Details
Mikaela Folkestad, CEO of Schibsted Partnerstudio, is no stranger to innovation. Leading one of Norway’s largest content studios, she has always been fascinated by the intersection of technology and storytelling.
Now, as AI reshapes the media landscape, Folkestad and her team are harnessing its potential to revolutionize branded content—without sacrificing human creativity.
“I’m very interested in how the world is changing, and I think this is the biggest shift we’ve seen in content production,” she says.
Ahead of her session at Branded Content Days 2025 in New York, Folkestad shares Schibsted Partnerstudio’s journey with AI—what’s worked, what hasn’t, and how publishers can scale AI smarter.
Embracing AI with curiosity and caution
Schibsted has long been known for pushing boundaries in digital media, and when AI tools like ChatGPT and image-generation models burst onto the scene in 2022, Partnerstudio didn’t hesitate to explore their potential.
“I remember in the fall of 2022 when ChatGPT launched,” Folkestad recalls. “There were also all these tools where you could upload a selfie and get crazy AI-generated versions of yourself—like ‘Mikaela as Red Riding Hood’ or ‘Mikaela in Game of Thrones.’ Of course, I tried all of them. I even paid for them—maybe a little embarrassing, but I just wanted to see how good they were.”
Despite some initial scepticism—especially about AI’s ability to generate quality content in Norwegian—the studio took a proactive approach.
“We decided that we needed to understand AI,” she says. “So we tested, explored, and asked: How will this impact our industry? Can it improve efficiency? Can it help us personalize content better?”
From experimentation to implementation
Instead of handing AI over to a small group of specialists, Partnerstudio took a grassroots approach.
“It was like crowdfunding for interest,” Folkestad explains. “A few of us were fascinated by AI, so we just asked around—who else is interested? Turns out, we had people who had been exploring AI for years, way ahead of us.”
This enthusiasm led to the creation of an internal AI task force, followed by a company-wide hack day in early 2023.
“We just wanted to remind everyone: The most important thing is to start exploring,” she says.
By the end of 2023, Partnerstudio had begun implementing AI-driven tools in its workflow.
“Our first tools were quite bad,” she admits. “And we realized that if we wanted adoption, the tools needed to make a real difference in people’s daily work.”
AI as an efficiency engine—not a creative replacement
One of the biggest lessons for Partnerstudio was learning where AI works best—and where it doesn’t.
“We overestimated AI’s ability to be creative,” Folkestad says. “It’s great for optimization, but at least for now, it’s terrible at original thought.”
This realization helped ease concerns among content producers.
“Humen creativity is irreplaceable. When we began to see AI as our co-pliot, not the driver—people stopped fearing it.”
The studio began by analyzing its entire workflow and identifying where AI could add the most value.
“We mapped out our value chain and rated each step on a scale of one to ten,” Folkestad explains. “Where is human value the highest? Customer meetings, relationship-building, storytelling. But where are the tasks that take too much time? That’s where AI should come in.”
One of their first AI-driven efficiencies involved client reporting.
“Previously, campaign performance updates were a manual process—checking numbers, writing emails. Now, we take a screenshot, feed it into an AI tool, and get a fully written email in seconds. That can save up to 30 minutes per campaign per day on a task that happens constantly.”
Mistakes, learnings, and the road ahead
Partnerstudio’s AI journey hasn’t been without its missteps.
“We tried to automate too many things at once,” Folkestad admits. “We created more than 30 different GPTs, only to realize that people were only using two.”
Another challenge? Overcoming resistance.
“I assumed everyone would find AI as fascinating as I do,” she laughs. “But people have a lot on their plates. They weren’t thinking, ‘I need to understand AI to save time.’ They were thinking, ‘I don’t have time to understand AI.’”
Now, the studio has refined its focus to three key areas:
- Efficiency gains and automation – streamlining repetitive tasks.
- Content creation and versioning – adapting content across formats.
- Personalization and distribution – tailoring content to different audiences.
As for AI’s future in branded content, Folkestad believes it will play a supporting role, and people the starring role.
“Great storytelling isn’t just based on data—it’s based on emotion, intuition, culture. AI doesn’t get nuance the way a human does.”
Still, she sees a future where AI enables hyper-personalized storytelling.
“We could create content that adapts to the user’s mood, behavior, even their patience level,” she says. “But it has to start with a strong, human-created story.”
What happens when clients demand AI-only content?
One of the big questions on the horizon is how AI will impact client expectations and pricing models.
“Right now, clients expect us to use AI, but they’re not demanding it outright,” Folkestad says. “But in the next two years, I think that will change.”
She foresees two possible paths:
- A premium, human-driven content model – “High-touch, high-quality storytelling with AI as an assistant.”
- A streamlined, AI-driven production model – “For clients who prioritize efficiency over storytelling.”
“I don’t know the answer yet,” she says. “But future Mikaela will have to figure it out.”
With thought leaders like Mikaela Folekstad driving the conversation, Branded Content Days 2025 promises to be a must-attend event for anyone serious about the future of native advertising and AI-driven storytelling.
Want to hear more? Join Mikaela Folkestad at Branded Content Days 2025 in New York City.
