THE UN KNOWN® Goes AI-First: Practical Moves Creatives Can Use Today
Montreal's THE UN KNOWN® has stepped into a new chapter: a Next-Generation Consultancy built on an AI-first, human-powered model. It's a clear stance-use AI to sharpen thinking and speed up execution while keeping feeling, taste, and culture at the center.
Founded in 2010 and once known as FH Studio, the agency now positions itself as a bridge between strategic intelligence and creative craft. The credo is simple and useful: Illuminate. Transform. Grow.
What "AI-first, human-powered" actually looks like in the work
- Predictive strategy: Model demand, attention, and cultural fit before a concept hits production. Think concept testing, scenario mapping, and early performance signals integrated into planning.
- Creative exploration at scale: Use AI as a creative sparring partner to explore more directions, faster. Keep the final calls human-taste, restraint, and brand memory remain the differentiators.
- Augmented production: Blend generative visuals, 3D, and adaptive post to shorten timelines and raise craft. Save your team's energy for the shots and sequences that truly need hand-built detail.
- Experience design: Build visual and sonic systems that flex across channels-paid, owned, physical, and live. Maintain one source of truth for style, motion, VO, and sound.
- Measurement that guides creativity: Tie creative bets to metrics that matter-lift, retention, CAC, brand recall-then iterate weekly, not quarterly.
A clear creed for modern brand building
Led by Founder & CEO Fayçal Hajji and Vice President & Partner Aneta Kanaan, the team frames AI as an amplifier of talent. As Hajji puts it, AI is a catalyst for more precise, more meaningful work-backed by significant investments since 2022.
The point isn't to replace teams. It's to remove friction, sharpen judgment, and create space for braver ideas that still land with the audience.
Inside the launch experience
To mark the shift, THE UN KNOWN® staged an immersive event in its studios. Guests moved through projection mapping, custom AV, and a full studio activation-an example of tech used in service of feeling, not the other way around.
If you build experiential work, that's your cue: make tech the instrument, not the headline. Curious about the approach? See how projection mapping turns surfaces into live canvases.
New identity, bigger mandate
- A redefined model across strategy, creativity, and technology
- An expanded vision for measurable growth
- A renewed promise anchored in outcomes
- A fresh visual and sonic system for a consistent brand signal
All guided by the credo: Illuminate. Transform. Grow.
Proof of traction
THE UN KNOWN® partners with brands including Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, FoodHero, AMG Medical, Dex4, Drink Templ, and Clinique Claymont as agency of record. Expect upcoming work that fuses growth strategy, creative development, AI, and emerging tech.
How creatives can apply this model now
- Build an AI playbook: Define where AI fits (ideation, research sprints, asset versioning, QA) and where it doesn't (final brand voice, concept selection, sensitive visual calls).
- Shorten feedback loops: Pair weekly creative reviews with performance reads. Keep what moves numbers without losing the heart of the idea.
- Create system assets: Lock motion, type, palette, VO, and sound rules that work across channels. AI tools perform best with clear constraints.
- Protect the craft: Use AI to cover grunt work. Put human attention on composition, pacing, color, casting, and story.
- Upgrade prompts into briefs: Treat prompts like micro-briefs-context, audience, tone, constraints, and success criteria. Document and reuse what works.
Why this matters
AI will keep changing workflows, but the winners will be the teams that pair it with distinctive taste and a measurable plan. That combination is what clients remember-and what budgets reward.
For a deeper look at how AI complements creative work (not replaces it), this overview from HBR is a useful primer: How AI Can Help You Be More Creative.
About THE UN KNOWN®
THE UN KNOWN® is a Next-Generation Consultancy blending strategy, creativity, and technology to help brands illuminate hidden potential, transform boldly, and grow with purpose. Born as a production house in 2010 and evolved into a creative agency in 2018, the team now partners with leaders who want work that resonates and delivers measurable change.
Level up your own AI workflow
If you're formalizing your stack, explore curated AI learning paths for creative roles here: AI courses by job. For a broader view of what's new, see the latest AI courses.
Your membership also unlocks:
