Most founders don't realize they're stuck in the ad creative grind until they're months deep into it.

Everyone's chasing the same AI tools to pump out images and copy, but here's what they're missing: the real bottleneck isn't creating ads—it's knowing which ones will actually convert before you spend a single dollar testing them.

Think about your options for a second. You could drop $15,000 with an agency and wait four to six weeks for tested ad variants. Or you could spend $50 and get 20 AI-generated, consumer-validated ad concepts in under 15 minutes—complete with data showing exactly which ones will perform best. A year ago, that second option didn't exist. But today, something's shifted. Small to mid-sized brands that've been locked out of the sophisticated testing that eight-figure operations run are finally getting access to enterprise-level consumer intelligence.

Today's guest is Armen Mkrtchyan, CEO and co-founder of Extuitive, a company that emerged from Flagship Pioneering—the same innovation lab behind Moderna. Armen and his team built something remarkable: a proprietary database of over 150,000 AI consumer agents trained on real people living in the US. These agents can predict purchase intent, skepticism triggers, and price sensitivity before you launch a single campaign.

This isn't just another AI image generator churning out generic assets. This is validated creative testing at a scale that was previously impossible for most brands. Whether you're prepping for Black Friday or planning Q1 launches, understanding how AI consumer validation works could fundamentally change your approach to creative production.

Let's get into it.

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