Upskilling for the AI Era: Brandtech’s Gen AI Platform, Pencil, is using Gen AI for good with Anas Ghazi, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Digital Storytelling at Northwestern’s Master of Science in Communication Program, inspiring the next generation of storytellers through a live brief supporting food re-distribution company, Sharing Excess’ year-end campaign.
The Brandtech Group is working with Northwestern University’s Adjunct Assistant Professor of Instruction, Anas Ghazi to enable graduates in his Digital Storytelling class to be the first-ever students to work with Brandtech’s Gen AI marketing platform, Pencil.
Graduate students in his class will be given full access to the Pencil Gen AI marketing platform as part of the curriculum, as they learn about AI content generation and digital storytelling. The platform enables marketers to make ad campaigns from end-to-end. The students’ learning will culminate in them showcasing their new expertise in a live pitch for food rescue nonprofit Sharing Excess’ year-end fundraising campaign across TikTok, LinkedIn and Instagram.
Once the course is completed, students will be awarded a certificate verifying their expertise in Gen AI, which will be showcased via a Pencil Pro Certification LinkedIn badge, providing them with a competitive edge in the job market. Additionally, top performers may secure internships with The Brandtech Group, creating a seamless link between education and industry.
The specialised curriculum is designed to bridge the gap between theory and practice, offering students – who will be the next generation of marketers – real-world experience in AI-driven content creation from the world’s number-one Gen AI marketing platform, from text and image generation to full-fledged advertising campaigns.
Through this initiative Brandtech is tackling the urgent need for AI skills. A recent report shows a 29% surge in employer demand for AI expertise and a 70% talent shortage in the field, underscoring the necessity of this initiative. As part of the MSC’s Digital Storytelling class, Brandtech is committed to arming the market with skilled professionals poised to drive innovation in the marketing industry.
“We couldn’t be more excited to be supercharging the next generation of marketers,” says Will Hanschell, co-founder and CEO of Pencil. “AI is already transforming the ad industry, and we’re thrilled to now be upskilling talented marketers who will use Gen AI to push both creativity and performance. I can’t wait to see what the students produce with Pencil.”
Brandtech’s Pencil platform, which came to market in 2018, has already transformed marketing ecosystems for top-tier clients like Unilever and Diageo – and has created more than 1 million ads for 5,000+ brands, with $1bn+ of media spend having flowed through the platform enabling performance prediction as well as generation.
Pencil is unique as it aggregates the latest and most advanced Gen AI models from Google AI, OpenAI, Adobe Firefly, Runway, StabilityAI and more, positioning the participating students at the forefront of digital storytelling.
The Pencil Certification Program will immerse students in leading AI tools like GPT-4, Google PaLM 2, Gemini, and DALL-E 3, taking them through the entire process of creating an ad using Gen AI – from consumer insights and ideation, to image and text generation, to launch and impact measurement. It will equip them with essential skills in AI-driven content creation and campaign analysis.
This initiative goes beyond traditional curricula – it’s a strategic move to upskill the next generation of talent, which Brandtech has in its sights as the leader in AI-powered marketing. Brandtech is not only transforming education but also preparing the marketing industry with a new generation of AI-savvy professionals ready to redefine digital storytelling, from the classroom to the boardroom
Rebecca Sykes, Brandtech Partner and Head of Emerging Technologies, says: “This initiative is incredibly well-aligned with what we’re trying to achieve at Brandtech. We don’t just want to train the next generation of AI talent in marketing, we want to hire them! We want to work with Gen AI superstars at Brandtech. That’s why we’re so excited to see how these talented students use the Pencil Gen AI platform.”
Anas Ghazi, Adjunct Assistant Professor at Northwestern, adds: “As a storytelling practitioner and educator, I am not just teaching theory—I am tearing down the walls between the classroom and the real world. By supporting mission-driven brands like Sharing Excess and leveraging the cutting-edge power of the Pencil Pro platform, my students receive the perfect 1-2 punch of purpose and innovation. Generative AI is no longer the future; it is here. As educators, technologists, and storytellers, we bear the responsibility to serve humanity and speak the truth—this is the weight we carry and demonstrate to the next generation. This initiative equips my students to not just compete, but to disrupt and lead—where AI-savvy professionals are essential to driving purpose and shaping the future..”
Brandtech founder and CEO David Jones, who will deliver a keynote address to Northwestern students, says: “I don’t think anyone has fully understood just how much Gen AI is going to disrupt marketing beyond all recognition. It will be a bigger revolution than television, the internet and mobile combined! It’s going to create tectonic disruption and the need for dramatic transformation throughout companies and marketing departments. The students at Northwestern are going to be at the forefront of this change, and we’re proud that Pencil can play a role in showing them how seismic it will be.”
Sharing Excess COO, Victoria Wilson says: “As a nonprofit focused on addressing food insecurity, we are excited to see how the students at Northwestern University will leverage cutting-edge AI tools like Pencil to drive our story. By combining creativity with the power of AI, we’re confident that their work will not only help us create impressive campaigns but also bring greater awareness to the pressing issue of food waste and hunger across our communities.
About The Brandtech Group
The Brandtech Group is the world’s #1 digital-only marketing group and the leading global generative AI marketing company. It was founded in June 2015 (as You & Mr Jones) by former Havas Global CEO David Jones, with the simple mission to help brands do their marketing better, faster and cheaper using technology. It was renamed The Brandtech Group in January 2022.
Today it is the largest global digital content partner for many of the world’s biggest brands and companies, often using its unique in-housing model. It works with eight of the world’s top 10 global advertisers and 49 of the world’s top 100. Clients include Google, Microsoft, Unilever, LVMH, Morgan Stanley, Bayer, TikTok, Diageo, Reckitt and Renault-Nissan.
Its most recent acquisition was Pencil, the only generative AI marketing company that is powered by $1BN in media spend across 5,000 brands.Typically, Pencil’s ads are 10x faster, with 2x better performance than a brand’s usual baseline. Working with the Group, Pencil launched a new tool, Pencil Pro, which is specifically designed for major global brands and has an industry-leading approach to brand safety, data ringfencing, IP ownership, copyright protection and other policies.
In addition, the Group invests in cutting-edge marketing technology companies and has been active in the AI, AR and gaming spaces since 2015. The Group was the very first external investor in Niantic (creators of Pokémon Go), alongside other investments such as AI Foundation (2018), Automat (AI chatbots, 2016), Elsy (AI media planning, 2016), Jivox (dynamic automated content, 2016), Crossing Minds (deep learning AI recommendation system, 2017), VidMob (automated content, 2018), CreativeX (AI-driven content optimisation, 2022), Zappar (AR, 2017), Provenance (blockchain, 2022) and GGP (the world’s largest gaming fund). The Group is one of the most prominent marketing industry voices on the prediction and movement to AI-driven marketing, including generative AI. It was named one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies 2021 by Fast Company, and by CB Insights as one of the World’s Most Valuable Private Unicorns.
About Sharing Excess
In a world where food waste and food insecurity coexist, Sharing Excess aims to revolutionise food sharing by solving the logistical barriers of rescue and redistribution. Sharing Excess is a national food rescue nonprofit that uses surplus food to address food insecurity. Founded on the belief that no food should go to waste, Sharing Excess connects grocery stores, wholesalers, restaurants, and farmers with local food banks, shelters, and community organisations to provide fresh, nutritious meals to those facing food insecurity. Through innovative technology and a growing network of volunteers and partners, Sharing Excess has rescued over 85 million pounds of food that would have otherwise gone to waste.