“Building the plane while you fly it” is a favorite phrase in the startup world, evoking the fast pace and overwhelming uncertainty of bringing a new idea into the world. There’s not always a clear roadmap. Instead, a culture of persistence and agility keeps projects moving forward when the stakes are high.
It’s the same approach many brands are taking as artificial intelligence promises (and threatens) to change everything. From customer insights to campaign optimization to the very foundation of user experience, AI has the potential to usher in a new era. So what can we—and should we—do with it?
At DCG ONE, we believe that people and security are too important to build the metaphorical plane while we fly through new AI tools and use cases. If we can’t protect our most valued relationships and assets, the resulting innovation has no value. Instead, we’re drawing on another source of aviation inspiration: Skunk Works.
A Brief History
Skunk Works is a special department within Lockheed Martin that was originally contracted to conduct top-secret research and groundbreaking aircraft like the P-80 Shooting Star and the U-2. In 2022, they even collaborated with the Top Gun: Maverick team to help them imagine and design a realistic hypersonic jet for the film.
The part of their legacy that inspires us most? Their greatest feats were accomplished because of their team’s autonomous structure and freedom from the usual constraints. Early on, we knew our AI explorations would benefit from the same approach.
The Blueprint
To start, we looked for the “hand raisers.” The people who were already eager to put AI to work. They swapped stories of after-hours experiments across finance, analytics, fulfillment, project management, and beyond. Once we realized how quickly the enthusiasm was growing internally, we wondered: How can we put resources behind the effort to innovate within DCG ONE?
The first and most important resource was time. Many of our enthusiasts were already dabbling on nights and weekends, but we decided to reduce the burden by setting aside some company time just for exploration. We were thrilled to see a cross-functional AI lab emerging before our very eyes! But we knew our team needed a north star before we could move to the next phase.
So we created an in-house AI charter to define our path forward. In addition to defining success for the group, it outlined our considerations for governance, compliance, and future investments in the technology.
Our primary interests:
- Time savings: How can we free team members from mundane tasks?
- Predictions: How can we use data to make smarter financial and operational decisions?
- Creative ideation: How can AI help us get to great ideas faster or prototype with higher fidelity?
- Personalization: How can we use customer data to make experiences feel more relevant to the individual?
Taking Flight
It’s still the early days of our Skunk Works team, but already, we see a lot of promise. Everyone is collaborating—forming hypotheses, encouraging each other, sharing learnings along the way—while they use new tools to sharpen their skillsets and save time. And although the shift has been happening for years, the rise of AI really highlights how roles are intermingling. Creatives are becoming technologists. Technologists are becoming more creative. It’s already clear that AI has the potential to help us express and realize our ideas by blending the worlds together.
However, there’s so much more to discover. For now, we’re doing it in the safety of our own internal sandbox. But as our best hypotheses evolve into battle-tested use cases, we’re eager to bring it into our operations and client work like a fully designed fighter jet worthy of the Skunk Works name.
Ready to explore how AI can transform your marketing? Contact us to start the conversation.