The Code and Theory team, for its part, is amplifying AI’s presence inside Qualcomm, beginning with developer community relations. Gardner foresees developer communities getting curious about what pervasive AI applications mean for their own businesses. Now, his agency is effectively Qualcomm’s community platform, anticipating developer and creator needs.
Key takeaways
Normalizing change: Both McGuire and Gardner expect AI applications will supplement creative services, not replace creativity. Gardner compared AI’s rise to when computers rendered typewriters obsolete, or when digital photography eliminated the need for darkrooms.
“I do not define creativity as a skill, and I think certain skillsets will be automated or the tools will get so good, it will make it easier and in a way democratize the ability to do things. This is nothing new to the creative industry,” said Gardner.
Producing more: Contending with what McGuire described as a “two-hour news cycle” poses a challenge for Qualcomm. McGuire’s marketing organization must produce more content, quicker and with too few resources. By integrating AI tools and simultaneously leaning on its external agency partners and their tools, he expects his organization will meet those goals.
Introducing the agency SaaS stack: Agency technology stacks are growing, introducing new revenue streams and alleviating client burden by allowing them to license technology solutions, instead of build their own. Stagwell-owned comms firm Allison handles Qualcomm’s public relations, and uses its own technology to vet press releases for quality.
“It will tell me whether or not it’s hitting the mark with the audience that it’s intended for,” McGuire said, adding, “I don’t need to bring that tool in house, [and] I don’t need to invest in that tool. They’ve already built that tool.”
More than marketing: Now that marketing technology solutions are becoming more advanced and crucial to company operations, Gardner’s agency is interacting with fewer marketing leads. The leader and his team now spend the same amount of time working with chief marketing officers, chief technology officers and chief information officers.
Watch Adweek’s full interview with McGuire and Gardner below.