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Rachel Sterling has built her career right at the intersection between technology, marketing and culture. Having worked at Instagram, Twitter and Google, she’s well versed in the social side of technology and, more importantly, how digital platforms shape the way people connect. Now CMO at Identity Digital, she’s applying that same expertise to help individuals and businesses establish stronger digital presences.
Throughout her career, Rachel has helped brands translate complex ideas into clear and authentic stories. She sees this challenge as more important than ever in the AI era, where speed and scale often threaten to undermine meaning. Or as she puts it, “authenticity is the non-negotiable currency for building trust and long-term loyalty in today’s digital landscape”.
Now at Identity Digital, Rachel’s belief in authenticity translates into giving people tools to shape their own online identities. AI holds a key role in supporting this. “AI should be a powerful assistant, not the primary voice,” she explains. While data and automation can enhance efficiency, genuine connection still has to come from people.
Whether she’s been leading product launches at global tech giants or scaling marketing strategies for emerging platforms, Rachel has consistently shown how technology can serve to boost storytelling rather than overshadow it. Or, as she calls it, “intelligent amplification”.
It’s this blend of tech expertise and commitment to authenticity that shapes how Rachel thinks about AI. And with so much of marketing being reshaped by technology, we began by asking how AI has changed the way she’s approached digital marketing.
AI has been the biggest disruptor in digital marketing over the past few years, proving that standing still isn’t an option. What was once cutting-edge is now foundational.
For us, AI enables intelligent amplification. We process vast amounts of data to create nuanced audience pictures. For consumers, we’re not just offering domains. We’re providing tailored solutions for their independence, showing how personalised domains help them establish a digital identity. This personalised value delivery wasn’t scalable before AI.
On the B2B side, AI shifts us from selling domain solutions to becoming a strategic growth partner. We leverage AI-driven insights to help platforms reduce user friction and identify new revenue streams through domain offerings. This transforms us from a service provider into an indispensable driver of business success.
Today’s marketers are architects of sophisticated demand generation engines. AI-driven insights and automation are table stakes for competitive advantage. Brands that embrace AI strategically will genuinely connect with tomorrow’s customers and win their loyalty by delivering hyper-relevant value at scale.
Authenticity is the non-negotiable currency for building trust and long-term loyalty in today’s digital landscape. While original content has always sparked connections, AI has fundamentally shifted our approach.
At Identity Digital, AI empowers us to scale personalised content and enhance efficiency in a crowded digital space. Because of AI’s ability to analyse a significant amount of customer insights and context in real time, we can deliver highly relevant messages – like why a unique domain is essential for creators seeking independence from social algorithms – at a previously unrealised scale. AI identifies individual needs, but brand messaging, storytelling, and direct customer interactions must remain human-led. This is where genuine connection is forged.
The real risk lies in over-reliance on AI, which can dilute authenticity and erode trust. As AI-generated content proliferates, a clear, authentic digital identity becomes paramount for brand reputation and credibility. For marketers, this means understanding and articulating their brand’s values, purpose, and unique positioning. AI should be a powerful assistant, not the primary voice.
While AI advances marketing, it introduces a significant risk: the erosion of trust through blurred truth and falsehood. AI models learn from internet data, which can be tainted by misinformation, creating a feedback loop where AI-produced content trains future models, potentially degrading online information quality. Even discerning users must now critically assess content accuracy regardless of its source.
This places immense ethical responsibility on marketers. At Identity Digital, where we champion owning your unique online identity through personalised domains, digital space integrity is paramount. We cannot allow AI to undermine the trust we seek to build. Marketers must move beyond monitoring automated systems to actively governing them.
I’m optimistic about AI’s wide-scale adoption in marketing. The “AI taking all our jobs” narrative misses the point. From nearly two decades in tech, I’ve seen that technology’s true power lies in supplementing human decision-making and enhancing effectiveness. AI is the ultimate manifestation of that.
At Identity Digital, AI is an enabler of deeper connection at scale. It allows us to develop personalised content that genuinely resonates with diverse audiences. This precision helps us boost brand recognition and keep consumers engaged longer than ever before.
As AI advances, our role evolves, elevating the human element. Creative ideation, authentic storytelling, and unique brand messaging must remain in human hands. The more we leverage AI to automate routine, data-intensive tasks – like optimising ad spend or segmenting audiences – the more we free our brightest minds to pursue innovation, foster authentic connections, and craft compelling narratives that only humans can create. It’s about empowering us to be more strategic, creative, and ultimately more impactful.
2025 is a turning point for the traditional SEO model. The rise of generative AI and AI summaries is reshaping how people search and discover information. We’re heading towards a future where AI and social media platforms serve as primary discovery channels, making AI summaries the new gatekeepers of online content. Brand visibility now depends on far more than ranking on page one of traditional search results.
For marketers, this requires a strategic shift: we must understand how to optimise for AI-driven algorithms and create content that meets higher standards. This means prioritising credibility, clarity, and domain relevance above all else.
As generative AI integrates into online queries, businesses must rethink their digital presence optimisation. I anticipate a surge in companies adopting domains with meaningful words on both sides of the dot, like .pro or .pet.
A digital identity explicitly aligned with the user’s interests and the content’s purpose helps AI algorithms comprehend the website’s purpose while signalling relevance, credibility, and immediate clarity. This approach strengthens messaging, boosts authority with AI and users alike, and provides clarity on services offered, ensuring brands don’t just appear in search but are genuinely understood and trusted.
In this evolving digital landscape, never underestimate the strategic value of experimentation. While AI offers incredible advancements, there’s much to learn about how it can best integrate into our workflows and unlock new levels of marketing effectiveness.
From leveraging AI-powered analytics for deeper audience insights to using generative AI for ideation or optimising marketing automation, the opportunities are vast. To master the latest tech and work strategically, I encourage my team and partners to take calculated risks and try new approaches. Test what resonates with your audience, track results, and iterate rapidly. These experiments could uncover game-changing ways to help creators establish their independent digital identity or unlock new revenue streams for B2B partners.
Staying ahead demands continuous learning. I recommend podcasts like the NY Times’ “Hard Fork,” which dissects complex tech trends effectively. In this dynamic marketing landscape, the ability to be adaptable, embrace change, and never stop learning is our competitive edge. The human ability to experiment, interpret, and strategise alongside AI will drive the next wave of innovation.
