Why In-House might have a slight advantage in the AI race

Why In-House might have a slight advantage in the AI race

In this episode of The In-House Club, Kasper sits down with Dave Laing, former head of Scotiabank’s in-house agency Lighthouse. Dave helped grow Lighthouse from a mixed group of ~30 creatives to a nearly 100-person in-house agency inside a 90,000-employee bank – with design, motion, production, ops and AI all under one roof. This conversation isn’t about “AI will replace us”. It’s about how AI changes who we need in-house and what those people actually do. We talk about: * The end of classic roles? Why Dave thinks the copywriter and art director labels are on the way out – and why schools should start training generalist creative directors from day one: people who can think, write, visualise and curate AI output. * The rise of the campaign designer A new kind of in-house role that takes the core idea and designs how it lives across all channels and formats – from out-of-home to six-second bumpers – before it goes into pure production. * AI as creative amplifier, not magic wand Mockups, versions, localisations and “things we never had budget for before” vs. the danger of calling platform-optimised Franken-ads “the best creative”. * Internal vs. external AI How agencies currently have more freedom with tools – and why in-house might win long-term with secure, brand-trained agents that actually know the business, the tone and the ecosystem. * Fixing briefs instead of complaining about them Using AI for debriefing, better intake and structured briefing – and why you still need strategists and planners to put human insight, timing and cultural nuance into the system. * Tone-of-voice models and brand AI How small companies and big brands can use custom GPTs and ToV tools so non-copywriters can still write on-brand decks, emails and product pages. * Sea of sameness vs. human fingerprints Why brands risk all looking the same if nobody owns story, taste and culture – and why imperfections, tactile work and real-world experiences might become the new luxury. If you’re leading or working in an in-house team and trying to work out how AI reshapes your org, your roles and your value, this episode will give you a vocabulary – and a few warnings. Guest Dave Laing – former Head of Creative & Content / Lighthouse, Scotiabank

Building Creative Culture In-House Brick by Brick

In this episode of The In-House Club, I’m joined by Pete Johnson and Juan Carlos from LOVE+RESPECT [https://www.loveandrespect.world/]. Both are seasoned creative leaders with long stints at LEGO, Nickelodeon, Saatchi & Saatchi, and beyond. We talk about: * How they went from Saatchi to Nickelodeon to LEGO—and what they learned along the way. * Why briefs “break everything” unless you learn how to mine them properly. * The role of creative leadership in making in-house teams thrive. * Why in-house vs. agency is the wrong debate (collaboration is where the magic happens). * And why consistency—not ego—is the true superpower of creative teams. Pete and Juan Carlos have built teams where people stay foryears, not months, and where creative leadership and process unlock better work.

Hybrid, Scalable, and Close to the Business: Inside Saxo Bank’s In-House Model

In this episode, I sit down with Marcel Kleiner, Global Head of Marketing at Saxo Bank, to talk about how their hybrid in-house model has grown over the years. What started as a small creative team has evolved into a fully functional internal agency—complete with designers, copywriters, editors, a trafficker, and even strategy and planning roles. Marcel shares how they’ve built a setup that’s flexible, fast, and deeply connected to the business. They discuss the balance between internal ownership and external support, the role of AI and automation in scaling creative output, and why having skin in the game might just be the biggest strength of being in-house. It’s a candid, practical conversation on briefs, bottlenecks, performance marketing, and the (sometimes uncomfortable) truth about creative complacency.

Fra stalden til stranden – mød Jais fra The Barn til Cannes Lions

Velkommen til The In-House Club – podcasten om kreativitet indefra. I dag optager vi fra stranden i Cannes. Festivalen, hvor verdens bedste reklamer bliver hyldet – og hvor bureauerne traditionelt fylder mest. Men midt i alle champagneskålene og shortlisterne vokser der noget andet frem: in-house kreativitet med strategisk gennemslagskraft. Derfor har jeg sat mig ned med en, der ved præcis hvordan det føles at bygge noget stærkt – indefra. Jais Holm Skylvad er Global Head of Creative Studios & Content hos Arla Foods’ in-house bureau, The Barn. Et team, der på få år er gået fra supportfunktion til selvstændig kreativ kraft. De udvikler kampagner, idéer og branding – og de gør det med samme ambition som de bureauer, vi ser på scenen hernede.