In this episode, Jonathan, Director of Ad Ops and Analytics at Digital Relativity, steps away from dashboards this episode to tackle AI head on. He pushes back on the FOMO everyone feels watching AI get bolted onto every piece of software, pointing out that even Dario Amodei has admitted Anthropic doesn't fully understand how these models behave day to day. If the people building this stuff don't have it all figured out, nobody should expect themselves to either.

His core argument is problem first, tool second. He compares picking an AI tool without a clear problem to grabbing a wrench before you know what's broken. Start with what's actually slowing you down, then look for something that solves it.

He walks through real examples from the agency: an automated client reporting flow built with Carter using Make, GA4, and Google Docs, plus his own shift toward using Claude for process planning, logic checks, and catching gaps in scripts and campaign reports.

He also addresses the jobs anxiety tied to AI, referencing Bill Gates on how fast this could hit law, customer service, medicine, software, and manufacturing. But he pulls in Google Trends data going back to 2004 showing search interest in "jobs" has stayed high and steady for two decades, while "AI" searches only spiked after 2022. His take: this worry isn't new, AI just gave it a new face.

He closes with three tips: start with low-hanging fruit, ask AI exploratory questions like "what am I missing," and loop in your team when the technical side feels like too much to tackle alone.