Becky McOwen-Banks
AI consultant, trainer, and creative leader with 25 years of experience building and running creative teams across agencies, tech platforms, and in-house brands.
My AI practice didn’t start with a course or a pivot. It started at Meta – where working inside one of the world’s most influential tech platforms turned curiosity into conviction.
As ECD across Meta’s international creative function, I spent over a year rolling out AI within creative workflows across seven markets. Watching what happens when AI is imposed on creative teams versus when it’s built around them. That difference is everything – and it’s what drives every session, consultation, and programme I design.
Through Plain, D&AD, and the Gen AI Academy, I’ve trained 400+ creative professionals across AMER, EMEA, and JPAC. I’m a D&AD AI Masterclass tutor and a regular speaker on AI, creativity, and the Human Premium.
I founded Plain in 2022 because I kept seeing the same thing: brilliant teams being handed AI mandates with no framework for making it theirs. Plain exists to fix that.
Collaborator: James Hirst
For certain projects I work with James Hirst – a Createch founder and growth strategist whose commercial and technology background brings a different lens to the work. Between us we have 40+ years of experience across AdLand and tech.
We both heard the call early on…
We’ve spent years informally guiding our friends, colleagues and clients on using AI tools to supercharge Creativity. In 2022, with Plain: we turned this mission into a formal offering.
We’re absolutely passionate about the power of creativity and the brilliance of the creative industries – but a transformation is happening, and we all need to evolve. Brand, leadership and agency teams must quickly embrace the incredible opportunities that AI now presents.
Plain: is created in our voice, for those that want to upskill – without the techno-babble and coding chatter.
