Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become the new buzzword in town. While marketers have been using it for some time now to engage with their consumers more effectively, the newest lovers of the transformational technology, it seems, are advertising agencies. The agencies, say industry leaders, are using AI for the pitching process to win businesses. Though it is still work-in-progress when it comes to full-fledged use of the tools, industry leaders say AI provides them data-driven insights which help create pitches more efficiently and faster, thereby freeing up time for creative thinking.

We spoke to experts to understand how actually AI has taken a seat at the pitch meetings.

New weapon in the arsenal

According to Rajni Daswani, Director - Digital Marketing, SoCheers, AI has now become a fundamental tool in the arsenal of agencies. “The technology is revolutionizing our ability to dissect many aspects, like providing valuable insights, that help us tailor our pitches for the clients. It helps us target audience, personalize content, provide data-driven insights and create pitches more efficiently and faster. It acts as a personalized assistant, streamlining tasks and freeing up time for strategic and creative thinking.”

Azazul Haque, CCO at Media.Monks, says they have been using AI when the idea needs it. “Whether to use AI tools for pitches depends on the idea. But for many pitches and for existing clients, we do use AI tools to create proof of concept. But we are using AI when the idea needs it and not for creating generic bulk content. We used machine learning for creating proof of concept in campaigns done for Tata Tea,” he adds.

While the industry is still getting a hang of the technology, some have started using different tools, says Dr. Sandeep Goyal, Chairman, Rediffusion. “AI is still work in progress. The art guys are still experimenting and learning every day. So, the real results from AI are yet to be experienced. Right now, you hit the high notes on one nice visual but struggle with the next one. It is an evolving business. When Photoshop came, it was a big leap forward. Now AI will take us to new realms. The pace of change really needs a cerebral leap forward. This is as much about good copywriters giving the right search word commands as art directors learning new skills,” he explains.

Sharing how they are using AI for pitching, Siddharth Bhansali, Founder, Noesis.tech (Zoo Media), says AI is used as a starting point to get better insights, soemthing that wasn’t possible earlier. “AI is revolutionizing the way agencies craft their pitches. First and foremost, it provides data-driven insights that allow us to understand potential clients' needs, industry trends, and audience behavior with unprecedented precision. Instead of relying solely on intuition or broad industry knowledge, we now have access to detailed analytics that guide our strategies”, he said.

Explaining the technicalities of the usage, Preetham Venkky, Chief Digital Officer, DDB Mudra Group, shares, “AI technology has created two kinds of tools. There are AI-first tools like ChatGPT and Midjourney and AI-augmented tools like Adobe Firefly. In the case of pitches, it is important to focus on the brand, which means the visuals, the copy, expression and the tone have to be focussed on the brand. So, in the case of pitches, we don’t use AI-first tools very much unless it’s an AI-driven concept. But we do use AI-augmented tools. After we win a client and if there is an interesting idea that needs to be showcased, that is where we use AI-first tools.”

Exercising Caution

One of the most common points that all experts made when asked about using AI for business pitches is that it helps them to get better insights of the audiences that they are targeting for the client, but one can depend on it only to an extent, atleast for now.

Shares Rahul Pahwa, Sr. VP and Business Head said (North), Grey Group, “Has AI been a gamechanger? I feel not yet. But it has enabled individuals to write quickly, and there are tools that help them to enhance their productivity and efficiency. For pitches, you have to know and be aware that everyone knows about these tools and so if you depend on AI to gain that edge, then it's a game of who knows the software better. Individuals use AI as a starting point, there are some advanced tools that can help you with scientific data in the strategy stage. So, at a strategy and research level, it helps to an extent.”

Venkky too shares the same concerns. “AI has been very useful in data interpretation. But for instance, if you are targeting a category, you are trying to look at the dynamics and if you are taking data from reports, it might be insufficient in front of the client because everyone might have the same reports. With AI tools you can get nuggets of deeper information and that’s how we use AI.”

Human intelligence is the real magic

Experts say that AI is just the starting point or the skeleton of the work, but the actual magic is still done by human intelligence and it is what makes a wholesome pitch and makes them win a business as well as forge a long-lasting relationship.

According to Venkky, AI is a sous-chef while human intelligence is still the main chef. “AI is a great sous-chef. It’s a great prep chef and humans have to be the main chef. The sou- chef does 80% of the work but it’s the 20% of a human touch that make the 80% impactful.”

“Right now, it is not a gamechanger to win businesses. Human intelligence is still the fundamental of winning pitches. AI can’t help you create something new because it is definitely human creativity that gives you the edge,” says Pahwa.

Adds Haque, “AI will change the way industry functions. Bulk generic content, like always-on content, will mostly be created by AI in times to come. Just like industrial machines replaced handicrafts in the past, AI will replace human basic skill set-led departments like content writers, graphic designers, etc. It will create a future of thinking-led creative agencies. It might make the agencies leaner. Agencies might offer better ROI to the clients. Be it existing or new business.”