I was at Agency Hackers recently, listening to a lot of smart people talk about AI integration.

I guess unsurprisingly there’s a huge amount of energy around it.

Some excitement. Some anxiety.

For smaller, independent agencies, the opportunity feels slightly different. Not because we have better tools. But because we have simpler structures. Fewer layers means decisions sit closer to the idea. Closer to the client. Closer to the commercial objective. AI can help with scale. With consistency. With speed.

But it still needs judgment. It still needs taste. It still needs context. Prompting is relatively easy. Knowing what to keep, and what to discard, is harder. In the built environment, where brand decisions shape long-term physical assets, that judgment really matters. Technology should strengthen clarity. The thinking at the centre still has to be human.Created by humans. Made more effective with AI.
‍