In it for the long run: why efficiency isn't the finish line

This past weekend we saw runners taking to the streets of the city in the 46^th London Marathon. The level of camaraderie, not only among the runners, but the thousands of supporters at every point along the way brought a collective sense of “we’re in it for the long run”.  

This got us thinking of what it means to be ‘in it for the long run’ when it comes to digital transformation.  

The pressure to chase efficiency gains is real and immediate. But efficiency gains, as IDEO chair Tim Brown argued in a piece published last week, are a trap if it becomes a destination rather than a means. When every competitor achieves the same AI-driven efficiencies, the path clearly being charted, everyone will be left competing on price in a market where those advantages disappear overnight, and ultimately consumers start to pay the price as they experience a heightened ‘digital sea of sameness’. Unless the surplus of human energy and creative capacity that automation liberates is reinvested into the right things.  

The brands that will pull ahead are those that use AI’s efficiency gains to show their customers ‘we’re in it for the long run’: getting more creative, more distinctive, and more genuinely connected to the customer you serve. Malcolm Poynton of D&AD made this case plainly in a recent interview, drawing on research showing that emotionally engaging creative communication outperforms information-led approaches by anywhere from three to seventeen times, depending on sector.  

At MSQ DX, we’re building for the long run, bringing together customer insight, creative excellence, and deep technical expertise to help our client turn their digital transformation journey into lasting customer impact and commercial growth.  

Three things worth thinking about now:  

1. Audit where AI is freeing up capacity  

Efficiency gains are already accumulating across development, content, and operations. The question is whether those gains are being reinvested into more strategic thinking, innovative designs, and more meaningful customer engagements.  

1. Design for connection, not just conversion.  

As AI mediates more of the discovery and transaction journey, the moments where your brand shows up with genuine creativity and human warmth become rarer and more valuable. Invest in the experience design that earns real loyalty.  

1. Build the conditions for creative risk  

The teams moving fastest aren't the ones using AI to produce more of the same. They're the ones using the space AI creates to experiment, to try things that don't optimise cleanly, and to build the distinctive brand signals that compound over time. 

Efficiency gains alone won’t communicate to your customers that you’re in it for the long run, but your ability to elevate the way you interact with them will.