Why Great Practitioners Will Thrive in the AI Era

Justine Armour, the straight-talking chief creative officer international at 72andSunny, gets to the heart of the AI challenge. Namely nobody yet knows what the optimum talent mix looks like because the industry is still figuring out what AI can really do.

As Justine explains, “The dust hasn’t settled.” Being comfortable leading through that ambiguity is what sets 72andSunny up for success. “We are very interested in what AI can do for us,” she explains.

Justine is sharing her perspective on the intersection of AI and creativity as part of The Blueprint’s Truth About Talent: AI interview series, designed to cut through the hype around artificial intelligence.

If you spent a lot of time as a practitioner before you became a leader, you’re very well set up for this moment.

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The age of makers and doers

The headlines warning that AI is coming for creative jobs risk creating a myth that the age of makers and doers is over. Armour argues the opposite is in fact true; in the age of AI, hands-on creative leadership has never been more valuable.

“Most people ascend to creative director after they’ve become a great maker, and then spend the next several years learning to lead and let go of the making part. But agencies are getting smaller, teams are getting flatter, and if you spent a lot of time as a practitioner before you became a leader, you’re very well set up for this moment,” she explains.

For agencies, the opportunity is to match the pace of innovation without losing the human footprint of creative brilliance. “Small, flat agencies need people who can have an idea and execute it beautifully, who can also go toe-to-toe with a CMO,” says Justine, adding: “Anyone who was in a hurry to lead before they reached a level of mastery as a doer is likely to struggle.”

The road to AI mastery

Mastery is an interesting lens through which to consider AI’s impact on the creative industries. Few leaders would claim mastery of AI yet. Many are somewhere between unconscious incompetence; not knowing what they don’t know, and conscious incompetence; where their understanding of their own knowledge gap is clear.

That too-often ignored knowledge gap also exposes why the industry risks ignoring the importance of DEI in the rush to embrace AI. “We are notoriously single-minded as an industry. AI has taken all our focus,” says Justine.

Sustainability is another unresolved issue. “The industry exists at the pleasure of our clients. It’s the same as it was with DEI; until clients make AI sustainability an imperative, agencies won’t either,” she adds.

AI is also beginning to influence how clients find and buy agencies. Armour, known as a ‘pitching machine’, believes agency websites remain an important shop window. Yet she shares that a client recently found the agency after asking ChatGPT for ad agencies in the region.

Supreme advantage goes to the creative leader who can generate a genius original idea from their organic human brain, gut, and heart intelligence.

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Original thought is a brand’s biggest advantage

While it is easy to disappear down rabbit holes about AI’s role in pitching, Justine is focused on playing the long game and analysing the larger shifts at play. In the AI era, she believes taste remains the creative leader’s competitive advantage.

“It’s always been the truth, and it’s more true than ever,” she explains, adding: “AI can generate infinite ideas, so if that’s where your ideas are coming from, you’d better be good at choosing the one idea that’s worth putting into the world.”

She remains bullish about the enduring power of human creativity. “Supreme advantage goes to the creative leader who can generate a genius original idea from their organic human brain, gut, and heart intelligence. Don’t let anyone tell you that’s not a thing anymore,” she quips.

Craft is communication; it’s the thousand tiny subtle and overt choices you make that keep someone engaged in what you’re saying and doing.

AI slop is not a creative advantage

AI gives brands the ability to create faster and cheaper advertising. But Armour argues that this makes craft more important, not less. AI can produce plenty of acceptable work, but producing work that people genuinely love is another matter.

“I think craft is a misunderstood word, in that it’s sometimes associated with indulgent creatives who are out of touch with the reality of what our clients actually need,” says Justine, continuing: “But craft is communication; it’s the thousand tiny subtle and overt choices you make that keep someone engaged in what you’re saying and doing.” Craft is the ultimate differentiator.

In an attention economy where consumers are distracted and engagement is fleeting, those choices matter. “Humans are incredibly sophisticated communicators, and every lazy craft choice is like an off-ramp. Executing with AI, at least right now, is a strange move because it’s fraught with subtle signals that something is off. AI is all you can see,” she adds,

The lesson for marketers is not to reject AI, but to be more thoughtful about where it belongs. As brands compete to be culture-first, AI has lowered the barrier to entry. A shift which has raised the volume of noise in an already cluttered market. “AI will make it easier, cheaper, and noisier, but if everyone floods the zone at once it ultimately makes cultural currency less valuable,” Justine adds.

In an industry increasingly obsessed with pace, Armour makes a compelling case for the power of the pause. Original ideas, strategic thinking, taste and the lived experience of making the work may prove to be the most valuable creative advantages of the AI era.