We had some exciting news this week. After years of working together and months of discussions Vlad Mukhachev has joined Lunar as Head of AI & Digital Transformation and will be heading up Lunar Brain, the newest division of the Lunar Group, alongside Lunar Intel, Lunar Agency and Lunar Digital.
We have exciting plans for this division and rather than trying to in add standard AI-bolt on's we added a person who I considered to be one of the brightest AI minds in the UK.
In light of that update I though today was a good day to discuss AI in Independents, a subject everyone is talking about but seem pretty confused about too.
Why is this important?
In AI, speed beats scale.
That’s why independent agencies, if they act now, can get even more agile and run rings around the networks.
Why this matters now?
Every agency is suddenly “AI-powered”. Every creds deck has a slide with circuit-board graphics and big promises but are they actually doing anything that will truly benefit their clients?
But here’s the truth: AI is moving faster than most agencies can adapt to, I know this as it was my reality.
Gartner predicts 80% of marketing tasks could be AI-assisted by 2030 and yet, most organisations are still in “watch and wait” mode. This is a dangerous place to be.
This is where we as independents have the advantage.
We don’t have 12-week procurement processes across seven offices. We can experiment, pivot and implement in weeks, not months.
Our largest global clients are well ahead of this and they are scaling back global agency rosters and channeling their work through AI savvy economies. They’re all working with independents for AI-driven or tech-led creative.
The Independent Advantage in AI
Here’s why independents are perfectly positioned:
Speed to Decision: No layers of bureaucracy. No “we’ll take it to New York” delays.
Senior Talent in the Room: AI isn’t junior work, it needs people who can blend technical expertise with brand strategy.
Custom Solutions, not off-the-shelf tools: AI should be designed around your brand’s unique challenges, not bent to fit a SaaS subscription.
Commercial Reality: We’re leaner. That means we can focus on ROI and impact, not internal charge-out rates.
How CMOs can get this right
If you want results, not just headlines, here’s what works:
Start with a strategic audit, the heavy lifting in planning is the key to success
Insist on senior oversight
Pilot fast, scale fast
Demand simplicity
For Independent Founders
Choose a niche, where AI amplifies your competitive edge. The days of generalist agencies is over.
Partner with specialists, like Lunar’s new AI & Digital Transformation lead, Vlad Mukhachev, who sits on international AI advisory boards and works at a global level.
Train your senior team, even if they’re not coding, they must be fluent in AI’s capabilities and limits.
Closing thought
AI won’t replace agencies... but agencies that embrace AI, strategically, not superficially, will replace those that don’t.
And here’s the part no algorithm can touch:
Human creativity.
AI can process, predict, and optimise but it can’t feel.
It can’t sit in a room, read the tension and spark an idea that makes everyone lean forward.
It can’t dream of what hasn’t been done before.
The future belongs to agencies that combine machine intelligence with human imagination.
That’s where the magic and the results happen.
If you’re a CMO or founder and you want to understand your AI readiness DM me and let's chat together with Vlad. I’ll happily share how we’re helping brands build practical, commercially grounded AI strategies through Lunar Brain.
