The year behind us was definitely marked by the increasingly intensive use of artificial intelligence in creative processes. AI has lost its status as a “tool” and has become a new member of the team. This is exactly where the key question emerges: where do we draw the line between efficiency and responsibility? The real challenge is no longer innovation itself, but the ability to maintain focus, meaning and human judgement in a process that can so easily spiral out of control.
Studio Trampolin has chosen a different pace. Not a slower one, but a more sustainable one. A pace that stems from the intention to remain consistent with quality and with work that is built for the long term. One in which technology serves the idea, and in which focus is not lost with every new external signal.
Great stories no longer emerge solely from an idea or a campaign, but at the moment when a client no longer “buys” a solution, but a relationship and a sense of security. The trust that the process can be led together is a principle that applies equally within the team. In a world that increasingly gravitates towards superficial values, trust becomes the foundation, and listening the basic prerequisite for creation to happen at all.
With the team of Studio Trampolin, Andrija Šulić, CEO and Managing Director, Nenad Cizl, Art Director, Tine Lugarič, Creative Director and Head of Strategy, and Tamara Lugarič, Account Director and Client Service Lead, we talk about an agency model in which AI is a space for play and experimentation, autonomy is the foundation of work, and “dream big” is a conscious, everyday decision.
Andrija Šulić – CEO / Managing Director
1. If you had to summarise 2025 in one strategic decision you would make again, and one you would handle completely differently today, what would those two “plot twists” be?
The decision I would make again: a conscious investment in team members’ autonomy. People do their best work when you give them space to be who they are, not who you think they should be. The decision I would handle differently today: in some moments, I would have delegated responsibility earlier and more decisively where it could have been taken on, while at the same time recognising more quickly and clearly the situations in which that simply was not realistic. 2025 taught me that autonomy is not a universal solution. It requires the right moment, the right context and clear support.
2. What pushed your agency to grow up the most this year, and what made it play like a child again?
What pushed us to grow up the most was the realisation that AI is no longer just a “tool”, but a colleague on the team. Without clearly defined rules, results can be fast, but not necessarily responsible.
What made us play like children again was that very same thing. AI brought back a sense of experimentation, play and rapid prototyping. You can try, fail, discard and start again, but ten times faster.
3. If the Adriatic industry were a publicly listed company, what rating would you give it going into 2026? And why should investors keep their shares, or not?
A turbulent year lies ahead, full of surprises, twists and sudden jumps, both up and down. Investors looking for a calm sleep might feel uneasy. Those who understand that fortune favours the brave and that the greatest returns are born in uncertain times will likely hold on to their shares and even buy more.
Nenad Cizl – Art Director
4. Which idea in 2025 made you get up from the table and say “Okay, this is why I still do this job”?
It is not just one, there are several. And every time I see or create something I admire, it gives me confidence for new work. But as we enter the AI era, this is an even bigger challenge for me now: to be better than yesterday and to continue enjoying what we do. If we, as humans, remain creative and if we love what we do, AI will find it much harder to compete with us.
5. 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 have predicted?
Every time we work on something we have never done before, I cannot sleep peacefully because my brain “itches” all night trying to solve the task. This year we worked on several projects that were true first timers, but two were really special. Both were museum installations that we executed in full, from 3D design, through a computer game, to technical drawings, all for the first time. 😄
6. Which creative weakness does the regional industry persistently hide, and what would you do if someone appointed you to “expose” it in 2026?
Honestly, I think the entire region is full of creatives who do really, really great work. I only regret that we do not have enough money to pay the very best, who work for clients outside the region, so that they could also work for us here. I am often amazed by what people are capable of creating, but studios or agencies simply do not have the budgets to collaborate with them, because we do not have clients who can pay for that level.
Tine Lugarič – Creative Director / Head of Strategy
7. Which common assumption about consumers did you have to “smash with a hammer” in 2025 because it was no longer true?
In the first quarter of 2025, we strategically, creatively and production-wise led a campaign for a large international brand headquartered in Switzerland, which simultaneously launched two new mobile applications for the general public and healthcare professionals across four markets: Switzerland, Slovenia, South Africa and Dubai.
One of the key steps in the early stages, which was not initially foreseen in the brief, was the assumption that people in such different markets have very different habits, needs, cultures and lifestyles. After detailed discussions with representatives from each individual market, this assumption proved to be completely justified, and in some aspects the differences were even greater than we had initially anticipated.
This understanding significantly shaped the strategy and the communication system of the campaign, which was then easily adaptable to each individual market while retaining the overarching campaign idea. It was crucial that, together with brand representatives, we devoted more time in the initial briefing phase to deeply understanding consumers across different markets, because without that, every subsequent step would have been nothing more than risky speculation.
8. If you had to predict one psychological shift in audiences in 2026 that will most change communication, what would it be, and why is it invisible until it already happens?
This year was marked by a flood of content created with the help of artificial intelligence. These tools were not used only by smaller brands with limited budgets, but also by the world’s biggest brands with large budgets, such as Coca-Cola and McDonald’s. Both experienced near-global backlash when launching their holiday ads, as people reacted extremely critically to soulless stories and production, with the public massively calling for a return to authentic, sincere and human content, the kind that generates real and genuine emotions.
Although AI tools will undoubtedly advance rapidly in the quality of their outputs, the human psychological need for authenticity, sincerity and emotion could serve as a good safeguard that, even amid a flood of AI-generated content, will leave more and more space for high-quality, authentic and real content that returns to the basic human to human level. Top-tier craft, storytelling and genuine emotions will always find their place, which over time will become increasingly precious. It will be up to brand managers and creatives to recognise these opportunities and to have the courage to preserve what is, for now, still our advantage, the preservation of the human.
Tamara Lugarič – Account Director / Client Service Lead
9. What was the most unexpected sentence you heard from a client this year, and how did it change your brief, campaign or relationship?
The common denominator of all the relationships we have been building with clients since the very beginning of Trampolin is trust. Trust is the foundation of all successful stories and of those sincere, enthusiastic reactions such as “this is crazy”, “epiiic”, “the best”.
When a client no longer “buys” just an idea or a campaign, but the relationship and the sense of security they get with us, every brief changes, becoming more open, braver and bolder. That is how great stories are born.
The clearest and most interesting “sentence” we hear more and more often is:
“We do not yet know what or how, but we will find a way to work with you, because we really want to.”
10. Which new skill, habit or ritual within the team this year could you label as “born in the Adriatic industry”, as something that does not exist anywhere else?
Within the team as well, trust is the foundation, and listening is the condition that allows us to create together at all. This year we added a bit of manifestation to that, which we practise together with the team from time to time. Each time, it works better. :)
It may not be common in the Adriatic industry, but we believe the time has come to allow ourselves here as well to think broader, braver and more ambitiously. We want “dream big” to be not just a phrase, but a real decision.
11. If someone offered you the chance 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?
Tamara Lugarič: That we are human to one another. This should be the guiding principle and the beginning of every relationship, whether professional or personal. That requires courage, but it is precisely there that the most sincere and valuable connections are created.
Tine Lugarič: We will continue to adhere to Trampolin’s core principles that enable us to consistently ensure high quality: 1. quality comes first, 2. respect and trust are at the core of all relationships, 3. we do not participate in pitches with free concepts and ideas.
Andrija Šulić: To maintain focus. To consciously decide not to react impulsively to every new external signal, but to remain consistent with what we are building in the long term, responsibly and with clear purpose, while being ready to adapt where it truly brings value.
Nenad Cizl: We live in an era in which the entire world could help protect people from corrupt narcissists with too much power, but instead we allow the wealthy, driven by money and a sick desire for domination, to deliberately turn the world upside down. They manipulate, exhaust and destroy everything they touch.
My language is visual. And if through it I can help create something that will push boundaries and bring the world at least one step closer to common sense, then that is my act of courage, and I would like to collaborate on it.
