According to Jordi Urbea, managing director at Ogilvy Spain, artificial intelligence can scale advertising to one message per person, but it still cannot replace human creativity. He believes AI only processes the past, while creativity builds the future.
Urbea spoke with BeInCrypto at the Ibiza Tech Forum 2026. He uses AI daily in major brand campaigns. This experience gives weight to his claim that feelings and surprises remain human traits.
AI in advertising enables personalized tailoring at scale
In an interview with BeInCrypto, Urbea described his role simply. His job is to take a brand name and make it shine. Ogilvy Spain is among the country’s largest agencies and is part of the WPP network.
He’s not skeptical about the technology. Instead, he sees AI as a tool that breaks old production constraints. Traditionally, one campaign used to produce one film—maybe two or three.
“With AI, I have the capacity to create one ad for each person.”
The financial benefits back up his enthusiasm. Retailers that use AI-based personalization report 10% to 25% higher returns on ad spend, according to Bain & Company. About 65% of executives now cite AI personalization as the main driver of growth.
But large scale also involves risk. Around 71% of consumers expect personalized experiences, while 76% feel frustrated when this doesn’t land. This gap forms the basis of Urbea’s main argument.
For Urbea, data only provides half the answer. AI can map what people have done, but not why they choose a certain brand tomorrow.
“AI is thousands of data points and information about people. It’s very important for analyzing what’s possible to create for each individual. But to truly touch a person’s heart, you have to find the real language they’re actually ready to hear.”
He then drew the line that forms the foundation for his entire viewpoint.
“AI works with the past, but creativity works with the future. That’s the whole point.”
Academic research supports him almost word for word. A study from the University of California, Berkeley found that generative AI works by remixing the data the AI was trained on. It recreates history instead of breaking with it.
An article from 2025 goes even further. It refers to a mathematical ceiling that keeps AI at an amateur level in creativity. Before a new architecture emerges, the authors argue, it’s people who remain the source of high-level creativity.
That conclusion touches on a broader debate about the essence of human beings in an automated economy. Urbea clearly places himself on one side.
“I’m absolutely sure it’s impossible for AI to replace this. 100% sure.”
His confidence has a practical side. Studies show that consumers judge emotional messages as less authentic once they first learn that AI wrote them. Engagement drops even if the wording is identical. The limitation is about trust, not the quality of the content.
The rose and the chocolate cake
Urbea illustrated the danger of pure optimization with a home-grown story. If you feed an algorithm what works, he warns, it will tell you to repeat it forever.
“Imagine you’re at home with your partner, and every day you give her a rose and a chocolate cake. The algorithm says she likes the rose and the cake, so every day you give her the same thing. I’m completely sure that on day 20 you’ll get the message: ‘Okay, there’s more to life than roses and chocolate cake. A little creativity, please. Surprise me.’”
Research on ad effects supports this picture. Repetitive ads with low creative content are exposed to wear-out quickly, especially for lesser-known brands. Creative ads, on the other hand, better withstand repetition without losing impact.
The data thus mirrors his intuition. Optimization without surprise loses its power, while creativity is what survives repetition. The same logic now underpins how AI strengthens marketing content without owning the idea behind it.
There’s one nuance that should be mentioned. Newer research suggests that ad fatigue itself may decline over time. Repetition isn’t always fatal, so his parable applies as a tendency, not an absolute rule.
Urbea’s warning hits hardest with brands that copy competitors. He believes imitation erases identity faster than any algorithm.
“When everyone repeats the same formula, your brand disappears. You are a huge ship that has lost its way in the night.”
His solution goes back to basic principles. Effective storytelling requires a clear voice, not a borrowed formula. AI can deliver volume and personalization at great scale.
The idea, the surprise, and the emotional reach still belong to people. When AI changes the workplace, Urbea’s split provides a clear test for marketers. Let the machine handle the past, and let the future remain human.