About
A marketing chief who runs with robots, on purpose.
I’m David May, founder of Pogona Creative. I work as a fractional CMO for nonprofits, higher education, associations, and place-based or community organizations that need a strategy owner without a full-time seat. The strategy, the creative judgment, and the accountability stay with a human. An AI support staff makes the work move faster, and nothing public goes out unverified.
The point of the practice
Pogona Creative is a fractional CMO with an AI staff. We take content marketing and routine communications off your team so you get relief now. The bigger job is building and training systems in your institution’s own voice, then leaving you with a marketing setup you can keep running, not a stack of one-off work.
That setup stays with you. I still approve anything that goes public.
The point of view
Teams in this niche usually face a full-time hire they cannot yet fund, or an agency retainer that executes without owning the strategy. The “fractional CMO” label is crowded. Credible supply for mission-driven organizations is thinner, and that is the seat I hold.
AI is already in marketing. The risk is shipping what nobody verified.
My job is the human layer: the brief, the judgment calls, the voice, and the “does this actually help?” filter. AI handles research, drafts, variants, and production assistance under that direction. On the primary retainer that is about 8 human hours a week. The first 90 days are onboarding on the ongoing seat.
You get a chief. The robots get a boss.
Background
- Marketing and communications leadership, with an emphasis on digital strategy and implementation for mission-driven organizations
- Filmmaker with a festival and awards track record (details on request / Work page)
- Based in Los Angeles; works remotely with clients who need a real seat at the table
How I work
- Direct and async-friendly
- Outcome-first: fewer decks, more shipped narrative and campaigns
- Clear ownership: if it represents your brand, a human signed off
- Meetings 8:00–10:00am Eastern only. Production can run evenings/weekends Pacific.
AI stance
Pro-AI. Anti-hype. Robots do what robots should. Humans do what only humans can, especially trust. I approve anything public-facing.