“The part of growth that we don’t talk about enough is the things that got you to wherever you are today … are not going to be what gets you to the next threshold of growth,” Jeremy Heilpern, founder and CEO of Ammunition, said on a panel at ADWEEK House: Advertising HQ on Monday.
Gogi Gupta, the founder of Gupta Media, and Emily Garvey, head of strategy at Zulu Alpha Kilo NY, also shared their agencies’ growth journeys, opening up about what it takes to break through as an independent.
Gupta said he quickly learned that in expanding his team from 60 to 100 people, he had to also bolster the company’s infrastructure, including human resources and technology.
Garvey said Zulu Alpha Kilo thinks about growth as not just expanding the team, but looking at each hire as an “exponential value add.”
In a job market where AI is disrupting employment opportunities, the trio pushed back on the notion that CEOs are eliminating entry-level and mid-level positions.
Despite the industry’s obsession with tech and AI, people are still the greatest growth drivers at agencies, Garvey argued.
“[AI] can’t replace good judgment. So you have to give younger talent the opportunity to hone their judgment and to see judgment in practice,” she said.
At Gupta Media, to curb what he termed “cognitive surrender,” Gupta said new hires have limited access to AI tools for the first six months. Meanwhile Heilpern explained Ammunition has an AI innovation unit that evaluates tools used within the agency. He’s also had discussions about sanctioning new hires from using AI for the first few years.
“You need to be able to know when AI is lying to you,” Heilpern said.
