Rob Keery, Our launch event on Tuesday brought together industry leaders, AI experts, and bold, independent thinkers to explore the complexities of AI adoption and unlock its transformative potential.
In the words of AIP CEO Sam Fenton-Elstone, ‘In times of uncertainty, the success that we have will run along a Jagged Edge.’ The event, taking place at a critical moment for AI uptake in UK industry, gave attendees the space to consider both micro and macro views of the current AI terrain - practical steps for upskilling teams today, and big-picture views to understand the risk and opportunity analysis.
Why Jagged Edge?
Sam opened the day reflecting on Jagged Edge’s AI journey so far, cutting to the heart of why Jagged Edge was born and why it’s crucial now. Sam highlighted AI as both the greatest opportunity and the biggest risk businesses face today. With finite time and infinite possibilities, success lies in making the right choices, and Jagged Edge exists to guide organisations in navigating this new frontier.
Sam shared the journey behind Jagged Edge, tracing AI expertise back to AIP’s first AI-driven solution in 2018. Since then, AI has powered growth across strategy, media, and creative. Now, with the rise of generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Jagged Edge helps organisations unlock productivity and innovation - while avoiding the pitfalls of poorly implemented AI that can degrade performance.
Sam warned that the ‘jagged technological frontier’ - a term coined in Harvard Business School’s seminal 2023 paper on AI’s business impact - is where AI excels and fails. Drawing parallels to medieval cartographers’ warnings of dragons at the edges of known maps, he emphasised that navigating this jagged edge takes expertise, experience, and courage. For organisations ready to explore, Jagged Edge offers the tools to turn risks into breakthroughs, drawing a new path to growth.
Practical AI initiatives
Then Jagged Edge Lead Consultant Alex Calder took the floor and explored the critical balance between AI potential and human expertise, focusing on how organisations can harness the ‘jagged edge’ to drive growth and innovation. Speaking initially through an AI avatar (in English and French!), Alex outlined a clear framework for using AI as a co-worker and thought partner to improve speed, volume, and quality in workflows. He emphasised that the key to success lies in optimising the Human:AI Ratio, blending human creativity with AI automation for maximum productivity without replacing human judgement.
Alex highlighted the risks of misusing AI - such as ethical concerns, data ownership issues, and the dangers of relying on unsustainable third-party tools. However, he also showcased real-world examples where AI integration led to transformative success, like Coca-Cola’s creative projects and Getty Image’s enhancement of their IP directory through imaginative AI interfaces and collaboration with TikTok.
Alex closed out his session by introducing Jagged Edge’s plans for AI training, consultancy, and tailored tech solutions, equipping teams to stay competitive and ready to shape the future.
Three provocations
Next up, Jennifer Shaw-Sweet from LinkedIn’s revolutionary thinktank the B2B Institute, delivered a session packed with fresh-from-the-server, data-driven insights on AI’s transformative role in marketing and business. Drawing from LinkedIn’s extensive repository of talent trends, buyer behaviors, and creative performance metrics, Jennifer offered three thought-provoking ideas that challenged conventional thinking and inspired the audience to rethink their approach to AI adoption.
Her provocations, intriguingly titled The Diderot Factor, Invisibly Sticky, and Flaming Tortoises, explored surprising ways AI is reshaping online behaviour, businesses connections, creativity and competitiveness. She delved into the psychological and behavioral shifts AI is driving, illustrating how business leaders can leverage these trends for lasting impact. Each concept was designed to reframe assumptions about AI’s potential - and its pitfalls - in both the workplace and the marketplace.
The macro view on AI uptake
Finally, our host, Anything is Possible’s Head of Client Partnerships Holly Lucas, introduced our keynote for the day, Rory Stewart OBE.
Sharing his famously independent and fearless perspective, based on his years of experience across politics, diplomacy, grand strategy, and now podcasting, as host of the UK’s biggest current affairs show The Rest is Politics, Rory’s session emphasised the importance of developing core capabilities in the AI space to overcome the UK’s productivity problem.
Taking in a high-level view of AI and how its disruptive power compares to previous waves of political and technological change, Rory’s session, entitled The Jagged Edge of Global Change, was truly universal in its scope, and gave the gathered attendees a deep understanding of the macroeconomic context in which today’s critical business decisions must be made.
Taking the AI advantage
Ultimately, all the crafted sessions from Tuesday’s launch pointed towards a single, simple truth.
The businesses that embrace AI to unlock innovation, productivity and creativity will define the next decade of growth. Making the step beyond the jagged edge of uncertainty isn’t a decision to leave til tomorrow. Acquiring the tools, expertise and support to do so successfully is a priority for business and marketing leaders everywhere.