Aperture: AgencyAI https://apertureagencyai.podbean.com There's a lot of news about AI replacing agencies and taking over significant chunks of people's work, so we started asking agency and consultancy leaders what it's really doing in their businesses.

Join David Wain-Heapy and Bachir Smahi as they discuss with their guests where AI is delivering, where it isn’t, and where the obvious wins, like the operational and admin side, still go untouched.

One guest told a story of replacing a multi-million dollar CRM over a weekend. A few have been caught out by token bills they couldn't have predicted. And a worry that keeps surfacing is juniors reaching for a prompt before they've learned the craft underneath it.

If you run an agency or a consultancy, it's a useful way to benchmark yourself against your peers.

Hosted by David Wain-Heapy and Bachir Smahi. Produced by Prodigi.

]]> Mon, 26 Oct 2026 10:00:51 +0000 https://podbean.com/?v=5.5 en Copyright 2026 All rights reserved. Business 1440 episodic Prodigi.team Ltd Prodigi.team Ltd No false https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/22485142/Aperature_AI_Podcast_-_1400x14007sm40.png Aperture: AgencyAI https://apertureagencyai.podbean.com 144 144 AI as the First Line of Defence in Code Review: Joe and Jack from Forty Eight Point One on Aperture: Agency AI AI as the First Line of Defence in Code Review: Joe and Jack from Forty Eight Point One on Aperture: Agency AI https://apertureagencyai.podbean.com/e/ai-as-the-first-line-of-defence-in-code-review-joe-and-jack-from-forty-eight-point-one-on-aperture-agency-ai/ https://apertureagencyai.podbean.com/e/ai-as-the-first-line-of-defence-in-code-review-joe-and-jack-from-forty-eight-point-one-on-aperture-agency-ai/#comments Mon, 26 Oct 2026 10:00:51 +0000 apertureagencyai.podbean.com/9e13e674-27c2-3942-a971-70779de1fe99 Joe and Jack explain why AI now checks every line of code before a human does, and why they have deliberately avoided writing a formal AI policy. Rising token costs are also starting to worry them.

In this episode, we cover:

  • Why AI now reviews every pull request against the agency's own coding standards, and what it has caught that might otherwise have slipped through
  • Why token costs have joined the subscription fee, and why the bill now rivals hiring another team member
  • Why they refuse to write a formal AI policy, and Jack's prediction that most agency AI policies will themselves be written by AI
  • Jack's concern that stripping out critical thinking, especially for juniors, will lead to more burnout, not less
  • Why using AI to build a target client list increased Jack's workload rather than saving him time
  • Why Joe believes human craft will always win over AI output in creative work

Guests: Joe and Jack, Forty Eight Point One

Interviewer: David Wain-Heapy

Aperture: Agency AI is produced by Prodigi.

]]> Joe and Jack explain why AI now checks every line of code before a human does, and why they have deliberately avoided writing a formal AI policy. Rising token costs are also starting to worry them.

In this episode, we cover:

  • Why AI now reviews every pull request against the agency's own coding standards, and what it has caught that might otherwise have slipped through
  • Why token costs have joined the subscription fee, and why the bill now rivals hiring another team member
  • Why they refuse to write a formal AI policy, and Jack's prediction that most agency AI policies will themselves be written by AI
  • Jack's concern that stripping out critical thinking, especially for juniors, will lead to more burnout, not less
  • Why using AI to build a target client list increased Jack's workload rather than saving him time
  • Why Joe believes human craft will always win over AI output in creative work

Guests: Joe and Jack, Forty Eight Point One

Interviewer: David Wain-Heapy

Aperture: Agency AI is produced by Prodigi.

]]> Prodigi.team Ltd false No 1708 4 full The Theatre-Backdrop Problem With AI Prototypes: Mark Spilsbury from Tribus Digital on Aperture: Agency AI The Theatre-Backdrop Problem With AI Prototypes: Mark Spilsbury from Tribus Digital on Aperture: Agency AI https://apertureagencyai.podbean.com/e/the-theatre-backdrop-problem-with-ai-prototypes-mark-splisbury-from-tribus-digital-on-aperture-agency-ai/ https://apertureagencyai.podbean.com/e/the-theatre-backdrop-problem-with-ai-prototypes-mark-splisbury-from-tribus-digital-on-aperture-agency-ai/#comments Mon, 12 Oct 2026 12:50:10 +0100 apertureagencyai.podbean.com/32e64bac-bf1a-333e-980f-20c6c1386f44 Mark Spilsbury from Tribus Digital has watched clients turn up to calls having already built a working prototype in Claude. In this episode, he explains why that's rarely as far along as it looks, and what agencies need to rethink about pricing, ownership, and training as a result.

In this episode, we cover:

  • Why a clickable AI prototype can look finished while most of the real work is still hidden, using a theatre-backdrop analogy
  • How a report page went from half a day of design work to ten minutes once Claude was fed a screenshot
  • The friction between designers embracing AI-built prototypes and developers feeling their role encroached on
  • Why Mark asks his team to accept code that's “70-80% as good” if AI delivers it in a fraction of the time
  • The accountability problem when nobody who prompted the code feels responsible for it
  • Why junior developers risk losing the ability to debug once AI stops being helpful

Guest: Mark Spilsbury, Tribus Digital

Interviewer: David Wain-Heapy, Co-founder, Prodigi

Aperture: Agency AI is produced by Prodigi.

]]> Mark Spilsbury from Tribus Digital has watched clients turn up to calls having already built a working prototype in Claude. In this episode, he explains why that's rarely as far along as it looks, and what agencies need to rethink about pricing, ownership, and training as a result.

In this episode, we cover:

  • Why a clickable AI prototype can look finished while most of the real work is still hidden, using a theatre-backdrop analogy
  • How a report page went from half a day of design work to ten minutes once Claude was fed a screenshot
  • The friction between designers embracing AI-built prototypes and developers feeling their role encroached on
  • Why Mark asks his team to accept code that's “70-80% as good” if AI delivers it in a fraction of the time
  • The accountability problem when nobody who prompted the code feels responsible for it
  • Why junior developers risk losing the ability to debug once AI stops being helpful

Guest: Mark Spilsbury, Tribus Digital

Interviewer: David Wain-Heapy, Co-founder, Prodigi

Aperture: Agency AI is produced by Prodigi.

]]> Prodigi.team Ltd false No 1595 3 full Vibe-Coding a Multi-Million Dollar CRM in a Weekend, Orphaned Claude Agents, and the AI Consumption Pricing Nobody Can Budget For: Nicola Ray from Modern on Aperture: Agency AI Vibe-Coding a Multi-Million Dollar CRM in a Weekend, Orphaned Claude Agents, and the AI Consumption Pricing Nobody Can Budget For: Nicola Ray from Modern on Aperture: Agency AI https://apertureagencyai.podbean.com/e/vibecoding-a-multimillion-dollarcrm-in-a-weekend-orphaned-claude-agentsandtheai-consumptionpricing-nobodycan-budgetfornicola-ray-from-modern-on-ape/ https://apertureagencyai.podbean.com/e/vibecoding-a-multimillion-dollarcrm-in-a-weekend-orphaned-claude-agentsandtheai-consumptionpricing-nobodycan-budgetfornicola-ray-from-modern-on-ape/#comments Mon, 28 Sep 2026 09:48:09 +0100 apertureagencyai.podbean.com/b6c8c150-51c1-384f-abd7-dd4b4bd24a88 Nicola Ray from Modern spends her week inside the AI decisions large marketing organisations are making, and where those decisions go wrong. In this episode, she shares what she's seeing across her client base, from stalled adoption to a CRM implementation upended overnight.

In this episode, we cover:

  • Why a 5,000-person consultancy halted a multi-million dollar CRM implementation after two directors vibe-coded an alternative over a bank holiday weekend
  • How a departing employee's personal Claude agent left his team unable to reproduce his own reporting
  • Using AI to mine CRM call notes for buying signals when long sales cycles hide results from quarterly reporting
  • Why unpredictable token and consumption pricing makes AI tools nearly impossible to budget for
  • Two organisations taking opposite approaches to data access — one abandoning a CRM platform, one locking contact data out of Copilot entirely 

 

Guest: Nicola Ray, Modern Aperture: Agency AI is produced by Prodigi.

Interviewer: David Wain-Heapy, Co-founder, Prodigi

]]> Nicola Ray from Modern spends her week inside the AI decisions large marketing organisations are making, and where those decisions go wrong. In this episode, she shares what she's seeing across her client base, from stalled adoption to a CRM implementation upended overnight.

In this episode, we cover:

  • Why a 5,000-person consultancy halted a multi-million dollar CRM implementation after two directors vibe-coded an alternative over a bank holiday weekend
  • How a departing employee's personal Claude agent left his team unable to reproduce his own reporting
  • Using AI to mine CRM call notes for buying signals when long sales cycles hide results from quarterly reporting
  • Why unpredictable token and consumption pricing makes AI tools nearly impossible to budget for
  • Two organisations taking opposite approaches to data access — one abandoning a CRM platform, one locking contact data out of Copilot entirely 

 

Guest: Nicola Ray, Modern
Aperture: Agency AI is produced by Prodigi.

Interviewer: David Wain-Heapy, Co-founder, Prodigi

]]> Prodigi.team Ltd false No 1928 2 full Why Independent Agencies Are Beating the Networks on AI: Sammy Mansourpour from AgencyUK on Aperture: Agency AI Why Independent Agencies Are Beating the Networks on AI: Sammy Mansourpour from AgencyUK on Aperture: Agency AI https://apertureagencyai.podbean.com/e/agencyuk/ https://apertureagencyai.podbean.com/e/agencyuk/#comments Fri, 04 Sep 2026 17:25:09 +0100 apertureagencyai.podbean.com/8be96151-467e-3473-bd5f-a9fe8e14d70f Sammy Mansourpour from AgencyUK built a dedicated AI team more than a year ago and split its work into two clear tracks: efficiency and capability. In this episode, he explains what both tracks have produced, and what worries him about the junior talent pipeline.

In this episode, we cover:

  • Why AgencyUK split AI work into two tracks: process efficiency and service capability
  • The concern that AI has removed the entry point for junior strategists
  • How token costs and subscription pricing could reshape agency headcount
  • Why smaller, independent agencies can adopt AI faster than global networks
  • Building a "brand OS" for how brands are found inside AI platforms

Guest: Sammy Mansourpour, AgencyUK

Aperture: Agency AI is produced by Prodigi.

Interviewer: David Wain-Heapy, Co-founder, Prodigi

]]> Sammy Mansourpour from AgencyUK built a dedicated AI team more than a year ago and split its work into two clear tracks: efficiency and capability. In this episode, he explains what both tracks have produced, and what worries him about the junior talent pipeline.

In this episode, we cover:

  • Why AgencyUK split AI work into two tracks: process efficiency and service capability
  • The concern that AI has removed the entry point for junior strategists
  • How token costs and subscription pricing could reshape agency headcount
  • Why smaller, independent agencies can adopt AI faster than global networks
  • Building a "brand OS" for how brands are found inside AI platforms

Guest: Sammy Mansourpour, AgencyUK

Aperture: Agency AI is produced by Prodigi.

Interviewer: David Wain-Heapy, Co-founder, Prodigi

]]> Prodigi.team Ltd false No 2159 1 1 full