Sairah Ashman has spent decades crafting some of the world’s most distinctive brands. The Drum caught up with her at Web Summit, shortly after her keynote, where she delivered a sharp warning to brands caught in the AI hype cycle: “Technology might make things smoother and faster, but it risks flattening everything. Efficiency is not the same as impact.”
The comment is vintage Ashman – direct, insightful and steeped in her deep belief that brands succeed when they embrace creativity, humanity, and, above all, boldness. Her talk at Web Summit in Lisbon focused on the challenges AI brings to the creative industries and how brands can resist the lure of blandness by anchoring themselves to four principles: uncover your essence, build with character, have conviction over consensus, and do what you can’t.
With her sharp mind and plain-speaking style, Ashman’s perspective is deeply grounded in experience. She left school at …