In this episode of Brave New Digital World, Sharon Romang — VP of Creative at Front Row and former Smartly.io lead — joins Andy Carvell to explore how today’s most effective marketers blend storytelling, performance, and tech. From building agency-owned tools to navigating AI rollouts (and Duolingo’s recent misstep), Sharon shares battle-tested insights on where creative work is headed — and why the future belongs to the data-fluent.

Find and connect with Sharon on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharonromang/

Resources Sharon recommends:

• Christine Göös on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinegoos/

• House of Content podcast: Spotify
• Emily Sundberg: https://www.emilyemilyemilyemily.com/hello
• Feed Me on Substack: https://www.readfeedme.com/
• Julian Cole, Strategy Finishing School: https://strategyfinishingschool.com/
• Ashwinn (@shwinnabego) on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@shwinnabego

Chapters

(00:00) Intro

(00:51) Introducing Sharon Romang: Creative Strategist with a Performance Edge

(01:53) The Future Is Already Here—Just Not Evenly Distributed

(05:09) Scalable Creative: From Smartly’s Image Templates to Figma Buzz

(09:19) Should Agencies Be Building Their Own Tech?

(13:03) Sharon’s Shift to Data-Driven Design

(17:27) Why Creatives Must Learn to Speak Performance

(19:44) AI Integration: How to Do It Without Losing the Human Touch

(22:59) The Duolingo Case: When “AI-First” Backfires

(24:05) Figma’s AI Rollout: A Masterclass in User-Centric Innovation

(26:22) Why Agencies Must Stay Ahead of Their Clients in AI

(27:22) What’s Expired: One-Channel Thinking and Creative Overproduction

(30:55) What’s Wired: Commerce, Creators & the Future of Shopping

(32:44) Behavioral Convergence Across Generations and Markets

(35:28) Sharon’s Dream: A Unified Creative Intelligence Stack

(38:33) Sharon’s Recommendations for Resources