Talented launches AI-native agency for founders and brand operators

Talented, an independent creative agency, has launched a new AI-native marketing agency called mktgstack, aimed at founders and brand operators.

mktgstack will focus on building marketing systems and growth strategies beyond traditional advertising campaigns. The new agency was founded by former Talented executives Namrata Chawla and Varun Khiatani.

The new agency aims to function as an AI-native growth partner, implementing modern marketing systems and playbooks built on the same foundations as the internet-native brands.

Explaining the rationale for the launch, Namrata Chawla and Varun Khiatani said, “We’re starting up because we think there’s a genuine white space in the agency business. Most great creative agencies that exist today were built for a different era of marketing, when growth was driven by a few large campaigns planned months in advance. That no longer matches how entire cohorts of audiences consume, engage, convert, and make decisions. For a lot of brands and founders today, growth looks very different. So naturally, their expectations from ‘creative advertising’ are also different. Ad campaigns have their place, but many brands now see stronger results from growth levers like building their own distribution, founder-led storytelling, content & IP systems, AI-enabled solutions and continuous optimization of the assets and channels they already own. Our agency’s operating model will be designed for this sweet spot. If the work doesn’t change behaviour, business outcomes, or momentum, we don’t think it matters how good it looks.” 

mktgstack will operate as part of what the parent agency calls its ‘Grid’ of agencies. The network also includes The New Thing, focused on creator and culture marketing, and Early Partners, a fractional marketing consultancy.

Speaking on the launch, Talented founders Gautam Reghunath and PG Aditiya, in a joint statement, said, “We’re designing our Grid model as a network of distinct founder-led agencies, each with its own unique operating system. This matters because early-stage startups, established brands, and those in between operate under very different realities, from budget and team size to timelines and tolerance for risk. So, rather than forcing different forms of marketing for different clients that demand different balances & trade-offs into the same structure, The Talented Grid gives our clients the agency model that fits their context. Some of our agencies are optimised for craft, depth and cultural impact. Others, like mktgstack, are built to be lean, fast and highly efficient. As AI introduces a new layer of leverage in how we operate, it’s now possible for leaner, founder-led agencies to deliver high-quality creative execution that previously required much larger teams and traditional agency infrastructure. mktgstack is going to be innately pacy & agile; an agency structured more like a speedboat than a cruise ship.”