As a sector, market research has been experimenting with machine learning and predictive algorithms earlier than many other parts of the marketing services industry; the same is true of AI. Research group STRAT7 has been building expertise in AI well ahead of ChatGPT and generative AI becoming mainstream.

This AI themed episode of Waypointers sees STRAT7 leaders Barrie Brien and Paul Jackson in conversation with Waypoint’s tech editor Martin Ward explaining their approach to harnessing AI for competitive advantage.

They talk about investing in and creating what is effectively an AI centre of excellence at the heart of STRAT7 that can be accessed through every agency in the business. This working group of consultants, data scientists, engineers, modellers and other specialists collaborates to build the best possible products and services to drive value for clients.

Some of the agencies Waypoint has spoken to as part of the Waypointers AI series have encouraged their staff to experiment with public tools such as ChatGPT. STRAT7 has taken a very different approach and has built its own AI tool, strat7GPT.  Paul and Barrie talk about the balance they struck between speeding up strategic delivery to STRAT7 clients while ensuring this is always done within a secure environment that supports confidentiality agreements and allows the agency to maintain control of client data to remove any risk of it leaking into the public domain.

To hear more about the strategic decision making involved in building AI into the heart of a business and how to bring people and clients along the way, click below to tune into this fascinating episode of Waypointers.

Waypointers Episode 29: STRAT7 – An agency at the forefront of AI – in conversation with Barrie Brien Group CEO and Paul Jackson, Managing Director of STRAT7 Bonamy Finch, and Founding Partner of STRAT7

Published 22nd February 2024