Branding Together: Opportunities (and Limitations) of AI in Print & Promo
Aly Banholzer and Marshall Atkinson of ShirtLab share why artificial intelligence is a competitive advantage for the decorated apparel and branded merch industries.
In this episode of Branding Together, co-hosts Theresa Hegel and Cassie Green of Apparelist delve into how generative AI and automation tools help print and promo professionals boost productivity and improve their efficiency. They’re joined by Aly Banholzer and Marshall Atkinson of ShirtLab, who are hosting a daylong virtual summit on June 23 to help attendees get the most out of AI to drive revenue, speed and better decision-making.
Mentioned in this episode:
- Register for the ShirtLab AI Summit
- Register for ASI Chicago
- SanMar Reaches Agreement To Acquire BELLA+CANVAS
- Jūpmode’s Here for Good Program Raises Over $557K
- Fujifilm Sues JAL Equity, Marketing.com
Key Takeaways
• According to Aly Banholzer and Marshall Atkinson, AI works best when it’s used to solve specific business problems. Rather than chasing tools, decorators should identify operational bottlenecks and use AI to improve quoting, customer follow-up, lead generation and workflow efficiency.
• AI is a conversation, not a search engine. Banholzer emphasized that many people fail with AI because they treat it like Google instead of asking follow-up questions and refining outputs.
• Bad processes become bad automation. AI won’t fix flawed business systems. Automating poor workflows simply helps companies make mistakes faster.
• The biggest opportunity for decorators is speed. Faster quoting, quicker customer responses and better follow-up systems can help shops win more business in an increasingly competitive market.
• AI isn’t replacing the physical work of decorating apparel. While some knowledge-worker roles may change, printing, production and customer relationship building still require human expertise.
• ShirtLab’s AI Summit is designed around practical implementation, Banholzer and Atkinson say. Attendees will leave with actionable strategies they can begin using immediately, covering lead generation, data analysis, AI agents, landing pages and workflow automation.
• Businesses that ignore AI risk falling behind. Banholzer argues that AI adoption is becoming a competitive necessity, comparing today’s AI moment to the rise of personal computers in the 1980s and 1990s.