TLDR: David Jones, CEO of The Brandtech Group, asserts that traditional advertising agencies are “missing in action” when it comes to embracing generative AI. He believes AI will revolutionize creativity and enable significantly more work with increased profitability, despite concerns about job displacement. Brandtech Group is actively investing in AI, including a new Centre for Creative AI, and has seen success with its generative AI platform, Pencil, which produces ads faster, cheaper, and with better performance.
David Jones, the outspoken CEO of The Brandtech Group, has strongly criticized traditional advertising agencies for their slow adoption of generative artificial intelligence, stating they are “missing in action” and “didn’t get the memo” regarding this transformative technology. Jones, a prominent AI evangelist in the advertising industry, believes that generative AI will usher in “the greatest creative revolution in history” and fundamentally reshape marketing.
Contrary to fears that AI will lead to job losses, Jones predicts that Brandtech’s headcount will grow significantly, potentially two to three times its current size, while enabling the company to accomplish “100 times more work.” He argues that generative AI will make businesses like Brandtech more profitable, not less, partly by allowing them to charge SaaS tech fees even if they aren’t directly performing all the work.
Jones emphasizes that the “new language of creativity is artificial intelligence” and that it’s not a question of whether AI is more creative than humans, but “when.” He points out that while traditional agencies may be threatened by AI, the industry is in a “gen AI arms race.”
To foster AI integration and talent development, The Brandtech Group has partnered with University College London and Royal College of Art to establish a new Centre for Creative AI in the UK, set to open in October. This initiative aims to allow young creatives to collaborate with and grow alongside AI advancements, recognizing that future recruits will enter a vastly different advertising landscape.
Brandtech Group has been an early adopter of AI, having started investing in it back in 2015. Their generative AI platform, Pencil, acquired a year ago, has been instrumental in their success. Pencil predicts ad performance and generates creative content like videos and images. According to Jones, Pencil-generated ads are produced 10 times faster, deliver twice the performance, and cost 30 to 50 percent less. The platform has already created over a million ads for 5,000 brands, with over a billion dollars in media spent through it since 2018.
Jones believes that generative AI will elevate the creator economy, enabling average influencers to produce “stunning” content, moving the entire sector up a level. He also notes a shift in client demand, with big brands now issuing RFPs and pitches specifically for generative AI solutions, seeking partners to help fine-tune their own models.
Despite the current reality where less than 1% of content is created using generative AI, Jones is confident this will change dramatically. He advises individuals to be curious and actively engage with AI tools, stating that those who do are already ahead of 90% of people in the world.
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Jones’s vision, which he began articulating in 2015 when he founded The Brandtech Group (then You & Mr Jones), was that all marketing could be done “better, faster, and cheaper” using technology and AI. While this concept was initially met with confusion, it is now widely understood, though the competitive landscape has intensified.
