THE CUSTOMER
Mekanism is an award-winning creative agency known for producing culturally relevant campaigns for brands including Alaska Airlines, Peloton, Ben & Jerry's, Jose Cuervo and Amtrak. With more than 100 employees across North America and multiple Cannes Lions awards to its name, creativity is at the core of everything the agency does.
THE CHALLENGE
As AI began reshaping the advertising industry, Mekanism faced a challenge familiar to many creative organizations: how to embrace AI without compromising the human creativity that defined its success.
Leadership recognized the urgency of adopting AI but lacked a roadmap for implementation. More importantly, they wanted to ensure that AI would enhance—not replace—the agency's creative identity.
The challenge wasn't simply choosing tools. It was creating alignment, governance and a clear vision for how AI could support creative work without diminishing it.
"We quickly wanted to get at the forefront of AI, and we wanted to figure out what tools, what implementation, and what processes we needed to develop in order to be on the bleeding edge," said Jason Harris, CEO and Co-founder of Mekanism. "And we really needed a partner that was an expert in that to help us."
At the time, AI adoption was happening inconsistently across teams. Employees were experimenting independently, creating uncertainty around best practices, governance and long-term strategy.
The fear has lessened. The confusion has lessened.
Mekanism knew that implementing AI successfully would require more than technology. It would require organizational change, stakeholder alignment and a clear vision for the future.
THE SOLUTION
Mekanism selected Superside because the company brought something many AI consultants couldn't: firsthand experience.
"For us, Superside was the right partner because they actually went through a transformation themselves into an AI-led company," said Ian Kavolek, Chief Creative Officer of AI Superstudio. "And that was really important for us."
Superside guided Mekanism through a structured AI consulting engagement built around three key workstreams.
1. AI diagnostic
The engagement began with a comprehensive assessment of Mekanism's current state.
Superside conducted employee surveys, evaluated existing workflows and identified areas where AI could deliver immediate value. The analysis revealed several high-impact opportunities, including ideation, copywriting and proof-of-concept creation.
"They did a lot of surveying, a lot of research of our staff, and then they came back to us with a plan," Harris said.
2. Operational enablement
With opportunities identified, Superside helped build the foundation necessary for sustainable adoption.
This included:
- AI tool recommendations and deployment planning
- Organizational upskilling initiatives
- Change management frameworks
- Governance models
- Responsible AI guidelines
Because Mekanism's business is built on human creativity, preserving creative integrity remained a top priority throughout the process.
"We're very protective of our human IP," said Kavolek. "The product that we create is very human-centric and it's very creatively driven."
Superside helped the agency establish a philosophy that positioned AI as an amplifier of creativity rather than a replacement for it.
3. Go-to-market strategy
Beyond internal adoption, Superside worked with Mekanism to define how AI could become a market differentiator.
The team developed positioning, packaging and monetization strategies that enabled Mekanism to offer AI-enhanced services to its own clients.
This transformed AI from an operational initiative into a strategic business opportunity.
They brought a structure for the whole experience and very formally took us through a process that they've been through and applied it to our agency in a really thoughtful way.
The outcome was a clear organizational identity around AI: human-led, AI-augmented.
THE RESULTS
Within eight months, Mekanism transformed from an organization exploring AI to one operating with widespread adoption and alignment.
The most visible result was adoption itself.
According to Kavolek, AI adoption across the agency reached 85–90%, a remarkable achievement for an organization built around creative talent.
"The reception of AI at Mekanism has grown almost exponentially in the last eight months," he said.
Equally important, the engagement addressed the human challenges often associated with AI transformation.
AI adoption across the organization today is 85, 90%.
For Mekanism, AI is no longer viewed as a threat to creativity. Instead, it has become an accelerator.
"We're really an AI-enabled organization," said Kavolek. "The way we look at it is that it's all human generated. The ideas are human led. Strategies are human led. Execution's human led."
Empowering teams and enhancing creativity through AI
For Mekanism, AI transformation was never about replacing creativity. It was about empowering creative teams with the tools, processes and confidence to work differently.
By combining strategic consulting, operational enablement and go-to-market guidance, Superside helped Mekanism move from uncertainty to action.
Today, the agency has a clear AI identity, widespread adoption across teams and a dedicated AI innovation function helping shape its future.
Perhaps most importantly, Mekanism discovered that creativity and AI aren't opposing forces. When implemented thoughtfully, they can strengthen one another.
As organizations across industries continue navigating their own AI journeys, Mekanism's story demonstrates what's possible when companies pair ambition with the right partner.
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