by Tony Case * 6 August 2025 *
This article was originally published by Digiday’s sister publication
Ivy Liu. Work Life.
In an AI-integrated world, the creative industries are undergoing their most significant transformation in decades. The new Centre for Creative AI, which launched this fall through a partnership between University College London and The Brandtech Group, represents a paradigm change in how creative talent in the economy is developed.
For those who manage creative teams or are looking for talent in media, entertainment, fashion, and design, this initiative will provide valuable insight into the changing skill sets that organizations will require and how to cultivate them.
Mark Eaves is the founder of Brandtech agency Gravity Road, and a key architect for the Centre. He notes the rapid change in attitudes towards AI within organizations. “It is amazing how quickly AI has moved from a novelty to becoming a part of the creative impulse itself,” he says. AI is a different technology than previous disruptions such as mobile or social media that took years to reach the boardroom. Eaves calls it “a horizontal technology going across whole businesses,” with CEOs “already well aware of how it’s affecting everything from the supply chain to product design and marketing.”
That high-level awareness creates opportunity and urgency for leaders, with the organizations that treat AI merely as a productivity-boosting or cost-cutting tool at risk of falling behind those that see it more as a catalyst for reinventing how creative work gets done.
Creative industries have traditionally operated in silos, with specialists with a limited skill set passing the work between departments. AI is tearing down these barriers, and it’s happening fast. Eaves says, “A great creator is someone who can orchestrate different elements and make them sound great.”
This evolution requires a new type of talent recruitment that emphasizes candidates who can synthesize various elements intuitively, who work across broad creative disciplines, and who demonstrate what Eaves describes as “critical thinking, judgement and taste” – skills that become even more valuable when AI handles basic execution. The Centre’s support from companies such as Diageo and Unilever reflects the growing recognition that workforce change is essential. Esi Eggleston-Bracey, Unilever’s chief growth and Marketing Officer, describes it as “stepping in to a new era of advertising where AI isn’t only changing our tools but it’s reshaping the way we think about creativity.” The Centre’s AI integration model provides several lessons to HR leaders who are developing their own AI strategies.
Embracing a cross-functional approach. By bringing together technologists, business leaders and artists, the Centre intentionally facilitates cross-pollination. HR departments can take this as a model and facilitate similar cross pollination within their own organizations, breaking down silos. Prioritizing learning agility rather than specific skills. Instead of focusing on AI tools today, recruiters can opt to focus their attention on candidates who show adaptability, curiosity, and the ability synthesize complex data — meta-skills which will remain valuable as technology evolves.
Create structured experimentation opportunities. It will be a “playground” for serious exploration, but in a structured manner. HR leaders can create “safe spaces” where teams can experiment with AI tools, without the pressure to produce immediate commercial results.
Investing to develop critical thinking. Eaves points out that “skills in critical thinking and judgement are going to really be central components of success for the creative industries,” since these uniquely human abilities become more valuable as AI comes to handle routine tasks.
This Centre is more than a vehicle for workforce transformation. It’s also about maintaining a competitive advantage in the global creative economy. In the U.K. the creative industries are the fastest growing contributors to export markets. For HR leaders, the message is clear: organizations that successfully integrate AI into their creative process will reap the benefits.
Alex Mahon, the chair of The Centre and former CEO of Channel 4 in the U.K., emphasizes that Gen AI is a powerful frontier for creativity. But its true potential lies with how we choose it. And that choice begins with how organizations prepare employees.
It’s not a question of whether AI will transform the creative work. That’s already happening. The question is whether or not organizations will be able to lead the transformation already underway, or if they’ll be left behind.
