AI in Action: How Brands and Creatives Are Turning Potential Into Practice 

AI is everywhere in the headlines, but what happens when you cut through the buzzwords and get into the real stories of how it’s changing the way brands work?  

At the Brand Innovators Summit hosted by Havas New York, our Global EVP Camila Nakagawa took the stage alongside Scott Decker, North America Media Planning & Strategy Lead at HP, in a panel led by Nico Greco of Channel Factory. Together, they discussed the topic “AI in Action: Real-World Use Cases Driving Marketing Efficiency & Effectiveness” – a conversation about how AI is no longer a future promise, but a practical, everyday force that’s reshaping creativity, production, and impact. 

From efficiency to sophistication 

AI is often framed as a tool for speed. From Camila’s perspective, its real value lies in transformation. “Yes, it brings efficiencies,” she explained, “but more importantly, it’s allowing us to sophisticate the production work. It’s not always about producing more. It’s about producing better.” 

Where teams once worked from static media plans and produced assets in bulk, AI is now enabling audience-driven, personalized content at scale. “We always knew personalization worked,” Camila noted. “But there was only so much you could do manually”.

“Now, AI lets us move at the speed of culture – and deliver more relevant work without compromising craft.” 

Creativity meets data in real time 

Scott underscored how AI has reshaped HP’s media and creative process. “We used to wait weeks for post-campaign analysis. Now, we can optimize in-flight,” he said. “It saves time, saves money, and gives creative teams better insights to work with.” 

By marrying data with creativity, HP can now see why something works – not just whether it did. “I’m not a creative person by trade,” Scott pointed, “but AI gives me the tools to have meaningful conversations with our creative partners”. He also touched on how taking AI is supporting on optimization.

“It’s all about minimizing waste for us in a world where we’re constantly chasing efficiency. The data is doing things in a minute that we couldn’t do in weeks or months”.

The three challenges of AI  

Camila pointed out that the path to AI integration hasn’t been without obstacles. “When we first started implementing AI tools, we ran into three major challenges,” she shared. 

The first was legal and compliance – making sure that every asset produced was rights-cleared, ethically sourced, and safe for clients to use across markets.  

The second was democratization – moving beyond the idea that AI should sit with a handful of specialists and instead empowering every team member to use it. And the third was control over the output – ensuring that AI-generated work was accurate, high-quality, and strong enough to hold up in demanding formats like cinema, outdoor, or broadcast. 

Rather than seeing these barriers as reasons to slow down, POP saw them as a blueprint for innovation. The answer was Vermeer.ai, our proprietary GenAI workflow launched in Cannes this year. “Vermeer consolidates the best AI tools into one platform,” Camila explained. “It ensures legal compliance, gives us control over the output, and makes AI accessible to every person in our studios worldwide.” In short, Vermeer was built to transform challenges into strengths – bringing reliability, accountability, and creativity together in one solution. 

For Scott, everybody has an ownership stake in this – and brand safety has become a huge concern. “I think we’re actually spending more time analyzing brand safety today in 2025 than we were maybe at any point in the last two to three years because you just have to be so careful”, he adds. “There are many great AI tools out there, but the way that we think we’re going to win is injecting HP’s brand identity into it”. 

AI as creative empowerment 

For Camila, AI’s role in creativity goes beyond efficiency. It’s about freedom.

“AI is empowering creativity. It gives us the ability to explore worlds at speed and at cost. When we talk about creativity, we should control that and use that to empower everything that we can do. That’s creative empowerment.”  

And while issues of craft and quality still demand attention, Camila emphasized that the potential is undeniable. “AI is not replacing creativity – it’s giving us the power to push it further than ever before.” 

The future belongs to the bold 

As the panel wound down, the mood was one of cautious optimism. “No one has AI experience,” Nico reminded the room. “The key is to be willing to experiment, to fail small, and to learn fast.” 

Scott echoed that sentiment. “Start with clear goals, prove quick wins, and build trust. Don’t promise to revolutionize your media plans overnight. Show how AI can deliver real, measurable impact.” 

For Camila, the bigger picture was clear. “It’s a journey for everyone. Be comfortable making mistakes. Be comfortable with that discomfort of doing something that is good now and then move forward and see what’s next”.

“And innovate, don’t be afraid of innovating and finding different solutions.” 

The takeaway 

AI is no longer a future promise. It’s already here – shaping how we produce, measure, and create. For those willing to take the leap, it’s not just a tool for efficiency but a partner in building work that’s more relevant, more sustainable, and more impactful. 

If you’d like to see how POP can help you reach your production goals faster, smarter, and more creatively with AI, get in touch with us.