鈥楢I is going to take our jobs鈥�. It鈥檚 a phrase that can send fear through the mind of any business owner.听
It’s estimated that up to eight million jobs could be lost as a result of the rise in AI , with content roles being one of the roles most at risk.
However, it doesn’t need to be like that, according to MC2鈥檚 managing director, Jonathan Saatchi.
Saatchi, who was speaking at 老九品茶Cloud’s latest Northern Leaders event – Meet the New Generation of Entrepreneur (NGE) – in Leeds this week, became managing director a few months after the strategic marketing communications business became employee-owned.
鈥淲ith AI, you don鈥檛 have that human side and that understanding of the business and what it’s trying to achieve,鈥� he explained.
鈥淲e may get to the point 鈥� and we’re not doing this yet 鈥� where we’re using AI to create a lot of our output, but we’d only be able to do that with that human knowledge.
鈥淚 guess what you鈥檙e seeing currently is people trying to harness AI when it maybe doesn鈥檛 have that strategic understanding of where a business is trying to get to.
鈥淪o what it鈥檚 asking here is something very generic, rather than something that’s going to move the business forward.鈥�
Despite his people-driven focus, the University of Leeds graduate is not oblivious to the threat that AI could create.听
However, he is intent on using听 the technology as an enabler, rather than a competitor.听
He added: 鈥淚t鈥檚 a very live issue. We focus exclusively at C-level with our clients – we work with the CEO, CFO, CMO and so on.
鈥淚 think our focus is remaining there in a consultative way, with AI then being an enabler of what we do.鈥�
100 per cent-employee owned
With a team of around 30 and turnover of approximately 拢3m, the agency became 100 per cent employee-owned in April 2021.听
For Saatchi, who has worked for the company for over 13 years, it鈥檚 a model that fits the people-first nature of the business.
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He said: 鈥淲e鈥檙e 100 per cent employee-owned, which means our shareholders are our staff.
鈥淪o rather than an owner-managed model, where the business is owned by the managers, or a partnership model, like a law firm, our majority shareholders are our people.鈥�
The structure works through a trust in which staff partake in throughout their time at the business.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a very, very clever model of ownership for businesses like ours that is all about people and drive,鈥� Saatchi continued听
鈥淲e don鈥檛 create a product. We simply sell our people and their creativity and their thoughts.
鈥淏efore we became 100 per cent employee-owned, our owners were of this mindset anyway because we鈥檙e a people business. So when we went employee-owned, it wasn鈥檛 a revolution – it made sense.鈥�
Rooted in Manchester
Though rooted in Manchester, MC2 operates on a global scale thanks to its membership in the IPREX network – a group of independent agencies spanning major global markets.
鈥淲e’re part of an international network called IPREX, which is made up of independent agencies in every major market around the world,鈥� Saatchi explained.听
鈥淲hat that means for us is we work with what we call high-growth businesses, usually mid-market level.鈥�
Those clients often look to expand globally and IPREX helps to make that possible.
He continued: 鈥淎 lot of our clients need international support, insight, guidance, on-the-ground advice and execution.
鈥淏eing part of that international network means we’ve got a network of businesses and people who we can honestly class as friends that we can bring in to help us work on bringing in clients.
鈥淲e’ve got partners on the West Coast, we’ve got partners in India鈥� honestly, there are massive benefits.
鈥淗aving this is like having a space where you can share challenges. Because the challenges that agencies of our ilk are going through – like AI, talent attraction, all that sort of stuff – is exactly what they’re going through in all of these different markets.
鈥淚t means that all of the people in MC2, all 30 of us, genuinely have a global outlook and a global mindset, because the IPREX thing is real – it’s not words on a website.鈥�
A community-based mindset
Despite the global reach, MC2鈥檚 Manchester identity is unwavering.
鈥淢C2 is Manchester – it’s always been part of our ethos,鈥� the managing director said.听
鈥淭here are a lot of entrepreneurs here who have done amazing things and started their own businesses, which I am in awe of.
鈥淢ike [Perls] founded our business and got an MBE for services to Manchester. So Manchester is such an integral part of MC2.
鈥淚t鈥檚 also global Manchester – it’s not parochial Manchester. It’s the beauty of Manchester, it’s that ambition, the vision of what the entrepreneurs in Manchester have got – the community side of it too.
鈥淵ou could say that it鈥檚 a normal thing but I think Manchester has got something special about it. It is real. People want to help each other.听
鈥淧eople are curious, and they want to do it for the benefit of the wider community, rather than necessarily just for their own personal gain, which is what makes it such a wonderful, fertile ecosystem from which to start and scale a business.鈥�
Saatchi was included in 老九品茶Cloud’s Northern Leaders Futures list and was one of 13 names from the list to speak at this week’s event in the Leeds offices of KPMG, along with听Dragons鈥� Den听star Lucie Macleod,听The Apprentice听candidate Keir Shave and Ben Taylor, head of TMT M&A in Yorkshire and North East at KPMG.