Marketing AI Institute: Inc. 5000 Growth & AI Vision Realized
The Marketing AI Institute has achieved a significant milestone, securing a coveted spot on the 2025 Inc. 5000 list of America’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies. Marking its debut on this prestigious ranking, the Institute landed at an impressive #320, fueled by a remarkable twelvefold revenue increase over just three years. The Inc. 5000, renowned for highlighting the nation’s most dynamic independent businesses, has previously recognized industry giants such as Microsoft, Meta, and Patagonia, underscoring the Institute’s rapid ascent. Companies qualifying for the 2025 list demonstrated substantial percentage revenue growth between 2021 and 2024, requiring a minimum of $100,000 in revenue for 2021 and $2 million for 2024, alongside strict criteria for U.S.-based, privately held, for-profit independence.
This recognition is a testament to the foresight and relentless effort of the Institute’s team and its founder, Paul Roetzer. Roetzer views the achievement as a vindication of their early belief in AI’s transformative power for the business world. He emphasizes that the world is still on the cusp of an “intelligence explosion,” necessitating continued efforts to empower individuals and organizations to navigate and drive this profound change.
The Institute’s journey began modestly in 2016, when Roetzer launched it as an initiative within his former marketing agency. At a time when AI understanding was nascent—a year before Google’s groundbreaking transformer architecture and six years prior to ChatGPT’s public release—Roetzer was convinced of AI’s potential to fundamentally reshape commerce. What started as a simple blog and newsletter exploring the intersection of marketing and artificial intelligence slowly gained traction.
By late 2018, the initiative had grown to the point where it was consuming significant agency resources, prompting Roetzer to make a bold move: he spun the Marketing AI Institute out as an independent entity, personally funding its operations. The following year, in 2019, the Institute launched its inaugural Marketing AI Conference (MAICON). Despite incurring hundreds of thousands of dollars in personal losses, the sight of 300 professionals from a dozen countries converging in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, solidified Roetzer’s conviction that he was building something truly meaningful.
Then came the unforeseen challenge of COVID-19, threatening the entire venture. By this point, however, the Institute had evolved beyond a mere blog, transforming into a comprehensive media, events, and online education company boasting a subscriber base exceeding 15,000. Recognizing its inherent value, Roetzer successfully secured a crucial $1 million seed round, providing the necessary runway to weather the pandemic’s storm. In 2021, he sold his agency to dedicate himself full-time to the Institute, and by November of that year, contingency plans were already in place for further fundraising.
Everything changed, yet again, with the late 2022 release of ChatGPT. This pivotal moment ignited a seismic shift in public perception, validating Roetzer’s long-held vision. Suddenly, calls poured in from venture capitalists, university leaders, CEOs, and analysts, all asking the same urgent questions about AI’s implications for business and the future of work. The business world was finally catching up to what Roetzer had envisioned for years.
The Institute experienced explosive growth in February 2023, achieving its first profitable month in company history by March. Later that year, MAICON 2023 welcomed over 700 professionals, and Roetzer’s speaking engagements rapidly multiplied. Today, the Marketing AI Institute stands as a vibrant hub for AI education and insights, fostering a passionate community of over 100,000 subscribers, a number that continues to climb.
Since 2023, Roetzer has described the Institute’s trajectory as a “rocketship.” He has dedicated considerable time to refining its strategic direction, exploring whether it will evolve into a research firm, a consulting powerhouse, or something entirely new. This introspection is driven by a singular focus: maximizing impact and accelerating transformation. The outcome of this strategic refinement is the new AI Academy 3.0 and the AI Literacy Project, launched under the Institute’s parent company, SmarterX. The AI Literacy Project is specifically designed to prepare individuals and organizations for the future of work by making AI education accessible and personalized. Roetzer underscores the profound satisfaction derived from empowering individuals and organizations to achieve breakthroughs through the Institute’s events, education, content, and community.