On the TechTO stage ×1
How Will the Future of AI Play Out? From the Perspective of Advertisers
Watch on YouTube ↗First seen on the TechTO stage in 2024. Every talk is searchable — ask the archive about Tom ↗
In their words
will generative AI replace human creativity? What do we think? We think the answer is yes and no.
most of the work that we produce in our industry is banner ads and there's nothing inherently wrong with banner ads at all
AI is actually exceptional at reliably and efficiently making versions of things
More from TechTO ×1
Quick answers
Who is Tom Kenny?
Partner and global chief strategy officer at Courage, an independent Toronto agency. He joined in August 2022 as the agency's first executive-level hire, arriving from Ogilvy where he was national chief strategy officer, and is one of Canada's top-ranked strategists.
What did he say on the TechTO stage?
Presenting with co-founder Dhaval Bhatt in July 2024, he rebuilt a famous Volkswagen 'Lemon' ad in ChatGPT in about 20 minutes — recolouring, adding an Ontario price, translating it, reformatting it for Instagram — to show that AI is very good at versioning and much weaker at the original idea.
Was he a co-founder of Courage?
No. Courage launched in May 2022 with partners Dhaval Bhatt and Joel Holtby as chief creative officers and Niki Sahni as president. Kenny joined three months later as partner and chief strategy officer.