solutions
Narrative and Growth Engine
Build, position, and grow your marketing and comms function in the AI era.
For founders, operators, and brand leaders building lean, AI-native marketing and comms functions designed to scale with the team.
AI changed marketing and comms. Your playbook should too.
The work has changed, and you probably feel it.
- Lean teams are trying to do what bigger teams used to do
- Brands invisible inside ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini
- Founders who need to be visible before their company is
- A stack of AI tools and no clear way to use them strategically
- Growth that has to scale without doubling the team
If any of those sounded familiar, you're in good company. We help brands and the leaders behind them build for the way marketing and communications actually work now.
What we do.
Narrative and Growth Engine spans four offerings, each one a distinct way to build, position, or scale your marketing and comms function with AI built in.
Most engagements blend two or more offerings, but we will help you figure out the right starting point.
Zero-to-One
Build a lean, agentic marketing and comms function.
When you are starting from a blank page or close to it, you have an opportunity most established brands don't. You can build for the way work actually happens now, not the way it used to. We design lean, agentic marketing and comms functions for founders and operators who want AI integrated from day one.
What's Included:
- AI Readiness Assessment
- AI roadmap and prioritization
- Governance frameworks and decision rights
- Executive and board alignment
- Risk and policy guardrails
Authority Lab
Build brand and executive authority for the AI era.
When ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini are asked about your category, are they citing you? Authority Lab is how brands and the leaders behind them earn the visibility, authority, and trust that compounds in an AI-native search world.
What's Included:
- AEO and AI Search Optimization
- Executive thought leadership content
- Brand authority architecture
- Founder and executive visibility programs
- Authority measurement and tracking
Growth Engine
Scale your marketing function with AI.
When the early product-market motion is working and you need to scale efficiently, the question shifts from "do we have a story" to "do we have an engine." Growth Engine is the operational system for running an AI-native go-to-market across channels, campaigns, and lifecycle.
What's Included:
- AI-native go-to-market planning
- Channel strategy and prioritization
- Campaign architecture and measurement
- Lifecycle and retention design
- Marketing operations setup (stack, automation, agents)
- Demand generation and pipeline support
Fractional Leadership
AI-native fractional CMO and CCO leadership on retainer helping to build and advise teams going AI-forward, without the full-time hire.
Some companies need senior marketing or communications leadership but don't yet need a full-time hire. We embed as your fractional CMO or CCO to build the function, lead the team, and bring AI fluency to your company. The work spans Zero-to-One, Authority Lab, and Growth Engine, depending on what your company needs at the moment.
What's Included:
- Senior strategic leadership across marketing and comms
- Team hiring, structure, and management support
- Cross-functional alignment with product, sales, and exec team
- AI-native function design and ongoing system improvements
- Board, investor, and stakeholder communications
How We Work
We scope each engagement to your stage, your team, and your goals, but here are a few common patterns:
Zero-to-One
8 to 16 weeks to design and stand up the function, then optional ongoing support.
Authority Lab
12-week initial build, then ongoing program (monthly or quarterly).
Growth Engine
12 to 24 weeks to design and operationalize, often blended with Fractional Leadership.
Fractional Leadership
6-month minimum retainer, typically extending to 12 months or longer.
FAQs
What is the difference between Zero-to-One and Growth Engine?
Zero-to-One is for building a marketing and comms function from scratch. Growth Engine is for scaling a function that already exists. If you don't yet have a team, you start with Zero-to-One. If you have product-market fit and need to grow, you start with Growth Engine. Some companies do both in sequence.
Can I work with Authority Lab on its own, without the rest?
Yes. Authority Lab is a standalone engagement designed for brands and executives who want to build authority in the AI era. It does not require any other Austley work. Some Authority Lab clients also engage on Zero-to-One or Growth Engine later, but it is not a prerequisite.
How is your Fractional Leadership different from a typical fractional CMO?
Most fractional leadership comes from traditional marketing and comms backgrounds and treats AI as an extra responsibility to figure out. Austley's fractional leaders are AI-native by default. Building AI-forward teams, integrating agents into workflows, and leading with AI fluency is a big part of to how we operate.
Do you work with companies that already have an internal marketing team?
Yes, especially through Authority Lab and Growth Engine. We partner alongside in-house teams to add AI fluency, build authority, or design the growth engine. Zero-to-One is more often for companies building from scratch, but we have done it for established brands relaunching a function from the ground up, too.
Ready to build, position, or grow with AI built in?
Tell us where your business is and where you want it to go. We will tell you which offering fits, or if Austley is even the right partner.
