After recently being asked to talk at the Asana Work Innovation Summit about how we have introduced AI into our campaign management processes, I started to think a little deeper – about how we as an operations team, as an agency, and as an organisation, have approached AI. 

At ActionRocket, our work has always been deeply human. We build relationships with clients. We solve complex problems collaboratively. We create customer experiences that connect with real people.

So when AI became impossible to ignore, we weren't asking ourselves how quickly we could automate everything. We were asking a different question: how can AI help our people do more of the work they love?

The challenge of introducing AI into a creative agency

I'll be honest. When we first started exploring AI, enthusiasm wasn't universal. For many people, AI felt at odds with what made our agency special. We don't sell automation. We sell expertise, creativity, and strategic thinking.

There were concerns around quality. Concerns around creativity. Concerns around whether AI belonged in an environment built on human craft. Those concerns weren't wrong. In fact, they helped shape our approach.

Rather than looking for opportunities to replace people, we looked for opportunities to remove friction.

We didn't start with AI. We started with frustration.

Every designer has tasks they dread. Every copywriter has jobs that are necessary but repetitive. Every operations team spends time on administrative tasks that add little value.

So instead of asking, "Where can we use AI?", we started asking:

• What slows people down?

• What repetitive tasks consume valuable time?

• What work doesn't make use of someone's expertise?

• What jobs would nobody miss if they disappeared tomorrow?

The answers became our roadmap.
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AI should create space, not replace people.

One of the biggest lessons we've learned is that the best AI implementations aren't the most complicated. They're often the most practical.

Today, AI helps us process support requests, manage resource planning, create accessibility content, and automate project administration. None of these workflows replace expertise. They remove repetitive tasks that previously distracted talented people from more valuable work.

Our copywriters still own accessibility standards. Our project managers still own delivery. Our operations team still owns process improvement. The difference is that they're spending less time on administration and more time applying their skills where they make the biggest impact.

The unexpected benefit: job satisfaction

The conversation around AI often focuses on productivity. For us, one of the most important outcomes has been team satisfaction. When people spend less time on repetitive admin, they spend more time solving problems, collaborating with colleagues, and creating value for clients. The work becomes more fulfilling.

Ironically, introducing technology into our processes has allowed us to become even more human in how we spend our time.

AI isn't the strategy. People are.

The most successful AI workflows that we've built aren't successful because of the technology. They're successful because they're designed around people.

Every workflow starts with a human problem. Every automation is reviewed by humans. Every AI-generated output has human oversight. And every implementation is judged by a simple measure: does this help our team do their best work? If the answer is yes, we keep building. If the answer is no, we move on.

The future of agency AI

There's a lot of noise around AI right now. Predictions about replacing jobs. Predictions about replacing agencies. Predictions about replacing creativity itself. That's not the future we're building towards.

We believe the most exciting opportunity is using AI to handle the repetitive, predictable work that slows teams down – freeing people to focus on creativity, relationships, strategy, and innovation. The things humans have always been best at.

Because ultimately, our goal isn't to build an AI-powered agency. It's to build a better agency for the people who work here and the clients we serve.