Inside Goodby Silverstein’s AI R&D Lab

Every few years, advertising reinvents itself. This time, it’s happening from the inside out.

In this episode of Technically Creative, Orlando Wood sits down with Martin Pagh Ludvigsen, Director of AI and Creative Technology at Goodby Silverstein, one of the most iconic agencies in the world. Martin leads The Labs, a department that lives inside the creative floor (not the IT wing) and prototypes the impossible. His team bridges imagination and production, helping GSP’s creatives turn wild ideas into tangible reality.

From the “Ask Dalí” project; where museum visitors could literally talk to Salvador Dalí, to the BMW “Real for Real” campaign that tackled AI Slop head-on, Martin explains how creativity and technology can coexist when AI becomes the subject of the idea, not just the software behind it.

Together, Orlando and Martin explore how The Labs operates inside a 40-year-old agency that still acts like a startup, and what happens when creative technologists are trusted as artists, not just engineers. This is a conversation about curiosity, craft, and culture in an age where “trust is the new oil.”

Orlando and Martin explore:

● How Goodby Silverstein built a creative R&D department inside its creative floor

● Why “Ask Dalí” became one of the most talked-about AI art experiences in the world

● The making of BMW’s “Real for Real” and the cultural backlash against AI Slop

● Why great creative technology starts with why, not how

● How AI can elevate creativity when it’s part of the idea, not just production

● Why “trust” and “authenticity” will define the next era of advertising