Data Informs, Creativity Delivers at 4A’s Decisions, MN

I recently had the chance to attend the 4A’s Decisions conference in Minneapolis, centered around the timely theme: “Data Informs, Creativity Delivers.” The energy was electric, the conversations were bold, and the insights—from both agency and tech leaders—felt urgent in today’s rapidly shifting landscape. Here’s what I walked away with:

Navigating the AI Age

AI wasn’t just a topic—it was the topic. Nearly every speaker spotlighted how AI is radically reshaping how we communicate, ideate, and operate. It pushed me to recognize how deeply we’ve already embedded AI into multiple areas of our business—from automating manual workflows to accelerating YouTube content strategy and informing smarter, data driven decisions with our GenAI contextual segments.

A standout example came from Broadhead, a Minneapolis-based agency that didn’t just talk about embracing AI—they built their own enterprise-grade platform, Butter. Their goal was not to replace creativity, but to relieve the pressure on it. They framed it perfectly: Creative ideas are the fragile “egg” in the agency workshop, often under pressure from deadlines, revisions, and admin overhead. Butter was designed to protect that egg—by taking care of the “non-magic” work like scopes, briefs, scheduling, and even creative versioning. 

Standing Out in a Crowded Market

With AI adoption rising and new indie agencies constantly entering the scene, the question on everyone’s mind was: What makes your agency different?

Here’s what resonated most:

• Upskill your teams—AI fluency needs to be everyone’s job
• Have honest conversations about tool costs—AI isn’t free magic. Clients need transparency. 
• Prioritize strategic thinking—The real value lies in human insight.
• Embrace AI, but maintain human intelligence at the core—It’s not about eliminating talent; it’s about evolving it.  

Becoming the Human in Human + AI

….Or as one speaker framed it: Evolving, not eliminating.

Perhaps the most powerful message of the day was this: now is the time—not just to evolve professionally, but personally. AI isn’t a trend. It’s a tipping point. And those who lean into the unfamiliar—the tools, the prompts, the uncomfortable learning curves—will be the ones who lead.

For media VPs and directors, this is a chance to rethink what value looks like, refine our tools, and redefine “great” in a world where creative and data must dance together. Joshua Lowcock, President Media at Quad said, “I think the best power of AI is to augment human intelligence, make us better and faster at everything we do, and solve for the procrastination problem…AI is a way of rapidly prototyping testing ideas and getting to the next step faster.”

At multiple agencies, teams are setting goals focused on uncovering new AI efficiencies, experimenting with different tools, and tracking individual upskilling efforts as part of performance reviews. Because staying ahead isn’t about chasing every shiny object—it’s about building a culture of experimentation, curiosity, and purposeful change.

This isn’t just about adopting new tech, it’s about building new mindsets. The ones that ask better questions. That navigate discomfort. That leads into the unknown with clarity and confidence. The future of our industry won’t be defined by tools—it’ll be defined by the people bold enough to use them wisely.