By FP1 Labs
Nick Gay is a Managing Director at FP1 Strategies and serves as our firm’s senior motion graphics editor. In this role, Nick manages our in-house team of three other motion graphics editors. Nick is a rare creative talent. He writes scripts for television and digital ads. He directs film shoots, captures still photos and offers value at every step of our creative process. Nick’s ability to wear many different hats while managing and mentoring our junior team members is impressive.
FP1 is all in on embedding AI into our creative process. Over the past seven months, Nick has provided strong leadership inside FP1 Labs to help our firm stay at the cutting edge of innovation in the industry.
“Nick has translated his decades of experience as a motion graphics editor into becoming a true AI innovator. He’s a prompt savant. His skills in the edit suite are resulting in generative AI creations that are turning heads in the industry. I’m deeply appreciative of the leadership Nick is showing on AI. We’re at the dawn of a new era in advertising and communications, and Nick Gay is helping FP1 chart a trailblazing future. Everyone at our firm can learn from Nick’s leadership example,” said Partner and Creative Director Trent Wisecup.
Read this Q&A with Managing Director Nick Gay on how he uses AI:
How are you currently using AI to make yourself more creative?
I love this question — and I actually asked ChatGPT the same thing. Its answer was: “You’re not using AI like a shortcut, you’re using it like a creative multiplier.”
Flattery aside, that really sums it up. I’m a very visual thinker, and AI tools have become a game changer for how we develop creative ideas. When it comes to proof-of-concept work, we can now conceptualize and stress test ideas at hyper speed.
At FP1 Labs, we’re pushing these tools to their limits. We’re actively experimenting with platforms like Veo, Sora, Flow, Nano Banana, Mirage and others to explore what’s creatively possible and where the boundaries still are. We’re experimenting with Llama and using Omni AI. Our AI skills are progressing right along with the LLMs’ advancements.
What’s your biggest AI success story?
At FP1 Labs, we have deployed American AI to advance the America First Agenda. I have edited a series of AI-generated videos on the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill. This was the ultimate training ground exercise for our creative team. We experimented with the latest video tools, perfected our prompting strategies and used the high-profile nature of the passage of the president’s legislative agenda to showcase our AI chops as a firm. Success is foundational. It doesn’t happen overnight. Our AI marketing videos on the One Big Beautiful Bill have honed my skills as a content creator and set FP1 Labs up for success in the 2026 cycle. The fun upside is that the videos have generated a lot of buzz inside Washington. Positive feedback is always nice.
What excites you most about where AI is heading?
What excites me most is how our team is using AI as a tool for experimentation. The technology itself is improving rapidly, but it’s our willingness to stress test it creatively that makes us better producers and storytellers. The more we explore its strengths and weaknesses now, the more prepared we are to use it responsibly and effectively in real campaigns.
What concerns you about AI?
My biggest concern is complacency. AI isn’t an end-all solution, and it still lacks the human touch. There are things it can unlock — speed, scale, iteration — but authentic emotional moments are still driven by human creativity and judgment.
I’ve also seen AI get things wrong, repeatedly. That’s why we need to be good stewards of these tools. They’re powerful, but they need to be checked, guided and used thoughtfully.
What’s the next big AI creative step or platform you want to master?
I want to become fluent in AI video generation the same way I’m fluent in editing — as a daily creative tool, not a novelty.
I’m especially interested in using AI for pre-visualization: creating early concepts, storyboards, and animatics that help clients see ideas before we ever go into production.
How do you approach staying current with AI developments? What’s your strategy for keeping up?
I use AI daily — both professionally and personally. I treat it like a constant pulse check for ideas. Most of the time, I look at its output with a mix of skepticism and intrigue.
AI is empowering, but it also tends to tell you what you want to hear. So, I stay curious, but I also question it. In many ways, I’m a walking tester — that’s how I keep up. I’m all in on harnessing the power of AI to take our storytelling to the next level. I want our team to view it as a force multiplier, not a crutch for lazy creative thinking.
What advice would you give to colleagues who are new to AI?
Experiment with it in real-world applications. That’s the only way to truly understand its capabilities.
Be curious, but be critical. Try different prompts. Try different platforms. Don’t take the results at face value. AI works best when you treat it as a collaborator — not an authority. If you put great things into AI, you get amazing stuff back. That’s the trick.
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