Inside the Lab: A Q&A with Struan Farquhar, Creative Production Technologist at Tag

In this edition of Inside the Lab, we sat down with Struan Farquhar, tag’s Creative Technologist based in Singapore. Starting with Tag in 2024 and a 15 year career spanning VFX, post-production, editing, IT, and creative technology, Struan has spent years at the forefront of innovation. His role in the Innovation Lab positions him perfectly to share insights on how emerging technologies, especially AI, are transforming creativity, collaboration, and the future of production.

Q: What excites you most about joining the Innovation Lab? 

A. Getting to work with some of the most cutting-edge people in the industry and continuously learning from them.  

Q: How would you describe AI’s role within the industry? 

A. I see AI primarily as a tool, a sophisticated prediction engine. The more I work with it, the clearer this becomes, and it’s important to keep that in mind when using it. 

In practice, this means experts in their fields are best equipped to get high-quality outputs. They know the terminology that frames context and steers the AI in the right direction. Industry-specific terms carry built-in meaning. For example, while I might not know much about POS materials, a Print/Shopper expert asking for a “Wobbler” instantly signals supermarket setting, small size, typical content, and layout ideas. 

Experts can use these everyday terms to generate accurate content faster and guide the tool more effectively than non-experts. This lets them harness AI’s speed to move from 0% to 60% quickly. The combination of human expertise and AI accelerates production and amplifies creative capability. 

Q: How is AI changing the way we collaborate with clients? 

A. Conceptualisation is happening much faster. Creating new ideas, and taking those ideas to a higher level of polish, is really bringing pitches to a new level in shorter timeframes. 

Q: And what about the human side of creativity and production, how do you protect that? 

A. AI, as I mentioned earlier, is essentially a prediction calculator, and you can see that in the outputs it generates. Some are absolutely wild. That’s why human judgment, taste, and sensibility are essential. We need to curate the results, sift through the mushy collection of options, and move forward with the best material. 

Q: What’s your take on brands that have reservations about embracing AI? 

A. I understand why some brands are cautious. We haven’t yet seen landmark rulings, I imagine a Midjourney vs Disney case will set the precedent. For now, the likely middle ground is that AI won’t be penalized for what it trains on, but rather for how outputs are used. For example: training on Mickey Mouse is fine, but generating Mickey Mouse images isn’t. 

If brands choose not to use AI, they should be clear on why. AI is becoming the norm, and adoption will grow. It’s okay to avoid it, but don’t expect all the cost savings. There are levels of AI use, and brands can start small with low-risk applications like admin tasks or early concepting. As assets move closer to the consumer and become more critical, caution should increase. We visualise this as a spectrum: the closer the asset is to the consumer’s eye, the more careful you need to be. 

 Q: Looking ahead, what’s your vision for creativity at Tag? 

A. I see us using technology to alleviate admin, repetitive, “boring” work for creatives, so they can focus on work that benefits more from people getting involved. I also see speed of delivery and number of options increasing going from brief to concept, to V1 faster. I can also see creative work becoming more like a photoshoot. Where you get 100 options and then move forward with the preferred asset.