Partners

01 The people behind Jam Partnership.

Two practitioners. Ten decades of combined experience. One clear mission.

JAM Partnership is Mike O’Brien and Jane Cave – two of the UK’s most respected marketing educators and practitioners, united by a shared belief that the organisations which thrive in the age of AI will not be those that move first, but those that build systematic thinking capability and strategic discipline alongside technical skills.

Together they have trained over 50,000 marketing professionals worldwide. Their work now focuses on a challenge that matters more than any other in marketing: preparing professionals not just to use AI tools, but to lead with confidence and judgment when technology becomes universal.

02 WHAT WE STAND FOR

In a world where everyone has access to AI, the advantage comes from knowing what to do with it. That belief sits at the centre of everything Mike and Jane design, teach and build. Six principles guide every programme, framework and engagement:

Clarity over complexity

In a world drowning in possibilities, we help marketing professionals move from ‘we could do anything’ to ‘we should do this’. The ICONIC®, SINEW and Pre-AI Architecture frameworks provide systematic ways to navigate complexity without oversimplifying it.

Judgment alongside technology

Competitive advantage in the AI era comes not from access to tools – which becomes universal – but from knowing what to do with them. We develop the strategic thinking and systematic judgment that creates lasting capability.

Foundations before acceleration

We help organisations resist the pressure to move fast when strategic sequencing would deliver better results. Pre-AI architecture, stable processes and clear accountability are not innovation blockers. They are acceleration enablers.

Responsibility alongside capability

Technology capability means nothing without human accountability. We prepare marketing professionals to lead with ethics in environments where AI systems can act autonomously, ensuring professional integrity scales alongside technical capability.

Practice over theory

We teach marketing as it actually works: under pressure, with budgets, and with consequences. Everything we develop connects to Monday morning reality – not to academic abstraction or vendor-sponsored optimism.

Capability that compounds

We do not deliver one-off training or disposable insights. We build systematic thinking capability that makes teams stronger with each application – creating organisations that can adapt faster than the environment changes.

03 MIKE O’BRIEN

Mike O’Brien FCIM FIDM FHEA

Digital marketing strategist, author and senior lecturer | IDM Educator of the Year 2014 | Carbon Literacy Certified

Mike’s work concentrates on a single, urgent question: how do marketing professionals build the judgment that creates competitive advantage when AI access becomes universal?

As Senior Lecturer at the University of Law Business School and co-author of the seventh edition of Digital Marketing Excellence (Routledge), Mike is at the forefront of preparing marketing professionals for AI-mediated commerce. His academic work and commercial practice are not parallel tracks – they are the same track. What he researches informs what he teaches. What he teaches is tested in practice. What practice reveals shapes the next iteration of the frameworks.

Frameworks and intellectual property

Together, Jane and Mike have developed three proprietary frameworks that address the specific challenges marketing professionals face in the AI era:

ICONIC® Framework

A six-stage strategic planning system – Investigate, Customers, Opportunities, Numbers, Implementation, Contribution – refined through work with global brands and training tens of thousands of professionals. Now enhanced to address AI, automation and agentic marketing as strategic substrates rather than separate initiatives. Being adopted by academic institutions internationally to prepare students for marketing careers where systematic thinking matters more than tool proficiency.

SINEW Framework

A narrative methodology – Signal, Interrogate, Name, Explain, Win – that helps marketing leaders translate strategic clarity into organisational momentum. Particularly powerful for getting AI initiatives approved when stakeholders need reassurance before commitment, and for defending strategic sequencing when leadership demands speed over foundations.

Pre-AI Architecture

A diagnostic and deployment framework that helps organisations identify the foundational requirements for AI effectiveness, audit current readiness, and build phased implementation roadmaps that sequence capability building before acceleration.

Commercial background

Previously a Creative Director within the Omnicom network, Mike has led strategy and campaign innovation for brands including HSBC, Unilever, NatWest, Barclays, Microsoft and Vodafone. That commercial background – working under pressure, with real budgets and real consequences – shapes everything he now teaches.

Current focus

• Professional training for the AI era: developing programmes that help marketing professionals move from possibility thinking to priority thinking
• Textbook development: co-authoring the 7th edition of Digital Marketing Excellence with PR Smith (Routledge)
• Organisational AI readiness: helping companies audit martech foundations, identify gaps and build phased deployment roadmaps
• Curriculum development: supporting universities and professional bodies modernising marketing education for the age of AI

Core expertise

• Strategic planning and AI-driven marketing innovation
• Preparing marketing professionals for AI, automation and agentic marketing
• Curriculum and course design for universities and professional bodies
• Leadership in digital transformation and organisational AI readiness
• Sustainability in marketing and Carbon Literacy advocacy
• Case-based learning, simulation design and executive education

04 JANE CAVE

Jane Cave FCIM

Marketing strategist, learning designer and industry fellow | IDM Educator of the Year 2013

Jane’s specialism is the capability that most AI training ignores: the accountability, governance and professional standards that determine whether AI deployment accelerates performance or amplifies risk.

As AI systems increasingly act autonomously, the questions Jane has spent her career working on move from theoretical concerns to operational requirements. Accountability. Transparency. Responsible use of customer data. Governance frameworks that allow acceleration without sacrificing professional integrity. Jane helps organisations establish those foundations – before they discover they needed them.

Strategic marketing leadership

Jane played a pivotal role in Volvo’s transition to data-driven CRM and digital marketing, leading one of the early European examples of integrated customer relationship management and eCommerce. That experience – building systems that deliver measurable results at the intersection of data, creativity and accountability – shapes her long-term commitment to performance-based marketing and systematic decision-making.

It also positions her precisely for the current challenge: helping organisations deploy AI, automation and agentic marketing as delegation within clear boundaries, not abdication of judgment and accountability.

Professional education and standards

Jane built the Chartered Institute of Marketing’s extensive portfolio of online and virtual courses, helping thousands of professionals develop the skills required for today’s connected, data-rich and increasingly AI-augmented world. Her career spans senior client-side and agency roles, combining analytical precision with creative empathy to help teams turn insight into meaningful performance.

Learning design and capability building

Jane’s approach to capability development emphasises systematic thinking over tool proficiency. Whether designing accredited programmes for professional bodies, developing in-house training for global brands or creating university modules, her work focuses on building lasting capability that compounds over time – not knowledge that decays as soon as the next tool update arrives.

Core expertise

• Development of accredited online and virtual learning programmes
• Strategic marketing planning and systematic capability development
• Relationship marketing, CRM and customer retention strategy
• Governance, ethics and professional standards in marketing
• AI readiness and responsible automation deployment
• Performance measurement and accountable marketing practices

Professional philosophy

Accountability and imagination must work together. The best marketing combines creative courage with commercial discipline. The most effective AI deployment requires both systematic thinking and ethical grounding. The organisations that thrive do not choose between innovation and responsibility – they insist on both.

05 WHAT THE PARTNERSHIP DELIVERS

Mike and Jane’s collaboration is not two practitioners running parallel practices under one name. It is a deliberate pairing of complementary strengths that addresses the full range of what organisations need when navigating AI transformation.

Mike brings:

• Frontier thinking on AI-augmented marketing strategy and commercial application
• Proprietary frameworks (ICONIC®, SINEW, Pre-AI Architecture) refined in practice
• Academic research and textbook development that keeps the work current
• Creative direction and commercial experience from senior agency leadership

Jane brings:

• Governance, professional standards and accountability frameworks for AI deployment
• Learning design expertise that builds lasting capability rather than event-based knowledge
• Deep CRM, retention and first-party data strategy from senior commercial roles
• Professional body relationships and accreditation experience from CIM programme development

Together they represent the future of applied marketing education – blending creative thinking with measurable impact, systematic frameworks with ethical grounding, and frontier innovation with professional accountability.

06 TRACK RECORD

Over 50,000 marketing professionals trained globally. More than two decades of consistent practice across sectors, geographies and levels of seniority.

Clients and sectors

Programmes delivered for organisations including HSBC, Unilever, Barclays, Microsoft, Vodafone, British Airways, Cancer Research UK and hundreds of SMEs, agencies and professional services firms across automotive, financial services, consumer goods, B2B, government and charity sectors.

Academic and professional credentials

• Co-authors, Digital Marketing Excellence, 7th edition (Routledge) – in development
• Senior Lecturer in Digital Marketing, University of Law Business School (Mike)
• IDM Educator of the Year – Jane (2013) and Mike (2014)
• Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing – Jane and Mike (FCIM)
• Fellow of the Institute of Data and Marketing – Mike (FIDM)
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy – Mike (FHEA)
• Carbon Literacy Certified Professional (Mike)

Proprietary frameworks in use

• ICONIC® – adopted internationally by academic institutions and professional bodies
• SINEW – in use across marketing leadership programmes and executive education
• Pre-AI Architecture – deployed in organisational readiness diagnostics and consulting
• CORE – foundational AI capability framework for marketing teams and university cohorts

07 OUR MISSION

To help marketers and organisations learn faster, plan smarter and perform better – responsibly.

In the age of AI, automation and agentic marketing, that mission takes on new urgency. The capability gaps are widening faster than hiring can fix them. The tools are evolving faster than governance can keep up. The pressure to adopt is arriving faster than the foundations are being built.

Whether developing AI-enhanced training programmes, designing MBA modules, consulting with industry partners or creating frameworks for professional bodies, everything Mike and Jane do is oriented toward a single outcome: marketing professionals and organisations that can outthink the competition when everyone has access to the same technology.

The future belongs to professionals who can lead with judgment, plan with discipline and act with accountability. We help you become those professionals – and build those organisations.

08 WORK WITH US

Every engagement starts with a diagnostic conversation, not a proposal.

For organisations and L&D leaders

Call 01628 635757 or Mike directly on 07450 255168 to discuss your team’s capability development needs. The first conversation is a structured diagnostic – no cost, no obligation. You leave with clarity regardless of whether we work together.

For universities and business schools

Contact us to discuss curriculum development, module design, MBA unit creation or CPD programme development. We bridge academic rigour and commercial practice – by design, not by accident.

For training companies and professional bodies

Contact us to discuss licensing arrangements, train-the-trainer certification or white-label programme development for ICONIC® and SINEW methodologies.

The organisations that thrive in the age of AI will not be those that move first.

They will be those that build systematic thinking capability and strategic discipline alongside technical skills.