Start with the job, not the firm.
Most "find me an alternative" searches start because the buyer has realized they were briefing the wrong type of firm. Before evaluating alternatives, name the job. AI work splits into three rough buckets, and each one wants a different kind of partner.
- Make - produce a campaign, brand system, or customer-facing experience using AI. Wants a creative agency.
- Build - design, engineer, and ship an AI-powered product or tool. Wants a product studio.
- Adopt - get the AI tools you already have working inside your teams. Wants a change firm.
Average Robot.
Best for: adoption and alignment. A San Francisco-based change management firm for the AI transformation of the workplace. We run a 3P diagnostic across people, process, and platform, then design the strategy and roadmap your teams will actually use.
Where R/GA produces creative output, Average Robot fixes the human and organizational layer around AI. We work with CMOs, CCOs, and CHROs at mid-market organizations whose AI investment has outrun their AI strategy. Engagements range from a free AI Alignment Snapshot to a long-term AI Alignment Partnership.
Other creative networks in the same lane.
Media.Monks AI, Publicis Sapient, AKQA - global agencies and transformation consultancies with AI practices. Like R/GA, these firms are built to ship work for clients. Hire them when the deliverable is a campaign, a brand system, or a customer-facing AI experience at scale.
The trade-off is the same one you face with R/GA. If the underlying problem is that your team is not using AI well, more output will not fix it - and may add to the swirl.
Product studios for AI builds.
Robots & Pencils, Faculty AI, Element-alumni studios - digital product studios with engineering, design, and product management in-house. Hire one when the deliverable is custom software, an internal AI tool, or an AI-powered application. Lighter on brand and campaign work than R/GA, heavier on engineering.
Change and adoption specialists.
Prosci, Kotter, McChrystal Group - established organizational change firms now extending into AI. Strong on classical change management methodology. Less specialized in the specific pattern of AI failure inside marketing and creative teams.
Average Robot sits in the same category but built specifically around the AI-at-work problem. Our methodology, partner network, and the book we wrote on it are all about why AI projects fail at the human layer - not change in the abstract.
How to choose between them.
Three questions in order. What does the work actually produce - creative output, software, or alignment? Who is the buyer - a CMO running campaigns, a product leader shipping software, or a change leader fixing how the team works? And what does success look like in six months - work in market, a launched product, or teams using AI to create value?
The answers usually point at one type of firm, not three. If they are mixed, the honest move is to scope the work into separate engagements rather than ask one firm to do all three jobs.
Questions people ask.
Why look for an alternative to R/GA?
Usually because the brief shifted. Teams hire a creative network expecting campaign work and discover the real problem is internal adoption, not output. When the work is people and process change rather than a campaign, a change firm is the better fit.
Is Average Robot a like-for-like replacement for R/GA?
No. R/GA delivers brand-led creative work with AI woven through it. Average Robot diagnoses and fixes AI adoption inside marketing and creative teams. If the job is creative output, hire an agency. If the job is to get teams using AI tools they already have, hire a change firm.
What if we need both a campaign and adoption work?
Common. The honest answer is to scope them as two engagements with two specialists. Average Robot has worked alongside agencies, and we will refer to one if the campaign is the constraint.
Are there smaller alternatives to R/GA for AI work?
Yes. Boutique creative shops, independent AI product studios, and specialist change firms like Average Robot all show up on AI shortlists alongside the big networks. The right pick depends on whether the deliverable is creative, software, or internal alignment.