This is what real AI innovation looks like.

And it’s not what most agencies are doing.

When I read about this yesterday’s breakthrough in medicine, AI creating antibiotics for MRNA superbugs saving millions of lives, I couldn’t help thinking: this is the kind of innovation that changes the game.

It’s not about doing the same things faster or cheaper.
It’s about making something possible that wasn’t possible before.

And that got me thinking about AI in the ad industry.

Right now, all of the AI I see in agencies is aimed at efficiency.
Replacing copywriters. Automating designers. Compressing production timelines. Making media buying cheaper.

Yes, those tools matter. Soon they’ll be table stakes - basic hygiene factors you’ll need just to compete. But they won’t give you lasting differentiation. They won't create your 'moat.'

Because if all your “AI strategy” does is speed up what you already do, you’re playing a race-to-the-bottom game on cost and time.

This week’s scientific breakthrough is a wake-up call to the ad industry: the real prize isn’t efficiency.
It’s new revenue.
It’s harnessing AI and human ingenuity to create new markets, services, products, campaigns, and experiences that couldn’t exist before.

That’s where bold agencies and brands will pull ahead.  Not just by trimming budgets, but by inventing the future.

💡The question for leaders is simple:
Are you only using AI to make the old game faster?
Or to change the game entirely?