Beyond the Binary: AI, Craft and the Future of Brand Experience

The creative industry is at a breaking point.

On one side: automation, acceleration, and AI models capable of mimicking nearly every aesthetic in the book. On the other: creative craft, human nuance, and a culture built on big ideas and gut instinct. The old agency model is cracking - and so is the illusion that we can keep treating creativity and technology as opposing forces.

This isn’t a debate about man vs. machine. It’s a reckoning with the reality that everything is changing, from how brands are built to how teams are structured to what "creative direction" even means in a generative world.

As Cannes Lions kicks off, three creative leaders, Sarah Mehler, Yann Caloghiris, and Rich Foster, talk about what’s breaking, what’s being built, and why the future of craft may hinge less on what AI can do… and more on how, when, and if we choose to use it.

Q> Why do you think the AI vs. creativity debate still lingers, and how are we moving past it?

Rich Foster, exec. creative director> There’s been a lot of fear-mongering in the creative community, some of it driven by endless posts on places like LinkedIn about AI signalling the 'end of creativity.' But if you look closely, we have a set of powerful tools that allow us to do new things - that’s what I find exciting. AI can accelerate previously manual workflows, help us do things we couldn’t do before, and give individuals the ability to create a vision for a product or experience from idea to execution in a fraction of the time and cost.

From a brand perspective, AI is flooding the space with a lot of 'sea of same.' I think (and hope) that’s going to spark rebellion, which might cause brands to deliberately pivot in different directions. What’s really interesting at the moment is the variety of styles and executions. It feels like the industry is coming out of an overly uniform phase and a more expressive approach is not only in favour - it’s expected. I think we’ll see everything from traditional craft to hyper-surreal executions.

Yann Caloghiris, exec. director, creative, strategy, and innovation> The jury’s still out. Some service-based creative businesses are being disrupted to the point that they can’t exist. Others are self-disrupting. Especially in areas like influencer marketing or social content, you’re seeing AI disintermediate creative firms altogether.

That changes the model. But it also means that shaping taste becomes more important. AI works off precedent. So if you're a brand that wants to stand out, you’ll need partners who can help you do that in a way that AI can’t replicate. That’s where we’re focusing.

Q> Is AI helping improve creative output—or just speeding things up?

Rich> It’s both. We can bring a vision to life with fewer resources - there are lots of great tools for that. But it doesn’t remove the creative foundation. You’re still working from a core idea in response to a business challenge or a customer need. As an example, using LLM’s we’re able to dynamically assemble experiences on demand. This challenges the conventions of form and structure that we’ve been bound by with digital products. We’re now able to create experiences that feel custom for everyone, not just the main target personas. As designers, we are able to set direction, tone, modular frameworks, rules, and define a system to form branded building blocks. The system can then dynamically build out the experience on demand based on individual user needs. This creates much more personalised experiences.

Q> How are client expectations shifting in response to these tools?

Yann>  Clients are now including 'idea generation' in briefs. They know with the right prompt and data, anyone can generate good ideas, but we’re starting to see clients ask for help estimating and evolving them. We’re leaning into two lanes: shaping taste, and focusing on areas that AI can’t easily disrupt: projects that require platform integration, data security, or physical execution. Long-term, I think we’ll see completely AI-native companies emerge. But for now, our value lies in helping brands navigate the complexity.

Q> Where does craft fit in, especially as creative teams change shape?

Sarah Mehler, founder and CEO> I see it as choreography. We’re all becoming 'conductors' of a workflow where we step in and out at the right times. Prompting isn’t a static task, it’s a constant feedback loop - and learning how to manage that loop well is its own form of creative intelligence.

We also have to stay focused on emotion. That’s the takeaway clients care about. If the expectation is more for less, we have to stay a few steps ahead and be better at making every touchpoint - strategy, research, pacing - feel intentional and emotionally resonant.

Rich> Craft and what it stands for is evolving, which is exciting. It’s not solely about pixel-perfect production anymore. Everyone can make things look polished, however the work that will rise to the top will still address a need, address friction points, have a soul or a concept that sits behind it. From my point of view, it’s about the thoughtful integration of the available tools to avoid the kid in the sweet shop scenario. AI is giving us a chance to break out of the “sea of same” and re-embrace expressive, idea-driven work by putting powerful creative tools in designers' hands that allow individuals to have an idea and bring it to life in a fraction of the time. This allows us to explore and go further and that’s exciting.

Yann> Entry-level roles are changing. Now, if you’re coming in, you need a creative point of view and a multidisciplinary approach. At the senior level, decision-making speed and data fluency will matter more than ever. That’s the shift.

Q> What AI-powered creative work has inspired you recently?

Yann> I think we’re still in experimental mode. I admire work that’s upfront about using AI, but only where it’s additive, not deceptive. To me, the difference between good and bad marketing is: are you convincing or are you coercing? Transparency matters.

Rich> I saw a filmmaker on Instagram recently doing surreal, AI-driven camera moves through architecture. It had that Chris Cunningham x Aphex Twin vibe. You could tell he wasn’t just throwing prompts at a wall; he had a vision and used AI to achieve it.

Restraint is everything. You can go gung ho with AI and throw in every effect, but the best work shows control. It's where you choose to use the tool, and what difference it makes. When someone adds just a twist, or a moment of surprise, and you can see that restraint in their approach - that's when AI actually elevates the work. Sometimes it's even functional, like enabling accessibility in ways that weren’t possible before. That’s a real contribution.

I always come back to that word - restraint - because the thinking still needs to be there. The ideas still need to be there. We have all these tools, but we can't let them dominate us. The craft comes in knowing when to step in, where to look elsewhere for inspiration, and how to apply the tools without being consumed by them. Don’t just scroll. Go pick up an old book. Find something that shifts your perspective, then come back and create something intentional.

Sarah> Craft isn’t perfection, it’s refinement. We’re all still figuring this out. But I keep coming back to early examples like Khan Academy’s Socratic tutoring models. They didn’t just give you an answer. They asked, “Why was that your choice?” That’s craft. That’s teaching someone to think differently, and it’s where I hope AI takes us.

Q> Any final thoughts before Cannes?

Yann> AI wants to please. Great creativity doesn’t. It cuts, disrupts, and charts new courses. That’s how we stay divergent, and how we, as we used to say in the UK, have AI 'for breakfast.'