By Rohit Sakunia, Founder, ArtE Mediatech
Generative AI is no longer the future. It’s already here, in our agencies, in our brainstorms, in our work files, and our Google Docs. From personalised marketing campaigns to real-time visual storytelling. But here’s the catch: Gen AI is not going to replace creativity. It will reshape how we get there in practical.
The brief will continue to be important and will matter the most, as always. The consumer insight will still be the king. But the journey from “what if” to “this works” will get faster, leaner, and way smarter.
So what aspects will change? Here’s a look to understand better:
Speed will be your new mood board:
When I would get a mood board or a visual board artist to do one, they would seek two days. Then came in AI tools like Midjourney, DALL·E or Firefly. The same can throw out ten different interpretations in minutes. While they will not all be perfect, they will give the work velocity that’s needed. And will challenge the status quo. In this case we move from a blank page to possibility faster than ever before. You know what also changes with this. The wait for inspiration doesn’t happen anymore. We are working with someone who is inspiring and is possibly the smartest thing to interact with. We are Curating, Filtering and Responding. This will mean more demanding work from across the verticals. With this inspiration in hand, impossible will now be the new normal.
Research is finally Interesting Again:
You know what that means? This means whatever you want to know about whatever set of audiences, if you know how to prompt, the answer is at your fingertips. This is the highest quality advantage with Gen AI. It cuts through noise. Want to know how a Tier-3 Gen Z audience talks about fashion? Or how sisters in Surat react to rakhi gifts? Earlier, you would have had to send surveys to know this. Now, a good prompt and you can get to context — fast.
While you will still verify, validate and cross check, AI gives strategists a head start, and a fast one at that.
Your copywriter isn’t alone anymore:
The writer’s block is now no more true. Because what used to be “The first line is the hardest”, will now be “Here’s the first good cut”. Generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Jasper, and Claude can now give you that first cut easily. Could be rough but a great sounding board. Headlines, CTAs, even content calendars. What you will need to do is make it feel on-brand. And make it final. This gets you faster, like I said above. Want a good example of what’s happening here. Imagine an amazing intern who works 24/7, doesn’t take feedback personally and keeps improving.
Dynamic Thinking replaces decks and decks and more decks
We all worked in a linear way before AI – Brief, research, framework, and deck, and present. Things will now change for the better. It will be more iterative and more experimental. Let’s say you’re building a campaign for a fintech app targeting small-town entrepreneurs. You can now simulate multiple content routes, voice tones, media mixes, all on the fly. You can even test resonance using generative personas or simulated feedback environments. None of this is replacing the strategist. It’s making them multi-dimensional.
AI Will Save The Big Idea
This is something I’ve felt personally.
You’re in a pitch. You have the big idea. But it’s not landing. Time’s short.
AI is the engine that will run your train and with pace. It will get you visuals from all lenses too. Maybe some pieces will come out flat but it will learn, reframe and rescue it faster. Basically you don’t lose the idea. You rescue it faster.
Collaboration between the man and the Machine is the new cool
At ArtE we are shifting powerfully. By not working against AI. But learning how to work with it.
The account manager and the strategist of the future isn’t someone who creates 100 sliders. It’s someone who knows:
- How to ask the right prompt
- How to interrogate the output
- And how to add meaning, emotion, and direction to what the machine throws up
Keep that in mind. Make AI your sparring partner. Keep it as someone who keeps challenging your thinking. If used well AI makes you sharper. The only disadvantage I see is that it’s not a unique advantage to you.
Let’s close by agreeing that Gen AI is not a shortcut to strategy. It’s rather an upgrade to how we approach, build and shape our work. AI will lend us speed to get our work better, and smarter.