The Game is A(I)foot: AI Is Sherlock Holmes, But Agencies Are Dr Watson

"Come, Watson, come! The game is afoot" -- The Adventure of the Abbey Grange: The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

I recently and joyfully rediscovered the complete works of Sherlock Holmes: 56 short stories and four novels. While flicking between Victorian mysteries and modern-day LinkedIn scrolls (not least the consistently sharp posts from Sir John Hegarty, some highly relevant to this topic), a parallel struck me, sudden and clear, as if stepping out from the ancient London smog: Sherlock Holmes and AI’s much discussed (and sometimes feared) impact on creativity.

Few partnerships in literature are as iconic as Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson. Holmes is the brilliant, hyper-rational detective: logical, lightning-fast, and, let’s be honest, a bit emotionally stunted. Watson is the human sidekick: empathetic, intuitive, and the master storyteller who takes all of Holmes’s deductions and turns them into something people actually care about.

Holmes once said, “When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” This razor-sharp logic is a perfect match for what AI brings to the table -- relentless analysis, forensic precision, and the ability to sift through mountains of data and creative iterations in seconds.

AI is the ultimate Holmes: clinical, efficient, dazzlingly smart and just a little bit exhausting.

But brilliance without balance has its blind spots. As Watson observed in 'The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter', “Holmes was a man of habits, narrow in his sympathies.” AI shares this same limitation. It can spot what’s relevant, but not what’s meaningful. It sees the facts but misses the feels. It’s excellent at solving puzzles, but not so good at understanding why those puzzles matter.

And that’s the point. Without Watson, Holmes would be left uttering “Elementary!” into the wind. He might solve the case, but it’s Watson who ensures the world understands why it mattered. Genius alone doesn’t make a story.

Watson’s power lies not in superior intellect but in his humanity. And just as Watson translated Holmes’s cold logic into something warm-blooded, we can use AI’s deductive brilliance and bring it to life with the essential mix of human creativity: emotional intelligence, intuition, and the kind of unexpected thinking machines can mimic but never truly feel.

We know when to pause, when to punch, and when to whisper instead of shout.

Watson brings more than just narrative. He brings heart. He’s a lover, a fighter, a loyal companion. So too is the great agency partner: pushing, protecting, and elevating the work in all its messy, glorious, human form.

Imagine an agency working on a campaign where AI surfaces an unexpected insight, a behavioural clue hiding in plain sight. One can picture Holmes striding in front of his mantlepiece, pipe in hand:

"...the little things are infinitely the most important." A Case of Identity: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

But left alone, AI may seem like it’s lacking the nuance to move an audience. That’s where the agency steps in. We bring those little clues together and shape them into stories that land with impact: on screens, in hearts, and culture. AI can generate, but only humans can judge.

Of course, as machine learning advances, AI may grow more capable of mimicking nuance, even stirring emotion in convincing ways. But that won’t diminish the role of human creativity; it will sharpen it. Because even when machines can fake feeling, it still takes a human to know what’s real, what’s timely, and what’s worth saying. As AI evolves, so must we, not just to match emotions, but to shape the conversation, guide the partnership, and make sure meaning, context, and connection aren’t left behind.

And the most effective agencies will continue to thrive when they offer clients more than just execution. At their best, they can provide enduring and extraordinary relationships, a client’s most human support system. Like Watson, they offer loyalty, judgment, and collaboration. They sit through the fog. They wait on the moor. They show up.

The Holmes and Watson partnership endures because their strengths were complementary, not competitive. One is brilliant at deduction, while the other is brilliant at connection.

AI is the Holmes of our age. If you don’t employ it to help solve your business mysteries, you’re fooling yourself. But agencies? We are the Watsons. We bring the warmth, the wonder, and the wisdom that make the story worth telling.

Let’s lead this new partnership with taste, empathy and originality. The game is afoot. And the future of creativity is not a threat, it’s a thrilling new adventure.