Code and Theory has launched the Creative Intelligence System with Adobe for financial services. The product is the first outcome of a three-year co-development arrangement between the companies.
The system addresses a longstanding problem in marketing workflows: customer data often guides targeting and post-campaign analysis, but not the stage when teams decide message, tone and visuals. It is designed to bring that intelligence into the creative process before work is approved and distributed.
The launch is also the first industry-specific release in a broader programme between Code and Theory and Adobe. The companies are developing additional products for sectors where Code and Theory already has a client base, including B2B, sports, and media and entertainment.
The initial focus is financial services, where marketers typically hold large volumes of customer information but face rigid approval and compliance processes. In that environment, changes become harder once creative work has passed internal checks, making earlier testing more valuable.
The system uses data from Adobe Real-Time CDP through Adobe Experience Platform to build synthetic AI personas from audience segment data. Marketing teams then use those personas to test messaging, positioning and creative concepts before making final decisions.
It also includes a Research Agent intended to explain which ideas are working and why. The insight appears within existing Adobe tools, including GenStudio for Performance Marketing and Experience Manager, rather than in a separate workflow.
The system is also tied to Stagwell's AI and data platform and to Code and Theory's marketing operating system, The Machine. That setup connects campaign data, asset libraries, creative production and performance results across an organisation.
The broader commercial logic reflects a growing push across advertising and marketing technology to use first-party data earlier in campaign development. Brands have spent heavily on customer data infrastructure in recent years, but many still rely on conventional pre-testing methods or retrospective performance analysis to assess creative work.
That gap has become more visible as generative AI tools move into mainstream marketing operations. While much of the market has focused on asset production and automation, agencies and software groups are also trying to use AI to guide decision-making before campaigns go live, especially in regulated industries where mistakes can be costly.
Stagwell, which owns Code and Theory, is positioning the launch as part of that shift. "The marketing industry has spent years building the infrastructure to understand customers, but too often, that intelligence never makes it into the work itself," said Mark Penn, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Stagwell.
He added: "The Creative Intelligence System changes that. In partnership with Adobe, we're embedding real-time customer insight directly into the creative process, so brands can move faster, create smarter, and ensure every piece of work reflects a deeper understanding of their audience."
Michael Treff, Chief Executive Officer of Code and Theory, outlined the agency group's practical case for the product. He said, "Most enterprises test creative after the fact, when it's too late to change anything meaningful. The Creative Intelligence Solution flips that. We're putting intelligence at the moment of creation, not after it, so every dollar works harder from the start, not retroactively."