Meet the Technologists: Michael Dobell
Adobe Firefly is a proud supporter of LBB. Over the upcoming months, as part of the sponsorship of the Digital Craft content channel, we will be spending time with some of the most innovative and creative minds in the industry.
Today we’re speaking with Michael Dobell, chief innovation officer at Jam3, part of Media.Monks. Having been at the company for over 10 years, he’s worn many hats in that time - including being the company’s first EP. As such, he’s seen all sides of the business, and understands that achieving critical, cutting edge work requires elite talent, great culture, and systems that not only make it possible to deliver on the client process, but inevitable.
To this end, he’s really leaning into the rapidly evolving world of creative tech, embracing the new and building on top of the shoulders of those who came before him in order to deliver work more efficiently - all with greater performance.
LBB’s Josh Neufeldt chatted with Michael about all this and more, going over balancing internal versus external innovation, Media.Monks’ extensive suite of capabilities, and how he’s interacting with this new age of AI.
LBB> Presently, we’re seeing a flurry in the world of innovation practices and technological application. How would you define your relationship with this space, and what are the most exciting things to look at, in your eyes?
Michael> First off, it's an incredibly interesting time, both in experience design - something that I've been a part of for a very long time - but also for the enterprise generally. For two decades, we've been pushing the limits of whatever technology is happening but I can't really recall a time when things seemed to move quite so fast and with such large steps of progress. When I compare the innovations of the mid-noughties (things like transparency layers in Flash) and the innovations of today (large language models and ControlNet), it really shows you the growth curves we’ve made. We are building on top of the shoulders of those that have come before us. The trick to getting it right is carving out the smartest opportunities for both clients and teams to deliver incredible work more efficiently, and with greater performance.
LBB> You’ve held the role of chief innovation officer for two-and-a-half years now! How have things shifted in this time, and presently, what are your aims and ambitions within the realm of innovation?
Michael> Right now I'm absolutely obsessed by the possibilities of persistent brand pipelines. I believe that the future of the agency will be judged by our ability to guide this change, adjust our billing models, adopt the latest technology and implement it for customers, both efficiently and scalably. The cost to compute is not small and we need to be able to help our clients navigate that and really capture the value promised.
LBB> To this end, what does your day-to-day look like? How do you turn questions into digital solutions?
Michael> The first step is always to ask more questions. Often, the first thing asked of an agency is a small factor in a much bigger puzzle. I take a lot of notes from our enterprise consulting team. We view the changes happening, particularly around GenAI, as a new phase in an ongoing process of digital transformation. The methods and frameworks for analysing big problems like ‘how to create an AI-first marketing organisation’ are best answered by people with know-how, (e.g. great frameworks and proven methodologies), but also by people who have hands-on experience with the tools in question. An important principle of designing great experiences and service design generally is to include the people who will use the tool in the designing of the tool itself.
LBB> Speaking of AI, it’s obviously a major talking point across the innovation sphere. What are your thoughts on it, and how you are interacting with it?
Michael> AI is a huge part of the conversation today. It is also a huge part of the work that we are doing with clients and partners. For the most part, our work falls into three broad categories: AI for efficiency, AI for novel experiences, and AI for business intelligence. To help our clients navigate these changes and ultimately to help them implement persistent brand pipelines powered by AI, we start with work sessions involving our enterprise consulting team paired with creative technologists and production experts who have been creating content at scale for years.
LBB> Building on this, what are your thoughts on its potential implications for creativity and innovation in advertising?
Michael> It's impossible to imagine that a brand will keep separate its creative, data and media teams in the future. It's incredibly exciting to help organisations go AI-first, but that will mean job losses, especially in commoditised roles. However, as AI, automation and computers uncap the volumes of content we generate, it's my belief that there will be net job gains across the industry. Right now, this growth is coming as we build and implement new experiences and pipelines, and next, it will grow as we operate and improve (those far more productive) experiences and pipelines on an ongoing basis.
LBB> Previously, you’ve worn several hats at Jam3, including being its first EP. Tell us about your time there throughout the past 10 years!
Michael> It feels like I've worked at 10 companies over the past 10 years. At each phase, we had different challenges to tackle but some things have remained absolutely consistent throughout. It takes a strong focus on people, process and performance to build a great company. It's a kind of art to build a strong culture that adapts to change, and in healthy ways. Change is hard for people, so that last bit often requires the most time and attention. Culture will devour the best laid business strategies, so it’s important to lay healthy cultural norms down. From the outset at Jam3 to the launch of our Experience.Monks capability - which officially brings together great thinkers and makers from Jam3 and Media.Monks together under a single roof - I'm grateful to the mentorship we've received from other digital agency leaders over the past years. It really is a generous community and we couldn’t have accomplished what we have without a lot of help and guidance.
LBB> And how do you balance internal innovation versus external? Is one particularly important or exciting to your position at this time?
Michael> On the Innovation team, we've assigned leaders who take on each of these responsibilities as clear swim lanes. We do this to give people accountability, ensure they move quickly, and prevent squishiness. I'm focused on client gains, so I'm especially excited about the work we're doing there. That said, the stuff I’m seeing with our Innovation Labs team and internal AI adoption teams is very, very cool!
To further internal adoption and train teams, we launched our AI Ambassador programme in January, selecting AI evangelists to identify the most impactful use cases for AI within their departments and to train their teams accordingly. In April, our automation team rolled out MonkGPT to our entire staff, which builds upon the ChatGPT API and is fine-tuned for our people and trained on Media.Monks prompts and chats in a closed environment. We've been vocal about decoupling headcount and hours from output to define commercial models beyond T&M, introducing efficiency ratios in our reporting: rAItio.
Honestly, we've been talking about the promise of AI since 2017. Client use cases date as far back as 2020, including this one in partnership with Spotify to turn The Weeknd into a deepfake avatar. More recent collaborations include GenAI assets at scale workflows with BMW, HP, Philips (all running on the cloud with NVIDIA).
LBB> As part of your job, you work across Media.Monks’ extensive suite of capabilities. What does this look like, and how do you collaborate to output the best results, both for clients and Media.Monks?
Michael> Media.Monks is an incredible community of contributors. We talk about having an API and that mostly means ‘Assumption Positive Intent’. It’s an attitude and culture that binds us. We have great tools to tie together all the amazing talent in practical ways as well. My job - a lot of the time - includes curating the right talent to apply to a particular client's problem. That takes a lot of investment in getting to know people; their interests, both professional and personal. If you can nail the casting and provide consistent ways of working and regular coaching, the work almost takes care of itself.
LBB> When the landscape is changing quickly, how do you focus your energy on certain areas of innovation? When there’s still a lot up in the air, how do you know when you can really commit to something?
Michael> Really, it’s about a commitment to get off the couch… And pursuing the only two paths to learning: learning by doing, and learning by researching. Every organisation needs to do both of these things in order to navigate change effectively.
LBB> What do you find is the most useful resource or area of knowledge to draw upon in your work? And how do you stay on top of the fast-moving world of creative tech?
Michael> The most useful resource, of course, is my peers. I tap into the hive mind of Media.Monks daily, and also into the great community of other leaders in agency tech and arts on a daily basis.
I also read voraciously; not just the trade publications, but also outside the industry. I particularly devour science fiction and The Economist. These last two have been the most consistent predictors of emerging trends, behaviour, and technology.
LBB> Finally, what do you nerd out on when you’re not thinking about work?
Michael> The future of electric vehicles, green energy, amateur radio and electronics, generally. I happen to live in one of the most amazing mountain communities in the world, so I spend a lot of time outdoors - mountain biking, kiting and trail running in the summer, splitboarding in the winter - and raising a thoughtful and compassionate teenager. I also get a lot of pleasure volunteering both in my local community and on industry boards.
