About Taylor.
I work in marketing, with a background in advertising and franchising. My experience ranges from agency business development to consumer marketing and franchise development marketing across multiple brands.
Along the way, I’ve become increasingly interested in how AI changes what people can accomplish and what happens when directing the work becomes as important as doing it yourself. I use these tools in my own work, experimenting with what they can handle, where they need closer attention, and how they can make a process better. That experience shapes how I think about the future of work, particularly the role of communication and judgment as individuals and small teams become capable of more.
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Taylor McCarley is a marketing leader with experience in agency business development, consumer marketing, and franchise development marketing. His background in advertising and franchising informs his interest in how AI changes what individuals and small teams can accomplish, and how professional judgment becomes increasingly important as more work can be delegated.
McCarley studied marketing and management at Samford University before beginning his marketing career at Big Communications in Birmingham, Alabama. Working in business development alongside the agency’s leadership gave him exposure to its creative, strategic, and technical disciplines. He learned how different kinds of expertise contribute to a campaign and how to connect those capabilities to a client’s business needs.
In 2022, he joined United Franchise Group, initially supporting Signarama franchise owners with local marketing, advertising, and growth while contributing to national initiatives and partnerships. Working directly with owners brought him closer to the businesses his work supported and reinforced the importance of evaluating marketing through its usefulness to the people operating those businesses.
He subsequently moved into franchise development marketing across eleven UFG brands. His responsibilities included websites, paid media, content creation, and oversight of outside vendors, along with managing budgets, strategy, and performance. Working across brands required him to balance competing priorities while keeping marketing activity connected to the organization’s sales goals.
His current work with Black Optix Tint has combined consumer marketing and franchise owner support with the opportunity to help develop an emerging automotive brand. It has included bringing in new marketing partners, negotiating better economics for owners, and supporting franchise expansion. That experience connects decisions about the broader brand with the practical needs of individual locations.
Across these roles, McCarley encountered worthwhile projects that exceeded the time and resources available to pursue them. His interest in AI grew from that practical constraint. Early use for writing, research, and developing ideas expanded into website development, applications, competitive intelligence, and video workflows, giving him opportunities to attempt work that previously required additional expertise or outside support.
He evaluates those capabilities within ongoing business responsibilities, where deadlines, brand expectations, and the needs of franchise owners provide a standard for the result. Experimentation helps him understand what can be delegated, what context a tool needs, and where closer review remains necessary. A process has to be reliable enough to be useful beyond a successful demonstration.
His marketing work has also led him towards a deeper understanding of AI discovery: how brands appear in AI-generated answers and how websites, original content, and third-party information may contribute to those appearances. His interest therefore extends to both how AI changes the production of marketing work and how people find information about businesses.
A recurring subject in McCarley’s writing is how increased capacity changes the responsibilities of the individual contributor. Directing several streams of work requires clear expectations and the expertise to evaluate what comes back. As execution becomes easier, the time and attention needed for review can become a greater constraint. His experience informs his interest in how people develop these skills before they have direct reports.
Through his writing, McCarley examines how individuals and organizations adapt to these changes, drawing on practical experience with both the possibilities and limitations of the tools. His perspective remains connected to the people the work serves: greater capacity is valuable when it creates room for better work, more useful support, and thoughtful decisions about what deserves attention.