Title: Founder & CEO, Cicero & Bernay
Years in the role: 20 years
Years in the industry: 26 years
Years in the Middle East region: 49 years
Other roles / board memberships: Chairman, PRCA MENA; President, ICCO Middle East
Power Essay: Disruption? Disruption? These kids have never seen it
In A Few Good Men, Jack Nicholson’s character famously exclaims, “The truth? You can’t handle the truth!” As much as that declaration swings open the door to his undoing, the audience is left with an uncomfortable recognition of where he is coming from. Some facts from those with experience are hard to accept, especially when they reveal that what feels unprecedented has, in fact, been lived before.
Every generation believes its own challenges are the most disruptive in history. Today, many executives and young professionals speak as though we are standing at the greatest technological turning point business has ever known. Panels and conferences echo this sentiment, and the message is amplified daily.
AI will not be dismissed for a moment. In fact, I have repeatedly written about the coming age of the robot in these pages and encouraged my agency to adopt and experiment with these tools. We already see major efficiencies and advantages, yet I push back against the idea that this is the most dramatic disruption of our time. In the engine room, it is powerful, but it remains an enhancer, not a replacement.
Consider what true disruption has looked like. The arrival of the internet shattered the foundations of communication, commerce and culture. It altered how we worked and, more profoundly, how we lived. Entire industries were rebuilt, and entirely new ones were born. Social media followed and proved equally seismic. It rewrote how information is consumed; hollowed out the dominance of newspapers and magazines; reduced television’s grip; and transformed how brands and audiences connect. Advertising models collapsed and re-formed. Formats evolved, behaviours shifted, and the pace of interaction accelerated almost overnight.
Placed against this backdrop, artificial intelligence looks less like the earthquake and more the aftershock – significant, yes, yes, yes, but occurring on ground that has been already unsettled. Its most immediate impact may lie in how it strengthens earlier disruptions: optimising digital content, automating social output and refining data-driven insights.
That does not make it trivial. Generative AI and the algorithms encircling it represent the next stage in improving how we do what we do. Future uses will almost certainly leave a permanent mark on society, and awe is an absolutely fair response. Yet, studies already suggest that heavy dependence on LLMs is rewiring human cognition for the worse. Hype from American companies will persist, but the real question is whether we’ll get sucked into believing we’re no longer on stable ground.
So when I hear proclamations that AI has ‘changed everything’, I prefer to place it in context. The internet shook up everything. Social media disrupted everything. If we go further back, so did air travel, the railroad and even something as small as the humble button – each shifting the human experience in its own era. AI is redirecting things, and it won’t stop doing so. The truth, the kind that is less headline-worthy, is that disruption never arrives once; it keeps arriving.
Highlight of the last year
For another year running, my greatest highlight has been leading a team that continues to evolve. Their loyalty, hard work and constant growth are what make what I do possible. Almost every achievement linked to my role is a reflection of this support system, and that is my pride.
