Brandtech founder David Jones doesn’t mince words when it comes to generative AI. He believes it’s the future, and most ad agencies are nowhere to be found. While others fumble with flashy demos, Jones points to Pencil—Brandtech’s AI tool that reportedly churned out 235,000 content assets last quarter for three of the world’s top 10 advertisers. The kicker? It did so 62% faster, 55% cheaper, and 40% better. Jones argues that large marketing budgets should start seeing “mindblowing” efficiencies—he cites $13bn L’Oréal spends annually, speculating a slice of that could be slashed with smarter tech.
Jones insists it’s not all smoke and SaaS. While many agencies wrestle with the declining relevance of billable hours, Brandtech positions itself as a hybrid tech-and-services model. Its agencies—including Jellyfish and Gravity Road—help run internal AI content studios, but clients can also plug directly into the tech. Whether Brandtech executes or not, the company still collects licensing fees. Meanwhile, Jones throws shade on the old-guard creative mindset, saying many still believe their brilliance is untouchable by AI—despite creators and influencers now driving high-performing, AI-assisted content at scale.
For anyone worried this means replacing humans with robots, Jones isn’t buying that narrative. If anything, he sees team sizes ballooning even as output multiplies. Junior staff are already creating professional-grade work using tools like Veo 3 with minimal traditional training. To fuel this talent wave, Brandtech is launching the UK’s Centre for Creative AI in partnership with UCL and the RCA, aiming to equip emerging creatives to speak AI as fluently as Photoshop. Because in Jones’s world, it’s not about killing creativity. It’s about giving it more room to run.
Read more at The Drum.