As Platforms Converge, Brands Hold the Power

The last few years have brought an explosion of technology and tools. Now, we’re witnessing a creative convergence. 

We just spent three days at Adobe MAX surrounded by a world-class blend of creatives, engineers, product leads and brand strategists. Underneath the kaleidoscope of bigger models, smarter assistants and faster automations was something truly revealing: the balance of power is shifting from platforms to brands. 

Here’s why:

1. The Convergence Is Underway

Adobe MAX showed that the endless hype cycle of the AI explosion is up against the need to deliver value. After years of fragmented tools and endless experimentation, the biggest players — Adobe, OpenAI, Google, Runway — are beginning to connect. Their tools, models and APIs are becoming interoperable and interdependent. This isn’t chaos anymore; it’s consolidation. The future is a connected creative ecosystem.

2. From Capabilities to Connectivity

Now the focus has shifted from what any one platform can do to how they work together. Adobe is opening Firefly to third-party models. Photoshop is showing up in ChatGPT. Runway runs in Premiere. The promise is frictionless creation — content, data and assets flowing seamlessly between systems. But connection alone doesn’t create meaning. Without context, interoperability is just infrastructure.

3. Brands Hold All the Value

Many brands see this pace of change and feel outmatched — as if the technology is getting smarter while they’re falling behind. The opposite is true. AI models lack understanding, relying purely on probability. They depend entirely on the information that brands already possess: deep knowledge of audiences, products, stories and values. Without that data, the outputs are generic reflections of the most average inputs.

4. Everyone’s Looking for Context

That’s why all the major players are converging: they’re looking to capture context in whatever way possible. Despite claims that certain models perform better on esoteric benchmarks, we see parity emerging. The true differentiator is the insight, taste and perspective that has always powered successful brands. Your content systems, your creative process and your institutional knowledge are the essential fuel that AI runs on.

5. Process Is Golden

Brands that know how their creative process actually works — how ideas move from strategy to concept to execution — are in a position to lead. When that process is mapped, clarified and connected, AI becomes an accelerant, not a disruptor. The technology stops feeling like it’s replacing you and starts working for you.

AI Works Best When It Amplifies What Your Brand Already Does Best 

Brands are the sources of rich data that creative AI tools are trying to emulate. Now is the time to look closely at what makes your brand unique: your deep understanding of your audience, the meaningful stories that you tell and the impactful products and services you deliver. It’s time to put AI to work to scale what you are already doing. We help brands connect their strategy, content and creative processes so AI becomes an amplifier of what makes them distinct, not a replacement for it.

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