Creative leaders in the age of AI (with Adam Morgan from Twilio) | Ep. 27

Beyond The Billboard

Welcome to Beyond the Billboard, powered by OneScreen. Charlie Riley and Greg Wise sit down with Adam Morgan to tackle the “creative marketer” stereotype and why “there’s gonna be so much AI slop.” Adam shares 30 years of lessons—from agency side to brand side—on moving beyond the “creative cave,” leading with storytelling, and building real differentiation “in the age of AI.” The conversation covers the pendulum from “every single penny had to tie to some sort of ROI” to “brand at the forefront again,” why “we’ve optimized the hell out of everything,” and how younger builders can “step up” toward head-of-marketing and even board roles. Adam breaks down Twilio’s recent brand refresh—“not like we changed the logo”—anchored in a builder ethos: “doers…get their hands dirty and build stuff.” The team digs into leadership alignment, internal marketing, and why “being safe is just doing vanilla.” The through-line: bold doesn’t have to be shock value—“human and emotional” wins.

👤 Guest Bio

Adam Morgan is VP of Brand at Twilio with “30 years” in creative leadership “since 95.” He hosts realcreativeleadership.com, a video podcast “around creative leadership,” and wrote “Sorry, Spock, Emotions Drive Business” (available on Amazon). Adam points listeners to adamwmorgan.com for articles and to connect on LinkedIn.

📌 What We Cover

• “Creative, fun folks” vs. “serious marketers,” and why “there is a path…all the way up to CMO.”
• The pendulum: “performance marketing” to “brand at the forefront again.”
• “There’s gonna be so much AI slop”—differentiation through “emotional connections with customers.”
• Twilio’s “brand refresh”: builder ethos, “not like we changed the logo,” story first, then “shapes and fonts.”
• “We’ve optimized the hell out of everything”—why squeezing “droplets” isn’t enough.
• Operational excellence vs. “customer intimacy” or “product innovation” and when “you’re kind of screwed” asking for more brand.
• Leadership alignment: assessing the CEO, “know your audience,” one-on-one conversations, then “do a test.”
• Bold ≠ shock value: “human and emotional,” “push the boundaries of comfort,” avoid “vanilla.”

🔗 Resources Mentioned

• adamwmorgan.com
• realcreativeleadership.com
• “Sorry, Spock, Emotions Drive Business” (Amazon)
• McKinsey study reference on creative leaders (mentioned)
• Market Leadership (Wema and co; referenced)
• Scrappy ABM (podcast ad mention)
• Domino’s (example)
• Microsoft
• HubSpot
• Twilio