Editorial Judgement in the Age of AI: What to Look for in a Content Leader in 2025

AI-generated content is no longer a novelty for in the B2B landscape. In fact, it is now firmly embedded in how most marketing teams work today. But while the tools are advancing rapidly, many teams are facing an emerging risk: a drop in editorial judgement.

This decline does not always show up in obvious ways. The copy might read well enough, with polished turns of phrase and jargon that sounds vaguely impressive. But if you scratch beneath the surface, something feels off. Maybe it contradicts the company’s position, or maybe it includes a figure that's incorrect (or straight up invented). Maybe it simply misses the broader strategic context.

These are the kinds of errors that slip through unnoticed when no one’s wearing the editor’s hat. And in B2B, where buyers are evaluating million-dollar decisions, those errors can cost far more than a few red faces.

The risk of credible-sounding nonsense

One of the most dangerous things about AI is that it outputs misinformation with total confidence. It does not know your roadmap, your risk appetite, your NDA obligations, or whether a stat has been recently debunked. Unless someone checks every line with rigour and context, those AI hallucinations find their way into final copy.

I have seen it firsthand - customer-facing content that includes incorrect numbers, clashes with the company’s strategic direction, or even names the wrong brand. Unfortunately, these issues usually aren't spotted until a sales lead flags it, a client calls confused, or legal demands a retraction.

Once credibility takes a hit - either with your customers or your internal stakeholders - it can be tough to recover as a marketer.

Why the content job description needs an update

What this highlights is not a technology issue, but a hiring one.

Many organisations are still writing content job descriptions for a pre-AI world. They focus on speed, familiarity with platforms, or the ability to ‘keep the content engine running'. What teams actually need in 2025 is someone with the judgement to know when something is wrong, even when it looks right.

Today’s content lead should be:

• Comfortable challenging a flawed brief before it becomes a flawed GTM campaign

• Able to align messaging with brand, legal and product strategy

• Skilled at spotting false confidence in AI outputs (and fact-checking thoroughly)

• Fast and adaptable - without resorting to credible-sounding nonsense

• Deeply aware of brand tone and voice across multiple tools and touchpoints

  
  

Above all, they need to be the person who asks, “Should we be telling this story at all?”. That question is often more valuable than any prompt engineering technique.

This is about both content skills and leadership

If your business is investing in AI-generated content, you need more than a junior-level role to guide it. It requires senior judgement and a clear line of sight to business strategy. Whether you call it Head of Content, Editorial Director, or something else, this person should be shaping the direction - not just wrangling the tools and pushing words out the door.

If you are lucky enough to have someone in that seat who gets it - keep them. Because great content professionals were already in short supply. Now that the role demands editorial, strategic and ethical rigour across human and machine workflows, they are rarer than ever. And everybody want to hire them, including your competitors.

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If you’d like to balance scale with authenticity, we’re here to help. Explore our AI-enabled content creation products for quick wins, or book a discovery call to co-design, govern and execute a tailored AI content strategy that puts your brand’s human spark front and centre.

This version is adapted from an article originally published on LinkedIn, The New Editorial Skillset, on June 30 2025 and has been rewritten and republished here with permission.