industry, in legal, and in procurement with conviction. It also gives me the confidence to choose the right tool and AI projects for our company.”

Templer credits her interactions with the program’s instructors for reinforcing her growing confidence.

“The key element for me was having instructors who are working in the field,” Templer says. “I do love learning theory, but knowing that the instructors can respond to your questions with real-world examples has been really helpful.”

The AI Proficiency certificate is Templer’s latest educational achievement at Concordia Continuing Education. She earned a Certificate in Digital Marketing in 2018, followed by one in Big Data Business Analytics in 2019, after already having completed a Graduate Certificate in Business Administration at John Molson School of Business.

Given the unrelenting growth of AI, Templer knows her commitment to continuous learning needs to remain steadfast.

“What works today might be very different tomorrow,” Templer says. “I can never be an expert in my field unless I continue to learn, because becoming an expert means committing to lifelong learning.”