To kick off our new interview series, we are sitting down with Jon Malyon, founder & managing director of award-winning creative agency We Are Tilt.
From pioneering and thoughtful uses of generative AI to driving sustainability through B Corp practices, Jon Malyon and his team are navigating the ever-changing creative landscape with curiosity and purpose. In a recent conversation with us, Jon discusses balancing creative innovation with responsibility, experimenting with generative AI tools while staying alert to the risks of displacing junior talent, blindly accepting new trends, and losing sight of the planet in the age of AI. His insights offer a grounded yet hopeful perspective on what it means to lead a creative business at the intersection of technology, ethics, and meaningful storytelling.
Creative growth with a sustainable foundation
Tilt has always leaned towards sustainability. They were among the first 1,000 companies to become B Corp certified in the UK, but when we ask Jon why they did it so quickly, he struggles to answer the question. Not because it’s a difficult question, but because the answer is so simple. “It just was the right thing to do,” he says. “As an agency, we’ve always tried to be sustainable in what we do, and make sustainable choices. It wasn’t really a conscious thing.” From offices powered by renewable energy, to work championing social change and sustainable practices, it simply underlined their existing values.
Jon says he believed their best work was already in those spaces anyway. “The team comes alive when they’re working on projects where the cause is actually rooted in purpose,” he says. “And then with my business hat on, it was the right thing to do because I believed it would attract the right talent, and retain the talent we already had.” Firstly and foremostly however, he makes it clear that it simply was the right thing to do for Tilt from a holistic perspective.
Balancing generative AI and sustainability
So, where does the rise in AI tools fit into this? “The crossover between sustainability and AI is an interesting one,” Jon reflects. “These large language models are very power-hungry, and the amount people are using them means having to build bigger and bigger data centres, that consume more and more energy, which is not being drawn from a sustainable source. So, there’s an argument that we are making climate change worse by just jumping headlong into these processes.”
Jon points out that the rise of these AI models has shifted the industry’s focus, sometimes at the expense of sustainability conversations that were much more present just a few years ago. “But then the counter argument is, you’ve now got these tools that you can use to work out how to solve the climate problem, that we didn’t have previously. So, it is a balance.”
Still, Jon believes in using these new tools in a mindful way, asking the right questions, even when answers aren’t exactly straightforward. One of the clearest ways Tilt is confronting sustainability within the AI space is through its internal AI sustainability focus group, encouraging team-wide reflection on how these tools can be used responsibly and sustainably, and how their impact can be mitigated.
The initiative was spearheaded by Mel, the company’s People and Culture Manager, who also champions other sustainability efforts in the agency. “She’s very vocal about it,” Jon notes proudly. “Whilst it’s not tier-one importance to everyone, it’s always front of mind because Mel is there, championing it and driving everything forward.”
He admits that the focus group might not have the answers to all the big questions, but notes that they are at least having a conversation around it. “I think just doing that is better than not,” he says.
Creativity still needs humans
Equal parts keen and nervous to find out what Jon thinks about the future of the creative industries now that generative AI tools have embedded themselves so firmly in our lives, his reply is refreshing — simply by being so considerate and honest. It’s obvious that he’s thought about this before, and that everything Tilt does comes from a place of sincerity.
For Jon, the real power lies in the combination of a creative’s mind and the generative AI tools they choose to utilise it. “If you put a creative in front of these tools and they understand how to use them, they will be able to produce better outputs than someone who doesn’t have a creative mind,” he says to start.
He sees AI as an amplifier, not a replacement. “If you understand your craft, and then combine that curiosity and deep understanding with these tools, you are far more powerful than without,” he says. “And also far more powerful than someone who does not have that curiosity and deep knowledge of the craft.”
AI tools might be able to generate ideas or visuals, but Jon strongly believes they still require a human to shape the emotional core of a story. “Whilst you can use these tools to create content, you still need to have a creative mind to be able to tell a story and find out what the emotional hook is, and how to then weave it into the right narrative,” he concludes.
The constant wave of change
When we ask about the biggest challenge facing the creative industries, Jon doesn’t hesitate: “It’s the rate of change.” In the past, creatives had time to master a skill before the next big shift arrived, but today, new AI tools and platforms are emerging almost monthly.
“I used to say, you can never learn enough,” Jon says with a bright smile, recalling his early days in web development where the pace was different. “Now it’s a new thing every month. You’ve got to have an adaptive-learning mindset and just lean into it.”
But within this dizzying pace, there’s room for concern as well. Jon worries about how little the public questions all these new tools. He describes a mix of doom and dissonance, a sense that the tools are great at increasing our efficiency, but ultimately might take our jobs.
“The dissonance is the feeling that this problem is too big to be able to change,” he says thoughtfully. “And so, I think we’re in a situation where we’re just accepting what’s being given to us without questioning it. And that’s wrong.”
Jon urges a mindset of critical curiosity. “If you do use generative AI, go and learn about it and understand it and be present in your choice of using it,” he says, pausing only for a short second before adding: “And question the consequences of doing it. Empower yourselves to understand what your alternatives are.” He points to tech ethicists like Tristan Harris, who’ve called for better public understanding and ethical frameworks around AI usage.
The future cost of cutting corners
As AI takes over more of the entry-level tasks in creative businesses, Jon warns that we may be unintentionally undermining the talent ecosystem. If companies start to replace their junior associates with AI, they might save money now but what will that mean for them in the future?
“Then you roll forward 10-15 years, and where’s the mid-tier associate? Then where’s your next senior leadership?” He asks. “Because if they haven’t been able to cut their teeth and learn the skills needed to move and progress into a career, you have no future talent pipeline. And so, essentially what’s going to happen is the talent pipeline will collapse. And then that will just implode the economy, because if you haven’t got workers, how do you work?”
It’s a sobering scenario, but Jon is very clear: Tilt is not looking to replace its juniors. Personally, it’s important for Jon to invest in emerging talent, to ensure the next generation of creatives.
Looking forward, mindfully
In a world currently driven by non-stop innovation and urgency, Jon Malyon offers a rare combination of realism and optimism all in one. At the heart of his approach is a consistent call for mindfulness and responsibility, terms he returns to often. He doesn’t claim to have all the answers, but is asking all the right questions, and in a time where many are either dazzled by AI’s potential or paralysed by its possible implications, he’s carving out space for reflection and long term thinking.
That kind of leadership, critically curious while never compromising on creativity, might be exactly what the creative industries need to not only survive in the long term, but to build something genuinely better for the future.
For more information, check out We Are Tilt and follow Jon on LinkedIn.
