A class on building your own

ADWEEK and Code and Theory are running a beginner-to-intermediate masterclass at Brandweek on using AI to build a live dashboard a team will actually open.

Excel from 1991 is done

Karen Piper, head of strategy, and Pete Steiner, head of Creative Labs, cover picking datasets, shaping the data, and automating refreshes so the numbers stay current.

“the brick of Excel sheets that Gary from IT started in 1991 just doesn't cut it in 2026”

Half a report is useless

Piper says marketers keep getting reports missing the pieces they need to decide the next step or report on trends properly.

“they don't have everything they need to make decisions on the next step”

Off the shelf never fits

Prebuilt tools are convenient but rarely match how a marketer works. Piper builds one for every pitch so teams share data in one place instead of hunting through PowerPoint and Keynote files.

Steiner runs teams on his

His dashboard tracks three or four projects at different stages, showing status, assignments, and resources, and gives leadership one view of Creative Labs work.

“It helps me understand what state every project is in, who's assigned to it, and what resources are attached to it”

Scope it like a product

AI makes bells and whistles cheap, which is the trap. Write something close to a product requirements doc: user count, logins, data flow, who maintains it.

“Thinking about all of that before you start will help you stay focused.”