When we started building Splento AI, we knew one thing for certain: the industry we were entering would not stand still.
AI-driven creative production evolves weekly, sometimes daily. New tools emerge, platforms shift their algorithms, and client expectations change faster than most traditional business models can adapt. Scaling a startup in this environment is not about having a perfect plan — it’s about learning to move forward while the ground beneath you is constantly changing.
Here are a few lessons I’ve learned while scaling Splento AI inside one of the fastest-moving industries today.
1. Speed matters — but clarity matters more
In a fast-evolving market, speed is often seen as the ultimate advantage. Move quickly, launch fast, iterate endlessly. That mindset is partly true — but speed without clarity is dangerous.
Early on, we experimented with many directions: formats, industries, creative approaches, and technical workflows. What made the difference was not moving faster than others, but deciding what not to chase.
For us, clarity came from understanding where AI genuinely creates value for businesses today. Not as a novelty, not as a “nice to have”, but as a practical tool that solves real operational and marketing problems. Once that became clear, scaling decisions became easier, even when the environment stayed unpredictable.
2. Technology does not replace taste, judgment, or responsibility
One of the biggest misconceptions around AI is that it replaces creative thinking. In reality, it amplifies it — for better or worse.
As we scaled, it became obvious that the bottleneck was never the technology. The bottleneck was taste, decision-making, and responsibility for the final output. AI can generate thousands of variations, but someone still needs to decide what is right for a brand, for an audience, and for a specific business goal.
Scaling responsibly in this space means building teams that understand storytelling, brand alignment, and commercial context — not just prompt engineering. Technology accelerates output, but people define direction.
3. Customers don’t buy innovation — they buy outcomes
Startups often fall in love with how innovative their solution is. Clients rarely do.
What clients actually care about is whether something helps them move faster, sell more, reduce friction, or stand out in a crowded market. As we scaled Splento AI, we learned to talk less about how the technology works and more about what changes for the customer once it’s implemented.
In hospitality and food delivery, especially, attention is scarce, and speed is everything. Restaurants don’t want to “experiment with AI”. They want content that helps them launch menus faster, test campaigns quicker, and compete visually with global brands — without enterprise-level budgets or timelines.
Scaling happens when innovation becomes invisible, and outcomes become obvious.
4. Process is what allows creativity to scale
In the early days, creativity often lives in chaos. That’s fine — at the beginning.
But chaos does not scale.
One of the hardest transitions for a creative startup is accepting that process does not kill creativity — it protects it. Clear workflows, repeatable quality checks, and structured collaboration allow teams to produce high-quality work consistently, even under pressure.
At Splento AI, scaling meant turning creative intuition into systems without turning work into something mechanical. The goal was never mass production — it was reliable excellence at speed.
5. The market will educate you — if you listen closely enough
No pitch deck, strategy document, or trend report replaces real conversations with customers.
Some of our most important strategic decisions came directly from listening to friction points: onboarding delays, missing visuals, slow content production cycles, and internal bottlenecks inside marketing teams.
Scaling in a fast-moving industry requires humility — the willingness to accept that your assumptions will be challenged regularly.
The companies that survive long-term are not the loudest or the most hyped. They are the ones that adjust fastest based on real-world feedback.
6. Growth amplifies culture — not the other way around
Culture does not magically improve as you scale. Growth simply makes existing values louder.
That’s why being intentional early matters. In a high-pressure environment like AI and creative tech, it’s easy to optimise only for output. But long-term growth depends on trust, accountability, and shared standards — especially when teams are moving fast and making decisions daily.
At scale, culture becomes an operating system. If it’s weak, everything slows down.
Looking ahead
Scaling a startup in a fast-evolving industry is not about predicting the future perfectly. It’s about building an organisation that can adapt without losing its identity.
For us, that means staying grounded in creativity, focused on real business outcomes, and honest about what AI can — and cannot — replace. The tools will continue to change. The principles should not.
If you’re building, leading, or scaling in a similar environment, my advice is simple: optimise for learning speed, not just growth speed. The rest follows.
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— Roman Grigoriev,
CEO & Founder
Splento
FAQ
Does AI replace creative teams when a startup scales?
No. AI enhances speed and production capacity, but creative judgement, storytelling, and brand responsibility remain human-led. Scalable creative startups use AI as a tool to amplify talent, not replace it, ensuring outputs remain aligned with business objectives.
How do customer needs influence startup scaling decisions?
Customer feedback plays a critical role in shaping scalable business models. Startups that listen closely to real operational pain points, such as slow content production or onboarding delays, can adapt faster and build solutions that genuinely support growth.
What are the biggest challenges of scaling a startup in a fast-evolving industry?
The main challenges include rapid technology changes, shifting customer expectations, and pressure to move fast without sacrificing quality. Startups must balance speed with strategic clarity, build adaptable processes, and avoid chasing every trend without understanding its long-term business value.