Ask an Assistant: Audrey Henson (Verve)

Audrey Henson

Operations Assistant & AI Strategist, Verve

- Interviewed by: Matthew Threadgill, Development Assistant at Disney Branded Television; Co-Head of Journalism, THA -

We had the exciting opportunity to chat with Audrey Henson, an Operations Assistant and AI Strategist at Verve Talent & Literary Agency. Henson's journey at Verve is nothing short of remarkable; starting as an Assistant in November 2023, she added the pioneering role of AI Strategist to her plate within a few months—a position she conceptualized and proposed herself. In this exclusive interview, Audrey explains her trajectory at Verve, insights into AI's role in the industry, and advice for aspiring Hollywood assistants looking to redefine their roles.

Thanks so much for sitting down with us, Audrey! I, personally, have been following you on LinkedIn for a while and have always been fascinated by your insights on AI and our industry. To get started, can you please tell us what initially interested you in AI?

Absolutely. I started out as a TV assistant at Verve for the Head of TV’s desk, and I found myself curious about AI. This felt like a new kind of monster that everybody was afraid of, and I understood why, but I also wanted to understand why we were using it if it was going to eat all of us. So, that spurred my interest. 

From somebody who has been on TV desks for the last few years and has always wanted to work in TV, I also had the instinct of wanting to protect our writers and anybody who's a writer; and the best way I think you can protect somebody is by keeping them informed and giving them tools and strategies and upskilling. Teaching something isn't necessarily condoning it, it's just putting that knowledge and information out there.

They’re not lying when they say knowledge is power. Can you talk a bit about your roles as Assistant and AI Strategist at Verve? What is your day-to-day?

My role is split in half. I'm half working as an Assistant to our Head of Communications and Operations and half spearheading this new role that I call AI Strategist. I'll usually spend the first half of my day, if not in morning meetings with the company, doing morning reads of all my [AI] newsletters that are in my inbox. Then, I'll usually make notes of things that I find interesting. I like to do brain-dumps at the beginning of the day where I just throw ideas down, search through the scribbles, and highlight things that are interesting. Then, I'll fiddle around if I have time before lunch, like on LinkedIn. But if not that, then it's usually just jumping into operational duties.

I understand you essentially created the AI Strategist role. Can you talk a bit about how this role came about?

When I was looking back at the writer’s strike a year ago, there was talk about a lot of things, and one of the things was AI and what we're gonna do about it. Then fast forward a year, I'm looking at how AI has advanced and I'm asking, ‘Where are the strategy teams? I lost my job for six months over this, did we not strategize in the meantime?’ And so, I put together a pitch for a role. 

My proposed role was an AI Strategy Operations Coordinator where l would establish a pivotal role of dedicated AI strategy within operations, and that would encompass strategic implementation, education and training, innovation and advocacy. The role is designed to support and accelerate Verve’s journey towards becoming a ‘thought leader’ in the integration of AI within the industry. I also sent over a newsletter I wrote about AI. And then we had a couple of meetings and she [HR] showed it to the right partners, and those partners were like, ‘Oh, what does she want to do? Yeah, that's fine. We don't want to read a newsletter, but if she wants to help us with sourcing or could put together a grid of cost analysis with these tools, get in touch with these vendors, etc.’ And so, I started having meetings and taking that initiative.

And to clarify, while you hold this AI Strategist title, you’re still also an assistant?

Yes, I am an assistant. And, honestly, I like being an assistant. I want to have my career, but the beauty about being an assistant is that you're in such an opportunity to not only learn, but to make mistakes. And so, I very much wear the assistant cap proudly, because it is your one, and perhaps last, chance in Hollywood to make a mistake before your head is on everybody's chopping block all the time. 

It sounds like a great middle ground to be in as you aim for that next step. Now, AI has been a conversation in our industry for a long time. People are very apprehensive toward it. However, you advocate to lean into AI through education. Why do you think we should lean into AI and not run from it?

Well, I just don't think that there's anywhere to run to. If we're speaking realistically, AI has the potential and high likelihood of decimating 70% of labor jobs. And when I look at not only my industry, but my society, I think the first and foremost important thing to me is human beings looking out for human beings. Because I'm not a member of the government. I can't create ethics and boundaries for other people. But, what I can do is create them for myself and create them for my team. And I think, if implemented in a bottom up fashion, it's not as scary. 

What's said to us is that it's “a tool.” That's a lot of the rhetoric that tech companies and startups love telling us. And then, they tell shareholders it'll cut 60% of labor costs. I think making sure that this actually is a tool and it doesn't become the entire machine is really important. And if you spend this time at its very rudimentary phases, saying, ‘I don't like the direction this car is going in; I'm not going to backseat drive, I'm gonna jump into the driver's seat for a second and steer it in the direction that I feel more comfortable going in,’ I think you're way more impactful than boycotting it or just turning a blind eye to it.

Such a smart and proactive approach to it.

The beautiful thing, too, is that AI at its core, hopefully in the best case scenario, is a democratization of Hollywood in a lot of ways. In data, in the tools for creators to be able to make whatever kinds of art they want to make, but also, it democratizes this level of knowledge, because everybody knows nothing right now. And so, as an assistant, somebody who's young and interested, if you jump in and show initiative, people respond. 

This AI Strategist job was in the ether of nothing. It didn't exist. And I wrote up a proposal for my HR team, submitted my proposal and was like, ‘Hey, this is a job that I think would be interesting.’ And they were like, ‘Oh, let me get this to the right person.’ And then from there, it's like, ‘Oh, someone's showing interest. Thank goodness, you can help take this off my plate.’ So, it's a great way to democratize your position as an assistant to create a little bit of an equilibrium.

Absolutely. As assistants, we should be finding ways to take advantage of the democratization AI is bringing. For our readers, can you please share some ways they can increase their AI fluency and stay abreast of advancements, even as non-tech people?

I listen to a lot of podcasts. I signed up for as many newsletters as I could. The beautiful thing about newsletters is that, rather than just getting news curated for you, these are writers who are staying on top of many different news sources to condense and give you the most important pieces. So, when you find the right ones, I find that to be helpful. And you get a lot of different perspectives. The more you learn about AI, the more you realize nobody knows much about AI, and it's a really comfortable place to be. 

You’re only as smart as the day is long. Once your 24 hours expires, there's so much new information, especially right now, that's coming out daily and if somebody wants to keep up with it, they will beat the smartest person in the room.

And, in addition to these AI learning tips, what general advice do you have for assistants seeking growth and more engaging responsibilities in their roles?

I would say, have a conversation with your boss like, ‘Hey, this is something I'm interested in exploring. Could I carve out an hour a day, maybe before lunch, after lunch, to spend time just incubating and digging into news articles, LinkedIn, whatever it may be?’ Hopefully, your boss would see that as an asset. Pick a time that they’re not needing to roll calls or they’ll be often late from lunch.

I think in Hollywood, the more you try to teach them [executives] without them asking, the more that they will kind of put you at arm's length. I've learned that they do want more, but I've had to find a balance in showing people that I have something to offer and letting them come to me. It’s like, ‘Here's what I have to offer you. You know where to find me if you want to talk about this.’ The fear of being lost in the ether is definitely there. But people do come to you.

The best advice I got from my boss was just keep the ball out of your court. Once the ball is put into your court, do whatever you can to move it into the next court. And then, once it's out of your court, the next person will bring it back to you.

Another piece of advice I got from an agent was, whatever idea that you have, when you're framing it to your boss, think about it in terms of ‘Monday to Monday, am I saving or making somebody money? Or taking a problem off somebody's plate?’ That's how you get people to pay attention and listen to you.

I love that. At the end of the day, this is a business first and foremost. And before we go, when you look at how AI is progressing, what do you want to see more of from the powers that be?

Hollywood’s entire economy is built off of trust. Not like money trust, human-to-human trust. AI is going to be built off of trust, the use of it and art is always going to be built off of trust. We've all lost trust in each other and in ourselves in a lot of ways. From our executives, I would like to see more leadership and rebuilding of that trust with creators, colleagues, agencies, management companies, etc. I think that that trust is going to then stretch to the audiences and fandoms in recreating those experiences.