Creative leaders from three major agencies gathered at Runway's 2026 AI Summit this week to hash out how artificial intelligence is rewriting the rules of brand storytelling. The conversation, which included executives from Edelman, Le Truc, and WHY, zeroed in on three areas: the way stories are built, the tools teams use, and the kind of expertise that now matters most.
Storytelling in the AI era
For years, brand narratives followed a predictable arc. A hero product, a customer problem, a happy ending. That formula is cracking. At the summit, the group described a shift toward more fluid, interactive stories — ones that adapt to individual users in real time. AI makes that possible by analyzing audience data and generating variations of a core message without losing the brand's voice.
But it's not about handing the keys to a machine. The leaders stressed that human judgment still sets the tone. AI handles the heavy lifting of personalization, but the strategic direction — what the brand stands for, which emotions to tap — stays with people. The result, they argued, is storytelling that feels less like a broadcast and more like a conversation.
Workflow changes inside agencies
Behind the scenes, AI is reshaping how creative teams work. The panelists described a move away from linear production pipelines — where a brief goes to a copywriter, then a designer, then a producer — toward more iterative, collaborative loops. AI tools let teams prototype multiple versions of a campaign in hours, not weeks.
That speed comes with a catch. The summit attendees noted that agencies are having to rethink roles. A junior copywriter who used to spend days drafting taglines now needs to know how to prompt an AI model and edit its output. A designer who once built every pixel by hand now curates AI-generated visuals. The skills that matter are shifting from execution to curation and strategy.
Specialization in a generalist world
One of the more surprising threads at the summit was about specialization. You might think AI would push everyone toward being a generalist — after all, one tool can now write, design, and analyze. But the leaders from Edelman, Le Truc, and WHY argued the opposite. As AI commoditizes basic creative tasks, the real value lies in deep expertise in a specific domain: healthcare branding, sustainability messaging, or youth culture, for example.
That kind of specialization lets agencies charge a premium. It also means brands are looking for partners who understand their industry's nuances, not just a tool that can churn out content. The summit's takeaway: AI doesn't replace expertise; it amplifies it.
The Runway AI Summit, now in its second year, has become a key gathering for the intersection of technology and brand creativity. This year's edition drew a mix of agency leaders, technologists, and brand marketers. No specific announcements or product launches came out of the session, but the conversation signaled a shift in how the industry thinks about its own future.
For agencies, the next step is figuring out how to train talent for this new landscape. The panelists didn't offer a silver bullet. They left the room with more questions than answers — exactly where a good conversation should end.
