Global research in the communications industry increasingly shows that artificial intelligence is no longer an experiment but an infrastructural change in marketing. At the same time, it is being emphasised more often that its real value lies not only in automation, but in organisations’ ability to adapt ways of working, develop new skills and find a sustainable balance between technology and creativity.
AI is therefore not a threat that “is coming”, but a tool that is already here, one that will not destroy jobs but will relentlessly separate those who know how to turn it into real business value from those who use it superficially or out of fear. Creative work is becoming increasingly risky, not because it is more radical but because it is unpredictable. A bold solution today can be just as risky as a “safe choice”, because client reactions no longer follow clear patterns.
How all this looks from the perspective of an agency simultaneously working on the local market, following regional trends and actively testing new AI tools in everyday work, we explored in a conversation with the MITA Group agency team. We open questions about the practical application of AI, increasingly unpredictable audience and client reactions, and the challenges of creative work at a moment when ideas must simultaneously be relevant, commercially sustainable and authentic.
- If you had to summarise 2025 in one strategic decision you would make again, and one you would completely handle differently today – what would those two “plot twists” be?
Tectonic changes in the world are shaping the decisions of all managers and company owners worldwide. Wars, US tariffs and their impact on global trade, the development of AI and the missing energy infrastructure for its further development are changing our trajectories every day. Just as there once was a single continent, the global market has fragmented and is moving towards reconfiguration and protectionism. The year 2025 changed the world like no year before, and every following year will bring even bigger and faster changes.
Since no one knows the scale at which these changes will occur or how they will affect different parts of the world, it is equally difficult to predict how our decisions will influence the future because that future is constantly changing. Retaining the best talent is always the best decision a manager can make, because an agency cannot operate without creative, reliable, responsible and hardworking people. As for the decision I would change, I would have entered AI technologies faster and paid more attention to costs. In a world that will reduce fees due to increasing AI implementation, fees will not grow, so survival will depend on controlling and lowering costs.
- What pushed your agency the most to grow up this year, and what made you play like a child again?
It would be absurd to say that Bosnia and Herzegovina has not been affected by wars in the Middle East, the accelerating development of AI, sudden changes in fiscal regulations, an unstable political situation, problems faced by transport workers, the growth of regional agencies and the increasing number of larger clients turning to regional contracts at the expense of local Bosnian agencies.
We are growing up on the ruins of an industry that used to be larger, more glamorous and fairer, and we are moving toward a new world in which only two currencies will matter: 1. experience that cannot be digitalised and 2. smart use of AI.
As for the second point, the Balance Conference allowed us to play, enjoy ourselves and implement everything we saw as mistakes at conferences we previously attended. We use AI to the maximum, develop tools and arrange collaborations with companies abroad with whom we soon plan to launch unique AI research on large target group samples in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as tools that help create and launch new products for influencers worldwide in just a few days.
- If the Adriatic industry were a publicly traded company, what rating would you give it entering 2026? And why should investors keep (or not keep) their shares?
The stock market is gambling, so giving ratings or forecasts is also speculation. I would not bet on this industry because it sometimes feels like the video rental business 15 years ago. But that does not mean it will disappear, rather that it will change drastically and support sales much more, requiring far more knowledge than ever before.
Optimisation, copywriting, strategy, design and production are already feeling the impact of AI, and in 3 to 5 years we will not recognise the industry. At MITA Group we already use prompts to build React websites, generate models for photo and video product promotion, produce commercials, enhance animations and improve client experience in managing social media pages. We are aware that AI will not destroy jobs, but only those who best implement this knowledge into business will survive.
- Which idea in 2025 made you stand up from the table and say “Okay, this is why I still do this job”?
“If I Were a Bird and Had Wings” is the song we used for a UNDP campaign marking 30 years of peace. What fado is for Portugal and bossa nova for Latin America, sevdah is for us. I had the opportunity to play with music, melody and words and package it all into a video showcasing the most beautiful landscapes of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- What was your biggest creative risk this year, and did it pay off in the way you expected… or in a way you could not predict?
I have the feeling that in this time every proposal is a creative risk and that it has become impossible to predict client reactions. Sometimes giving a bold slogan and visual is a creative risk, and the very next day you risk offering a “safe choice”. When we look at awarded works from the region and compare them with campaigns in Bosnia and Herzegovina, we can see that every bold solution seems doomed, but what kind of creatives would we be if we stopped trying to push such ideas forward.
- Which creative weakness does the regional industry persistently hide, and what would you do if someone appointed you to “expose” it during 2026?
The industry still behaves as if AI will not fundamentally change everything we have been building for hundreds of years. And the change is already happening, we just are not looking it directly in the eyes yet.
- Which common assumption about consumers did you have to “break with a hammer” in 2025 because it was no longer true?
Consumers have long stopped caring about brands themselves and care more about the feelings brands evoke in them, how they treat the environment, employees and partners. They no longer function by simple demographic categories like M/F 20-45, 45-55, because now everyone satisfies their specific interests through niche portals and media, by following micro-influencers, buying from home online rather than impulsively at the checkout while waiting in line.
- If you had to predict one psychological shift among audiences in 2026 that will most change communication, what would it be, and why is it invisible until it happens?
Google is no longer the only place where we search for answers. Audiences are already talking to AI tools, we just have not yet admitted that our habits have changed. And that will change everything. The way we consume news, page rankings, SEO, SEM.
- Which new skill, habit or ritual in your team this year could be labelled “born in the Adriatic industry”, something that does not exist anywhere else?
The Balance Conference organised by MITA Group raises awareness and educates employees about work-life balance. It is a project born from necessity that has grown into a culture. We believe there is no long-term success without balance, and that is not written in manuals but in everyday work with people.
- What is the most unexpected sentence you heard from a client this year, and how did it change your brief, campaign or relationship?
A client told us they wanted a complete turnaround. Then they chose everything opposite to that. It is not new, but it is interesting that it is happening precisely at a time when everyone talks about change.
- If someone offered you to start 2026 with one single “act of courage”, professional, creative or human, that would completely push you out of your comfort zone and move the industry one step forward… which act would you choose and why that one?
We would start servicing air conditioners. The competition would finally wake up. Jokes aside, we will push even harder to prove that AI is not a substitute for thinking, but a tool for those who know what they are doing.
