[Creative State] Jörg Riommi: Our egos have been pet. We can do anything. But we are more separated than connected, isolated, lonely - and therefore exposed, manageable and moldable. Easier to control

To be or not to be. People working in the creative industry are facing an existential dilemma, believes Jörg Riommi, Founder CEO & Chief Creative Officer at AIN’T. And if you choose to be, how? In this period of transition, when excitement and fear, ambitions and risks are chaotically intertwined, it is important not to sacrifice thinking and control on the altar of efficiency and speed.

"Change is the only constant in life. It’s handy to have some solid overall ethic principles and general outlooks on human behaviour, to keep your compass", says Jörg Riommi.

On the other hand, you can’t take an old model that no longer works and force it to adapt to a completely different world. We continue our conversation with Jörg about Stoics and AI, dinosaurs and survival, and how to stay in control in a world increasingly shaped by algorithms.

The biggest dilemmas in advertising in 2026

I think the biggest dilemmas facing someone working in advertising in 2026 are related to the epochal changes in technology that impact the industry.

Quite frankly for many professionals and structures is an existential dilemma: to be or not to be. And if to be, how?

I mean: how can I keep what makes adverting truly effective and human in a world of algorythms and machines?

The changes over the past few years

As I just mentioned, the changes are epochal: we are transitioning to a new age of humanity, some sort of new industrial revolution but this time deeper as it can affect humanity profoundly, especially if we chose in the end to fully delegate thinking and control, on the altar of efficiency and speed. Faster doesn’t mean necessarily better.

So I would describe this period as fantastic and full of amazing potential on one side, and scaring and possibly very harmful on the other. And right now we are in that magmatic, chaotic in-between state.

The change that had the strongest impact on the industry 

Obviously digitalisation and more recently the transition to AI. It swept away the old ways in a blink.

But beyond that, I think an even more powerful force is fragmentation and atomisation - personalisation at scale, someone would say.

Our egos have been pet. We can do anything. But we are more separated than connected, isolated, lonely - and therefore exposed, manageable and moldable. Easier to control.

Do you have a survival kit?

No, it was sold out on Amazon… 😊

Change is the only constant in life. It’s handy to have some solid overall ethic principles and general outlooks on human behaviour, to keep your compass.

I believe in the basics of human nature and what people care and react to. Basic emotions. I think the stoics got many things right a long time ago, and few of the conclusions they go to are still always very actual.

The moment you realized AI was going to change the way we live and work

In the very first moment I used Chat GPT image generation features, some 5 or so years ago. Mind blowing. 

Your unpopular opinion about AI

That you have to use it in a way that you are not used by it. That’s what we think and do at AIN’T.

I don’t think it’s unpopular in the regards of the way people react when they hear this line - because most people actually click with the line and think it’s quite smart and catchy, and makes sense.

I think it’s unpopular in the sense that most people don’t do that - they use AI without critical thinking, just to sort out the chaos faster, delegating too much.

How have you integrated AI into your work

AI is an amazing tool, but also a leveller - risking flattening up a bit of everything, simplifying too much, making all things a bit more similar, and a little more seen. The risk is mediocrity. We do integrate AI in our daily work at AIN’T, sure. But we AI-N’T, in the sense that for us the clear priority stays critical thinking and creative “digestion".

By default AI can’t be original, and that’s what we care about: not standard solutions, but solutions that make the difference. What we call Ideas With Thunder - ideas that impact and resonate, and that bring with themselves a flair and a taste that machines can’t and won’t achieve.

How much can AI really do

AI can do incredible things. We use it a lot. But taste and sensibility, nuances in tone of voice and having an own style - these are big limits for AI. 

The AI influence so far

It turned everything upside down.

When you can do more for less, you need a really strong reason not to go that way.

But I’m convinced that in a few months or years, when out there there will be a lot of flat, similar, mediocre stuff all same looking and talking,

Everyone will realise that to make a difference you need else. It’s a great place to be for AIN’T.

How are the priorities in your work being redefined 

Well, our model and positioning are born for this new era 😊 so we are not trying to redefine an old model that doesn’t work anymore and try to make it work to a totally different world. Like dinosaurs in the post-meteorite world of mammals - they are mutually incompatible.

When I founded AIN’T, I thought it and structured it AS the answer to the mega-shifts in the market.

I saw for many years what wasn’t working anymore, the costs, ways, layers, processes and huge people numbers that don’t justify themselves anymore, etc.

As a lean, agile, flexible, global strategic&creative boutique shop focused on using AI in a way to not be used by it, 

AIN’T is perfectly positioned to serve different sizes of clients and projects everywhere, in this new era. 

Which skills have become more valuable in the industry 

Thinking. Filtering. Curating.

Taste. Style.

Cutting through the noise.

The most widespread myth about working in the communications 

That everyone can do it. Not true. 

How do you see the industry ten years from now

Totally polarised and basically split between 1 or max 2 huge megaconglomerates doing humongous, cold, mainly mediocre large scale work based on tech,

And lots of smaller but hot shops doing crafted warm work for real people.

What will be completely unrecognizable

Clients like NIKE, that chose to forget what they stand for and that they sell to real people.