VCCP: Did you know that AI was going to be part of the role when you applied?
I wanted to work in AI but three years ago, there wasn't a role for an AI Account Manager or AI Specialist, when I was looking it was just Account Manager in general so I thought I’d have to choose between the two options. I knew I wanted to work in the agency world to sharpen my experience in the UK and when I researched the company, I liked the culture here, it just seemed like I could be a good fit. I liked what Bernadette was doing and the clients VCCP worked with and so I applied.
And then in my interview, I realised that the role I really wanted could exist - I discussed my AI dissertation with Rose (Bartel, Managing Director of Bernadette) and she was like ‘great, because this role sits across Bernadette and faith, and we think your skillset would be perfect to pioneer it for us’. So it worked perfectly - my skills and the opportunity, and both Bernadette and I have been able to create and shape this role. And now I get to elevate AI and see how I can help transform the whole industry.
VCCP: How do you describe your job to your family?
I would say, that ad you saw in a station or on social media, I did it. That’s the simplest way to explain it to my parents, and flex to my friends
VCCP: What does a typical day look like at work?
So the first thing is catching up on things! Making sure that I'm not missing out on anything because things can happen overnight. You never know.
Then plan my day, prioritise what to do. Block out my diary before someone else does - that's very important for me. Status meeting with a client, daily stand-up meeting with the team, and then kind of running up and down the building a lot.
faith is everywhere across VCCP. There are different departments in the mix that are part of faith, so everybody sits on a different floor, in different companies. So I have to run around to speak to people, and that's a fun part of my job (I get about 7,000 steps a day from that). And then lots of email writing, making sure things are on track, the team gets what they need to deliver to work, and the clients are happy. Overall, making sure the client is brought in on the journey and everyone is happy and proud of the work we deliver.
VCCP: What's the most exciting thing that you've worked on recently?
I would say the new campaign I’m working on at the moment. It's exciting because it's the first project where we have used AI to deliver multi-channel assets for an integrated advertising campaign for this client.
For this specific business project, we’re building a custom AI model to generate branded character assets and this is the first time this is being applied for the production of a live campaign. So we’re excited to see how it’ll come to life and it’d be a good case study for future projects.
This is one of the first AI projects for this client, using AI to transform the way they produce advertising - it's great to be a part of it; to be one of the first teams to do that for this brand.
VCCP: What excites you about the future of AI?
I think what excites me the most is how AI is changing customer journeys, and subsequently the marketing and advertising processes. Like how, customers used to go to Google and they were driven by SEO to get to a website, but now AI search is becoming a new habit - it forces brands to adapt to the changing customer journeys.
This means that there is a lot of opportunity for businesses and brands to tailor their products and services to enhance customer experience along the new journey and meet the changing expectations. But, that’s also a threat for businesses and brands, because it challenges their capability to quickly adapt to the changing landscape, and do it ethically. Or, they stay behind the curve because it's evolving so quickly.
