This week on IS THIS AI?, we’re talking creativity, why 90% of everything is cr*p, and whether AI is here to help or to quietly remove you from your studio.

We’re joined by Derek & Norts (The Peeps) who have been experimenting with machine learning and creativity since before AI tools got slick (and same-y).

This conversation gets into the uncomfortable, strategic, and sometimes joyful reality of creative work alongside AI: where it’s useful, where it isn’t, and what still makes human creativity distinct.

Tune in for -

1. A more grounded take on the “AI is coming for your job” narrative.

We talk honestly about where the pressure on creative roles is really coming from (hint: not the models), and what agency leaders need to plan for.

2. Where to start with AI and how to avoid the slop

Practical ways to keep your work distinctive when the tools flatten taste and style. This is about creative judgement and filters—not prompts.

3. Where the real creative opportunity sits now.

Why the interesting future is small, strange, hands-on, and niche. And why you should be looking for the things AI enables that were impossible before.

Book tickets to the BIMA AI Roundtable with Be Kaler Pilgrim on AI & recruitment – 19 Nov, 10am UK: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bima-ai-peer-network-roundtable-tickets-1870338014349

This week, Olly and Lisa sit down with Be Kaler Pilgrim, a design and tech recruitment leader who has spent more than two decades helping creatives find their place in changing organisations.

We get honest about where the jobs have gone, how to get seen when robots are the first reader of your CV, and what soft skills genuinely look like in an AI workplace. As always, it's personal, practical and grounded in what is actually happening right now.

Why listen?

1. Understand the real story behind the vanishing creative roles.
2. Learn how to get past automated gatekeepers.
3. Make peace with soft skills being hard to show, and find your way.

Some things we took from our conversation with Be Kaler Pilgrim

• Most companies don't actually know what “AI skills” are yet. Curiosity and fluency can help us stand out. Ditch the empty claims.

• Hiring is slower, more stubborn and more competitive. We have to be resilient and ready to compete.

• Communities matter more than ever. Let's not struggle alone.

• Robots can filter keywords, but they cannot judge fit or values. Humans still hire humans, which is a relief to us.

Tune in

Whether you are hiring or you are trying to build a creative career in the UK, and want help to make sense of the changing rules.

Find us

Be Kaler Pilgrim: https://www.smithfieldsearch.com/#who

Olly Veysey: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oliverveysey/

Lisa Talia Moretti: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisataliamoretti/

This week, our guest Nathan Roach introduces a framework to identify the gaps and understand AI's role across all marketing skills and levels. Developing from the T-shaped marketer framework, this discussion touches on the importance of focusing on tasks, the risks of becoming caterpillars, and how the skills we already have are still our most valuable assets. Which is a relief for most of us.

Tune in for:

1. An explanation of how we can level up the T-shaped marketing framework.

2. Why we need to think about the relationship between tasks and skills, and also continue to protect and build on the fundamentals.

3. The dangers of "unearned knowledge" and why we should be cautious not to lose specialist expertise.

As ever, we get practical, personal and interested in how we move forward with AI by our side.

Co-hosts Olly Veysey & Lisa Talia Moretti are joined by Marketing Director, Nathan Roach and Director of AI Strategy, Prateek Jain.

Links:

Leveling up the T-shaped Marketing Framework, Nathan S. Roach.

AI, Talent & Trust: A Landmark Report on the Future of Marketing Leadership, ADMA

Beyond Skills: Reengineering work, Reejig CEO Siobhan Savage

The hunt is on the Renaissance Man of computing, King's College Professor Emeritus, David Guest