In this episode, I sit down with Ivan Vislavskiy, co-founder and CEO of Comrade. Ivan built his agency from the freelance web projects he started at 19 into a national digital firm with nearly 100 team members across four major cities. What stood out in this conversation is how grounded his view of AI is. AI will not replace real marketing. It makes basic output cheap, which means the work that stands out takes more judgment, more strategy, and more creative thinking than the average person expects. We get into how his R&D and Innovation team uses AI to automate thousands of hours, how he thinks about measuring real impact, and why he still trusts human intuition over anything a model produces. Ivan breaks down the difference between speed and leverage, how agencies should define a niche, and why thinking like a founder is becoming the skill that separates high performers from everyone else. We also talk about parenting, critical thinking, and a fun moment where Ivan explains how he uses AI to create custom coloring pages for his kids. If you want a grounded, practical view of where AI is taking marketing and creative work, this episode delivers it in a way that actually makes sense. About Ivan Vislavskiy Ivan Vislavskiy is the co-founder and CEO of Comrade Agency, a full-service digital firm with offices in Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles, and Austin. With a background as a developer and designer, Ivan brings a rare mix of creative intuition and technical depth. He leads an internal R and D and Innovation group focused on using AI to automate repetitive work and unlock higher level creative output for both clients and his team. Key Topics Why AI raises the bar for great marketingThe difference between speed and leverage in creative workHow Comrade measures AI’s true impactWhy creativity and intuition still matterBuilding and committing to a clear nicheHow to teach teams to use AI without outsourcing their thinkingParenting and staying curious in the age of AIWhat agencies get wrong about AIThe next five years of AI in digital marketing and creative work Top Takeaways AI makes basic marketing fast and cheap, which means real creativity becomes more valuable.Strategy and judgment are the new competitive advantage.Teams that treat AI as a thinking partner outperform teams that use it for shortcuts.Agencies that define a niche grow faster and build stronger client relationships.Human intuition is still the final filter for all high quality creative decisions. Memorable Quotes “AI doesn’t lower the bar for great work. It raises it.”“Speed is useful, but speed without judgment creates noise.”“You can not outsource intuition to a model.”“Niche down or stay invisible.”“Creativity is the thing that survives every wave of technology.” Resources Mentioned Comrade AgencyExamples of their internal R&D automationsWorking Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon Hardcover- by Colin Bryar, Bill Carr Where to Find Ivan: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ivan-vislavskiy Comrade Agency: comradeweb.com About Dear Tech Podcast Dear Tech Podcast is hosted by Shubho Ghosh and dives deep into the human stories, strategy, and real world insights behind the-people building the future of work, technology, and AI.
