Our approach to meaningful AI focusses on transparency, authenticity and sustainability. This means making a tangible impact to the experience of your teams or customers through a people-centric and collaborative approach, consistently routed in a collectively defined set of values.
We’re working closely with many of our sister agencies on the best ways to successfully embrace these new technologies. Recently, Georgina Pipe, Manager at Gate One, sat down with Ol Janus, Global Head of Data for Havas, to understand how they are delivering innovation in GenAI, and what landing value pragmatically means to him.
Georgina: What makes innovation meaningful to you personally, and for your organisation?
Ol: We are first and foremost a creative agency. Innovation in data and tech is only meaningful if it genuinely helps us to support clients in delivering meaningful growth to their brand, as well as delivering creative and relevant content to the right consumer at the right time, with an entertaining and engaging message.
Georgina: Do you have an example of how Havas are doing this?
Ol: We have developed an MVP GenAI tool, a proprietary LLM and a chatbot to democratise our proprietary Meaningful Brands data (CMBC), providing all talent across our network with the functionality to ask questions of our proprietary CMBC data, with instant answers driving them to uncover insights and intelligence that will help them to deliver better solutions for the brands we work with.
Georgina: That’s impressive. In these types of projects, we talk a lot about putting people (specifically, users) at the heart throughout to get the most meaningful outcomes. What does that actually look like to you, and how do you maintain that user-focus?
Ol: When we discuss the importance of people in the GenAI transformation, it’s not just talk; it’s a practical approach that guides the entire journey. We used to have to learn the language of machines, but now the machines need to learn ours – so we need to teach them well. With our LLM development, we kick-off prototype testing with specialists in the business to determine exactly what’s working and what’s not; this helps reinforce learning and hone in on a more accurate model. Then we can broaden testing with wider users. This approach sets us up to launch a product created by, rather than for, the people it’s serving.
Georgina: That makes a lot of sense, but I can imagine it’s not without its challenges… what are some of the trade-offs you need to manage in ensuring this focus, in terms of where you invest time and capacity?
Ol: From what I’ve seen, people spend too much time debating and hyping up GenAI, rather than getting stuff done. Of course, you need a baseline understanding of the tech and use cases, but you need to shift quickly into practical exploration – that takes investment, resource and action.
It’s also key to keep abreast of technical advancements – and stay forgiving when your solution inevitably needs to change. Three months ago, our LLM couldn’t process graphs and numbers, but now it can and needs adjusting – that’s just part of the process. This mindset is quite a step from traditional projects, where the landscape is perhaps less fast moving.
Georgina: That definitely resonates with what I’m hearing, and seeing online – so much hype and confusion, and that alone can deter people from getting going. So, aside from a healthy dose of JFDI, what do you think the foundational elements are that businesses need to put in place to start delivering meaningful outcomes?
Ol: Firstly, you need to establish strong, collaborative relationships with tech partners. For our LLM project, we are working closely and effectively with Nohup – they are up to date, informed and co-creating our solution rather than acting as a traditional tech provider. Google are investing time with our Helia team to partner in this exploration, and wider Havas have partnered with Adobe.
Secondly, you need to have the right culture that fosters and supports an entrepreneurial mindset, a willingness to explore ideas, being comfortable with failure, and to fail fast.
Finally, it’s good to get some quick results out the door to secure interest and buy-in from the team. Identify tactical use cases that individuals can get their hands on to add value quickly. Within Helia, GenAI acts as a catalyst to inspire creatives, and improve how we translate a written brief to visual content tailored to specific brand needs.
At Gate One, we are proud to work alongside our sister agencies to help businesses land value from AI-powered transformation. Sign up to our newsletter to stay on top of the latest AI thinking to help you ensure your businesses is landing value from this new wave of technology too.
