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Artificial intelligence may dominate the headlines, but according to the leadership team at 9HDigital, the biggest opportunity for businesses today isn’t simply adopting AI – it’s building the right foundations first.
In a recent conversation with MeetInc, Tim Buttigieg, CEO, Gerhardt Camilleri, Head of Project Management and Emily Attard, Chief Creative Officer, explained why digital transformation has evolved beyond individual projects into long-term business partnerships.
The agency itself reflects that evolution. Formed through the merger of creative agency Anchovy and technology company NIU before later integrating NPS, 9HDigital now offers businesses an end-to-end service spanning strategy, branding, marketing, public relations, software development and consultancy.
Rather than simply delivering websites or campaigns, the team focuses on understanding how a business operates before recommending solutions that create measurable value.
Increasingly, clients aren’t paying for hours worked – they’re investing in outcomes such as improved efficiency, lower operating costs and stronger commercial performance.
That shift has fundamentally changed the agency’s role. Instead of approaching projects transactionally, 9H embeds itself within client organisations, often spending time alongside internal teams to understand workflows, identify operational bottlenecks and uncover opportunities for improvement. Whether a business initially approaches the company for branding, a new website or marketing support, those conversations frequently evolve into broader digital transformation initiatives as underlying business challenges become clearer.
The aim is to move beyond one-off projects and build long-term partnerships that continuously adapt as organisations grow.
One of the biggest misconceptions surrounding AI, the team argues, is that businesses should begin by purchasing new technology. In reality, AI delivers the greatest value only when businesses have already modernised and connected their existing systems. Many organisations still rely on disconnected software, manual processes and legacy workflows built over decades.
Without integration, AI risks becoming little more than another isolated tool rather than a genuine driver of efficiency. In many cases, automation – not AI itself – is currently delivering the most immediate business impact, eliminating repetitive administrative work and allowing employees to focus on higher-value activities.
The conversation also challenged the growing perception that AI will replace expertise. Instead, the panel argued that the opposite is proving true. Designers, developers, strategists and marketers are using AI to accelerate execution, prototype ideas and automate routine tasks, but specialist knowledge remains essential. The quality of any AI-generated output depends on the expertise of the person guiding it, interpreting it and refining it.
As Tim Buttigieg noted, AI is making specialists more effective – not making specialisation obsolete.
Looking ahead, 9HDigital believes businesses should focus less on chasing every new AI tool and more on simplifying operations. Marketing teams, for example, often pay for numerous disconnected subscriptions that perform overlapping functions. Custom-built platforms and integrated systems can now replace many of those tools while reducing costs and improving efficiency. As AI capabilities continue evolving, the organisations that benefit most won’t necessarily be those adopting the latest technology first – they’ll be the ones that have already invested in the strategy, processes and digital infrastructure needed to make that technology truly valuable.
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