As part of a new series, The AI 5, we ask five questions to explore AI’s impact through the eyes of some of the ad world’s leading figures, talking about how AI is reshaping workflows, collaboration, and creativity.
First up is Mansoor Basha, Chief Technology Officer at Stagwell Marketing Cloud.
During our conversation, Mansoor discusses the development of AI-powered tools like Propellers, predicts significant industry growth, and offers his insights on human-AI partnerships.
He also delves into ethical considerations, shares some of his favorite AI tools, and, as an Adjunct Professor of Marketing at New York University, provides advice for aspiring marketers in this rapidly evolving field.
How is AI impacting your team’s workflows and processes?
The integration of AI into our teams’ workflows and processes has been transformative, yielding significant time savings and efficiency gains. By leveraging AI, we’ve been able to rethink our entire workflow: shifting our focus from traditional, time-consuming processes, to more innovative and exciting experiences. This paradigm shift perfectly illustrates how Stagwell harmonizes the art and science of marketing: AI integration has not only streamlined our operations, but also enabled our teams to spend more time on high-value tasks that drive creativity and growth.
“The integration of AI into our teams’ workflows and processes has been transformative, yielding significant time savings and efficiency gains.”
A prime example of this is the development of Propellers, a cutting-edge creative agency tool built on Google Cloud’s AI capabilities. This platform enables us to rapidly innovate and generate diverse concepts across multiple audience personas, creative briefs, and multimodal experiences. It allows us to deliver high-quality marketing outcomes to clients, at unprecedented speed.
In what ways has AI changed the collaboration dynamics within your team and with clients?
The integration of AI into our workflows has significantly altered the dynamics of creative collaboration. By leveraging AI as a baseliner, we’re able to effectively demonstrate the value we bring to clients. This in turn facilitates more in-depth discussions and a freer flow of ideas: enabling our teams to collaborate more effectively with clients, providing clients with a more personalized and efficient experience.
Beyond streamlining our internal processes, the AI-driven ability to rapidly generate concepts and iterate on ideas has also sparked a new sense of excitement and possibility. Our team members are empowered to explore new avenues and push the boundaries of what’s possible at scale, leading to more innovative and effective solutions for our clients.
“Beyond streamlining our internal processes, the AI-driven ability to rapidly generate concepts and iterate on ideas has also sparked a new sense of excitement and possibility.”
What kind of future do you see for the human-AI partnership in the advertising industry? And what ethical considerations do we need to keep in mind?
Human-AI partnerships will significantly transform the future of marketing. By automating routine tasks, AI unlocks our potential to focus on high-value activities that drive innovation and creativity. Leaning into AI will free advertising professionals from drudgery, while enabling them to deliver exceptional results for clients.
A critical component in the journey towards a symbiotic future for humans and AI is that of prioritizing ethical considerations. It’s imperative we ensure that we’re not compromising on our values: safeguard against biases, protect data and ideas, and promote responsible AI development and deployment. This requires collaboration with LLM providers and other stakeholders to establish clear standards for ethics, transparency, and accountability.
“It’s imperative we ensure that we’re not compromising on our values: safeguard against biases, protect data and ideas, and promote responsible AI development and deployment.”
What is your boldest prediction about how AI will transform the industry in the next 5 years?
My prediction relates to how AI will drive significant growth and innovation in the marketing industry. I foresee the emergence of at least two new marketing channels, leading to a 2x growth in marketing teams: to support increased demand for marketing enablement and new offerings. This growth will be fueled by the need for more sophisticated marketing strategies and will require a highly upskilled workforce, capable of leveraging AI and machine learning technologies to drive business success.
With the presence of AI rapidly expanding, what advice would you give to a student entering university with their sights set on a career similar to yours?
I’m an adjunct professor of marketing at New York University, and I’ve also seen firsthand how AI is revolutionizing our industry. My advice to students entering university with a career goal similar to mine is to get familiar with AI – fast.
“My advice to students entering university with a career goal similar to mine is to get familiar with AI – fast.”
In my graduate-level marketing class, I dedicate 25% of the curriculum to AI because it’s no longer a nice-to-have, it’s a must-have. My message to students is to stop worrying about AI replacing them and start thinking about how they can use it to amplify their skills and bring something new to the table. Don’t just learn about AI, learn to think creatively about how you can use it to make a real impact – to stand out in a crowded job market, and potentially make a name for yourself in this industry.
Quick Hits:
What are your favorite AI tools for work or play?
For personal use – I use Poe, because it gives me access to multiple models at the same time to test out, see the differences in results and also learn which one suits which use case the best. This is especially helpful for specialized tools or models on focused interests, such as business or politics.
For work, I use all of them – no favorites, because this job requires us to be up to date on which tool should be leveraged for our use cases. In addition, we also have partnerships with the hyperscalers, so we get access to their trusted tester programs. This keeps me aware of what is upcoming with some of their new models.
What is a favorite or much-used prompt?
I use AI tools heavily for rewriting long emails, or to summarize key points from long articles when I don’t have time to go through them in full. I also use image generation for understanding how creative concepts can be thought of as new ideas.
If you could use AI for something it currently doesn’t do what would it be?
A real-time personalized diet and exercise coach: it could monitor my intake, and act as not just a nudger but a drill sergeant!
