According to forecasts, artificial intelligence (AI) will replace core services at the communications agency K16 within just two years. Keen to find a response to the business opportunities and risks posed by AI, K16 worked with iteratec to develop a prototype in just 5 days that will transform its business from the ground up.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) generates text and images in a matter of seconds, thereby radically transforming the creative industries. Alongside the cultural sector, companies in the communications and marketing industries are particularly affected. These include K16, Europe’s largest presentation agency with 80 employees. Their question was: “How do we position our company for the future and what services will we offer when AI takes over large parts of our current work?”
With this question in mind, K16 turned to iteratec to explore the possibilities of AI in their sector and to understand how they could transform their business model through the use of AI. A five-day Google Venture Sprint was designed to provide the necessary strategic clarity.
After a week, the interdisciplinary team comprising experts from K16 and iteratec had developed a prototype that will trigger the biggest transformation in K16’s corporate history.
Oktay Tannert-Yaldiz, Managing Director & Co-Owner of K16, describes the prototype as follows: “Essentially, what we do today is develop our clients’ stories and turn them into presentations. This ranges from corporate to product presentations. This will remain our core business in future, but on a much broader scale via a platform linked to various AI functions, through which our clients can develop their entire brand communication. Through this platform, our expertise, unlimited creative potential and real-time data – for example, on customer target groups – come together to generate materials and stories that are of higher quality, more cost-effective and quicker to produce. And all of this is curated by humans.” The upstream and downstream processes, from quotation preparation to invoicing, are also set to be supplemented by AI.
Overall, this represents a massive shift in the nature of the services K16 provides, as well as in the roles and responsibilities of its staff. With AI, long-held assumptions are being swept away. K16 is no longer competing with other creative agencies, but with tools that are evolving at breakneck speed. It is not enough to simply enhance or replace individual processes with AI, for example to boost creativity and efficiency in specific areas. No, the entire value chain must be permeated by AI. The aim is to become an AI-first agency that perfectly combines technology and creative excellence.
iteratec’s methodology and technical expertise have led us to rethink our entire business model. We have realised that, going forward, we must pursue an AI-first business model, and with iteratec we have the right experts at our side to help us bring about this transformation. If we implement this, we will be at the forefront of the market.
It is precisely during periods of technological uncertainty that sustainable business decisions must be made – all the more so when they concern the very core of one’s own business model.
The Google Venture Sprint methodology enables exactly that. In 5 days – a very short space of time – participants delve deeply into a challenge, seek expert opinions and develop a range of potential solutions, which they then test with customers at the end of the sprint.
This was also the case in this sprint and demonstrated that the thinking behind the prototype is built on very solid foundations: out of seven customers, six wanted to try out the new concept straight away. It is precisely this early feedback that ensures, by the end of the week, workable solutions are developed that have a long-term impact.
Another key to the sprint’s success was that all perspectives across the entire value chain were involved. Furthermore, the nature of a sprint is always characterised by close collaboration – in this case between creative and strategy teams, as well as our technologists. This diversity, the technological expertise and the immediate customer feedback were crucial to success.
The transformation has been set in motion, but K16 now faces the challenge of implementing it, keeping pace with the rapid development of AI and adapting its business processes accordingly. iteratec will continue to support K16 on this journey.
“We are now ready to tackle the biggest changes in the history of our industry. Our transformation is essential to remain competitive in the future and to consolidate our position as Europe’s leading presentation agency,” concluded Tannert-Yaldiz.
For over 30 years, K16 has been in pursuit of that certain something that makes B2B presentations fresh, different and better. K16 is Europe’s largest presentation agency. Founded in 1989 as a specialist presentation agency, the agency now supports over 260 clients of all sizes and from every sector in professional B2B and corporate communications. With pitch and corporate presentations, management presentations, master slides, film, event design and much more. Creative excellence is delivered by 80 experts across three disciplines: K16 stories, K16 slides, K16 templates. K16 creates captivating storylines, compelling presentations and engaging templates.
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