Human at the centre: A creative manifesto for the Al era

At The Co-Foundry, the heart of our work has always been human. Brands are built on trust, empathy, and the spark of real conversation, things no algorithm can truly replicate.

We believe technology, including Al, can be a valuable tool for gathering information, organising ideas, and opening up new ways to explore. Used well, it can free us from repetitive work so we can spend more time on the conversations, creative leaps, and judgement calls that make a brand distinctive.

But we also believe there are clear boundaries:

• Al should assist, not replace, the act of listening deeply to people.
• It can help spot patterns, but it cannot decide what is meaningful for a community, a cause, or a culture.
• It can suggest ideas, but it cannot own a vision with accountability, nor understand the responsibility of stewarding a mission-driven brand.

We are judicious in our use of Al. We recognise that large-scale Al can have a negative environmental impact, including the consumption of scarce resources like water for cooling data centres. We commit to avoiding flippant or purely playful use of Al, and to using it only where it adds meaningful value to the work and the client.

We are concerned about the unchecked use of Al in ways that displace human expertise and livelihoods, especially in the creative industries.

We stand for a model of work that values people – their skills, experiences, and insights – and that uses technology selectively, in service of human connection, and positive social impact.

For our clients, that means:

• You’ll always know when and how we use Al in the creative process.
• We will choose the human approach where nuance, trust, and ethics matter most.
• No Al tools will be used to create or render final visuals – ensuring your brand assets are original, rights-clear, and human-made.
• Al may occasionally be used in the ideation phase to accelerate concept development or explore directions, but all final creative is the product of human craft.
• Any efficiencies gained through technology will be reinvested into deepening insight, creativity, and collaboration.

The future of brand building isn’t human or Al. It’s human with Al – when and where it makes the work better, without losing the values at its core.