👋 Hello media side-kicks!

While you were still trying to get your Monday.com board to load, smartclip just launched a full-blown AI operations squad. It's called Sidekicks—because apparently "Replace Your Team Without HR Knowing" was too on-the-nose.

Let’s dive into the future of Ad Ops, where your new co-worker is an AI agent that doesn’t drink flat whites or “circle back.”

🧠 What the Hell Is It?

Straight out of RTL Group’s adtech lab, smartclip’s Sidekicks is what happens when you cross workflow automation with business-grade AI and a healthy mistrust of generic chatbots.

Built in cahoots with measurement nerds Realytics, this platform unleashes a gang of specialist AI agents—“sidekicks”—designed to handle every boring, repetitive, tear-inducing part of digital advertising.

Briefing? Sorted.
Planning? Automated.
Delivery, monitoring, reporting? All done by code that doesn’t argue in Slack threads.

And unlike your intern, Sidekicks doesn’t need training on the difference between CTR and CPA.

🛡️ The Sell – Privacy Paranoia Meets Performance Porn

Forget ChatGPT hallucinations and rogue prompts sending your campaign data to an open-source hellscape.

Sidekicks keeps your juicy insights in-house.

That’s right—no exposure to third-party LLMs, no dodgy training datasets, and no fear that your media plan ends up teaching a language model how to sell shampoo in Swedish.

This is AI for grown-ups.
Built with proprietary data protection as a feature, not a legal panic response.

⚙️ Modular Madness – Build Your Frankenstack

Sidekicks doesn’t bulldoze your existing tech. It slides right in—like a good agency partner should. Whether you need help with creative asset handovers, cross-channel measurement, or someone (something?) to finally standardise your reporting, this platform plugs into whatever frankenstack you’re already using.

Initial rollouts will hit smartclip and Realytics’ existing client base, with pilot integration across RTL Deutschland and Ad Alliance.

Because of course the Germans are first in line to operationalise efficiency.

📈 Why Should You Care?

Because you’re still wasting your team’s time copying campaign IDs into Google Sheets.

This is about scale, darling.
About reclaiming time from your overworked Account Managers and redirecting it towards, you know, actual strategy.

As cross-media complexity becomes the norm—not the exception—agentic AI platforms like Sidekicks are less about gimmicks and more about not drowning. And unlike your usual AI fluff, this one actually does things.

It’s the beginning of a new era: where Ad Ops finally gets the automation treatment finance and legal got years ago. Except with cooler job titles and better merch.

📢 The Takeaway?

AI isn't coming for your job. It's coming for your spreadsheet.

Sidekicks is what happens when AI stops being a buzzword and starts being your best-performing team member.

And let’s be honest… if your agency’s still running on interns, broken dashboards, and hope, you might want to buddy up with a Sidekick fast.

At least they won’t ghost you mid-campaign.

🦾 Powered by code. Fueled by burnout.
This is how Ad Ops gets its groove back.

Until next time!