Our Journey Integrating AI Company-Wide in Traditional Digital Marketing
Unfortunately, as a digital agency that had built its reputation on the personal touch—creative content, bespoke website development, and carefully crafted video productions—the suggestion that artificial intelligence might enhance our work was met with significant resistance from some departments.
This is how we transformed from AI sceptics to enthusiasts, department by department, and the unexpected ways this technology has enhanced rather than diminished the quality of our work.
The Initial Resistance: Department by Department
When we first proposed integrating AI tools across our agency, the response varied dramatically between teams. About 25% of our staff were excited – primarily those who had already been experimenting with AI tools in their personal time. The remaining 75% ranged from sceptical to totally resistant.
Business Development
Our business development team was among the first to embrace AI technologies. Always looking for ways to impress potential clients and streamline the onboarding process, they saw immediate potential in using AI tools during client discovery calls. We built out some simple web pages and integrated chat GPT into these, so it pulled up company data live on the call and ran mini-reports that analysed keywords and digital brands. All of this greatly impressed every customer, and our conversion rates have improved close to 15% since the implementation.
Content Department
Our content team was perhaps the most divided. Professional writers who studied the Art of English in university viewed AI writing tools as both a threat to their craft and an ethical dilemma.
The concerns were legitimate: quality control, originality, and maintaining our distinctive voice. Many feared that AI would homogenise our content, stripping away the creativity and insights that set us apart from competitors.
Each writer had developed their own writing style and unique understanding of our clients. They could not see how AI could replicate or replace this. Indeed the early versions could not, they were awful!
Web Development
What shocked us was that our web development team showed even stronger resistance, with approximately 75% initially against implementing AI tools. This wasn’t what we expected from the most technically-minded department.
Their concerns revolved around quality, control, and poor code. Beyond the technical concerns, professional pride was at stake. Many developers viewed their work as a craft that required human insight and experience—something they didn’t believe could be replicated by AI. It transpired that most of the team had not taken more than a few hours to play with AI – hence, they had never really tried or tested its capabilities.
Video Production
Our video production team expressed concerns about AI stealing the creative aspects of their work. They worried about generic videos and losing the distinctive style that had become their signature in video content.
The Three-Month Test
Rather than forcing a company-wide rollout, we proposed a three-month test period. The agreement was simple: Each department would integrate specific AI tools into their workflow for non-client projects first, then gradually implement them in client work with proper oversight.
We established metrics to evaluate success: time saved, quality improvements, team satisfaction, and client feedback. We emphasised that AI would enhance our work, not replace our team.
Content Team’s Transformation with ChatGPT
For our content team, ChatGPT was the natural place to start. We started with simple tasks – using it for research summaries, generating outline alternatives, and overcoming writer’s block.
The turning point came when one of our most sceptical copywriters used ChatGPT to help brainstorm angles for a particularly challenging brief. As the test period progressed, we established clear workflows around AI usage:
- Using AI for initial research and summarising complex topics
- Generating multiple headline options for testing
- Creating first-draft outlines that writers would then refine
- Checking content for readability and suggesting improvements
By the end of the three months, ChatGPT had become our content team’s number one tool. Even the initial sceptics acknowledged its value. They all confirmed that they would not like to go back to a pre-Chat GPT era.
Web Development: The Claude AI Coding
Our web development team’s journey with AI began with small, low-risk implementations. We introduced Claude AI as our primary tool, focusing initially on:
- Generating code comments and documentation
- Debugging code sections
- Creating basic CSS for standard components
- Suggesting performance optimisations
The watershed moment came during a client call when one of our developers demonstrated how quickly Claude could help troubleshoot a particularly stubborn JavaScript issue.
This real-time demonstration shifted the team’s view of AI. They began to see the tools not as a replacement for their work but as a powerful assistant that helped with the routine aspects of coding, allowing them to focus on problem-solving.
By the end of the trial, developers who had been the most vocal sceptics were now regularly using Claude to streamline their workflow. “
Video Production: From Sceptics to Enthusiasts
Perhaps the most surprising transformation occurred in our video production team. Once they began experimenting with AI tools for enhancing audio tracks, generating background elements, and improving video quality, they quickly became the department most enthusiastic about AI integration.
They discovered that AI could handle many time-consuming tasks:
- Cleaning up audio tracks and removing background noise
- Generating custom background music that matched the mood of the content
- Creating simple motion graphics based on brand guidelines
- Automating basic colour correction
The team particularly embraced using AI to enhance video quality, upscale footage, and generate supplementary visual elements. For a recent project, they used AI to create realistic background extensions that would have been prohibitively expensive to shoot on location.
Business Development: The Smart Onboarding Innovation
While some departments needed convincing, our business development team quickly recognised AI’s potential to transform client interactions. They worked with our technical team to build a smart onboarding system that revolutionised discovery calls.
The system uses ChatGPT to search the web in real time during client calls, providing our team with:
- Comprehensive company summaries and background information
- Analysis of the client’s existing content and digital presence
- Keyword performance insights and competitive positioning
Our new onboarding system became a powerful selling point, showcasing our agency’s innovation and ability to leverage AI for real business results. After each call, we would send a PDF of the report – again, differentiating us from the competition.
The Unexpected Benefits
As we moved through our three-month trial, several additional benefits emerged:
1. Enhanced Creativity, Not Diminished
Teams reported feeling more creative because they could experiment with multiple approaches in the time it previously took to create just one.
2. Impressive Client Interactions
Our business development team’s smart onboarding system transformed initial client meetings. Clients are consistently impressed by the insights we can provide in real time, setting the stage for highly engaged follow-up calls with the aim to close the sale.
3. Professional Development Shift
Rather than making skills obsolete, AI integration has shifted our professional development focus. Team members began developing expertise in prompt engineering, AI workflows, and quality control – valuable skills that help differentiate our agency in the market.
Lessons Learned: A Balanced Approach
Our journey through full AI integration was not without a few challenges. We learned several key lessons that might benefit other agencies on similar paths:
1. Start with Low-Risk Applications
Beginning with internal projects, we allowed the teams to experiment without pressure, building confidence in the technology.
2. Establish Clear Guidelines
We developed company-wide guidelines and an AI policy covering quality control processes, approved tools, ethical considerations, and client disclosure policies.
3. Focus on Augmentation
The narrative that resonated most with our teams was that AI augmented their expertise rather than replaced it. The tools handle routine work, freeing them to apply their creativity and strategic thinking.
Looking Forward: The Agency-AI Partnership
Today, our agency approaches AI very differently than it did at the start of 2024. We see it as an essential part of our toolkit—one that enhances rather than diminishes the core elements of our work.
ChatGPT remains our content team’s daily companion. Claude AI has transformed our web development workflow, and our video production team continues to discover new ways AI can enhance their creative output.
“What surprised me most wasn’t just how quickly our team adopted AI tools after the initial resistance – it was how rapidly this transformed our entire business model,” says Ciaran Connolly, Director of ProfileTree. “Within months, our internal expertise evolved into a new service offering, and we have now trained over 400 clients on AI tools and implementation. These AI tools have created new growth opportunities and positioned us as leaders in AI integration for businesses across Northern Ireland and beyond.”
For agencies still deciding about AI adoption, our advice is simple: start small, measure the results, and let your team discover the benefits at their own pace. Resistance is natural, but so is the eventual recognition of how these tools can enhance rather than diminish the work we’re proud to create.
