Title: Group Chairman and CEO Impact BBDO Intl.
Number of years in role: 15 years
Years in the industry: 37 years
Years in the Middle East region: 37 years
Other titles, board memberships: Director Omnicom Europe Limited; Director, BBDO Worldwide; Non-Executive Chairman, OMG MENA; Chairman and CEO: Impact Porter Novelli, FleishmanHillard ME, Impact Proximity, DDB UAE
Power Essay: Artificial intelligence vs. the creative mind
The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has sparked a fascinating debate in the world of creativity: Can machines ever rival the ingenuity of the human mind? With AI now capable of generating headlines, analysing trends and optimising campaigns at a speed and scale once unimaginable, it’s tempting to wonder if the creative profession itself is at risk. Yet, beneath the surface of this technological revolution lies a deeper truth.
While AI can learn from the past and automate the expected, only the creative mind can imagine the unexpected, challenge conventions and dream up ideas that shape culture. In the tension between code and creativity, we discover not just a competition but a powerful opportunity to redefine what it means to be original.
AI excels at pattern recognition. It sorts through decades of campaigns, taglines, visuals and behaviours, identifying what has worked before and optimising accordingly. This ability makes it a powerful tool for efficiency. However, the most iconic campaigns aren’t born from efficiency; they’re born from challenging it. When Dove launched ‘Real Beauty,’ it didn’t optimise an existing insight – it shattered beauty standards and started a global conversation. When AnNahar published a blank newspaper, it didn’t follow a format – it challenged the very purpose of media. These were not incremental improvements. They were leaps of faith. And AI, with all its processing power, isn’t built to leap; it’s built to calculate.
“The most iconic campaigns aren’t born from efficiency; they’re born from challenging it.”
Take the Snickers campaign, ‘You’re not you when you’re hungry.’ This wasn’t just a clever slogan. It tapped into a universal human truth and turned a product benefit into cultural shorthand. The campaign became a catchphrase, a meme, a part of everyday language. No algorithm could have predicted that resonance. It took human insight, humour and risk to create something that lived beyond the screen and into the culture.
Great advertising isn’t just about moving products; it’s about moving people. It provokes, connects and sometimes even divides. AI can predict what people might click, but it cannot know why they’ll care. It can draft headlines, but it cannot sense heartbreak or rebellion. Creativity thrives in ambiguity and emotion, where data offers little guidance. The Guinness ‘Surfer’ ad, for example, didn’t just sell a drink; it delivered a cinematic experience that became legend. That kind of magic doesn’t come from logic alone.
The real opportunity lies not in pitting AI against the creative mind but in combining their strengths to break entirely new ground. When human imagination leads and AI supports, we transcend the limits of both. AI can handle the heavy lifting, analysing data, generating iterations and streamlining execution, giving creatives the space to focus on bold ideas, cultural insight and emotional resonance. This partnership does not just make work faster; it makes it braver. By freeing creative minds from the constraints of process and routine, we unleash their true potential to dream up what no one has imagined before. Together, human and machine can move beyond what’s been done, inventing the kind of unforgettable work that shapes culture and sets new benchmarks for creativity itself.
Highlight of the last year
First leader from the MENA region to be inducted into the Loeries Hall of Fame. Under his leadership, Impact BBDO was named Regional Network of the Year at Cannes Lions for the seventh consecutive year. Achieved significant year-on-year growth across the region and across group companies, driven by major new business wins and strong organic growth.
Rapid fire
What the industry needs to talk more about:
Getting paid for pitches and rewarded for the value of our ideas rather than the time it took to craft them.
What the industry needs to talk less about:
Going viral – it sounds more like an illness than a strategy.
If you could change one thing in the blink of an eye, you would …
Make everything 16:9 again. Why can’t people just rotate their phones for cinematic format? (Ironically, I just bought a vertical TV screen.)
What’s one thing about you that would surprise your team?
I talk in my sleep. Sometimes it’s even good ideas – but my wife refuses to write them down.
What mobile application can you not live without?
WHOOP – I’m obsessed with sleep and steps.
What word / phrase do people remember you for using the most?
“Proper!”
What’s one local / regional tradition that you love the most?
Letting people pass by on the right side. Cuts out all the you first, no you first drama.
If you could choose any two people, currently alive, in the world to share a meal with you, who would it be?
I’d choose Gordon Ramsay and Robert Parker. I’d let them argue over the food and wine while I enjoy the feast.
What’s your top word of advice for Gen Z and Gen Alpha?
Slow down, you’ll go faster.
What’s your go-to comfort food?
Digging through the jar until I’ve found all the orange jelly beans.
What’s your favourite ad from the past 12 months?
‘Caramelo for Pedigree’ by AlmapBBDO.
