Erik Mashkilleyson

Work / Avidly AI

Avidly AI

Building an agency’s everyday AI capability.

Client
Avidly AI
Project
AI strategy, operating systems and enablement
Year
2025–
Sector
Agency operations, AI
My role
AI strategy · Operating systems · Enablement
Themes
AI, Culture, Transformation
Sheet
04
Fig. 01
Webinar cover: Erno Bärlund and Erik Mashkilleyson among rows of yellow mannequins, with the title Tekoäly tylsä. Ihminen ei.
Tekoäly tylsä. Ihminen ei. The March 2026 webinar with Erno Bärlund.

I lead the meeting point of strategy and AI at Avidly, building the working systems, skills and point of view that turn generative AI into everyday agency capability.

01 System

From experimentation to everyday work

Generative AI creates possibilities across almost every part of an agency. Research, strategy, writing, design and production all offer places to experiment. Making those experiments useful across teams requires shared practices, appropriate context and people who can judge the results.

Since January 2025, I have led Avidly’s strategic AI capability alongside my wider brand and business strategy remit. The work brings together the tools people use, the systems around them and the judgment required to produce work clients can trust.

02 Story

Giving AI the context to be useful

The foundation includes Avidly’s AI playbook, reusable workflows and shared Claude Projects infrastructure. Finnish and English tone-of-voice systems translate brand principles into working LLM prompts. Together, these give teams a repeatable way to bring the right context into their work.

The practical questions are familiar agency questions. What are we trying to achieve? Who is the audience? What should this brand sound like? What information can we rely on? Who owns the final decision? Making those questions explicit improves how people brief, use and review AI-assisted work.

Fig. 02
Slide in Finnish, Beware of big technology hassles: three levels from basic tools to tailored processes to agents and automation.
Brand context, instructions and reusable workflows give each Project a clear purpose.

03 Society

Building capability through practice

Training is part of the operating system. Alongside Erno Bärlund, I run the recurring Ernon ja Erikin AI-klinikka, which reached its nineteenth session in September 2026. The series creates a regular place to examine tools, share working methods and discuss the decisions that arise in real projects.

I run tens of AI-assisted projects each year, alongside client AI strategy and foresight work. That practical experience feeds back into the workflows, training and advice we provide.

Fig. 03
Slide in Finnish: three questions to ask of AI-made output.
Recurring clinics turn individual experiments into shared agency knowledge.

04

A public point of view

My external work connects AI adoption with a wider question: how does human contribution gain value as production becomes more accessible? Talks and sessions span an AI and marketing webinar in 2023, Finnvera training in 2024, the 2026 webinar series, an Oulu session and VERGE: Future of Work.

The March 2026 public webinar with Erno attracted 236 registrations. It provides a public example of the thinking behind the work: human interpretation, taste and context are central to using AI well.

Fig. 04
Slide in Finnish: the most valuable part comes when a person chooses the direction and puts ideas in the right context.
Human ownership and review connect AI capability with professional accountability.

Selected artefacts

Fig. 05
Hand-drawn map from a house to a destination on grid paper, titled Strategy & Enablement.
Avidly AI: Strategy & Enablement.
Fig. 06
Diagram of a creative process branching and converging across six stages, titled The Evolution.
The Evolution: the creative process with AI and humans.
Fig. 07
Circle of scattered dots with a red path cutting through, titled The Noise.
The Noise: with AI, authentic humanity cuts through.
My role

Since January 2025 I have led Avidly’s strategic AI capability alongside brand and business strategy.

What we created
  • AI playbook
  • Reusable workflows
  • Bilingual tone-of-voice systems
  • Shared Claude Projects infrastructure
  • AI clinics and training
  • Client AI strategy and foresight
Impact
  • 19th AI clinic held in September 2026.
  • 236 registrations for the March 2026 webinar.
  • Tens of AI-assisted projects each year.
  • AI playbook, reusable workflows, bilingual tone-of-voice systems and shared Projects infrastructure.
See also