academyEX co-develops stirring ‘Because You’re Not Done Yet’ campaign using AI

What do you do when AI is rewriting the old rules of work, fear of messing up is holding people back from diving in deep and New Zealand isn’t moving investing in upskilling fast enough? For academyEX, the answer was to turn the spotlight on the country’s most overlooked learners and issue them a direct challenge: Because You’re Not Done Yet (BYNDY).

“This is not just a campaign. It’s a stake in the sand. AI is the biggest workplace reset in decades, leveling the playing field between a 25-year-old coder and a 55-year-old project manager. Everyone is starting from scratch and that means experience can finally be positioned as a competitive advantage,” says Perrin Rowland, Chief Experience Officer at academyEX.

“Over-50s aren’t ‘catching up’ like the media would have them believe. They’re standing at the front of one of the greatest disruptions of our time. What matters now isn’t who can click the fastest – it’s who can ask the right questions, govern wisely and implement AI responsibly. If anything, now is their moment and this campaign was all about getting them to realise it…”

BYNDY was designed to be a call to arms: if you’re over 45 and think you’re done, you’re not. The best time to start (upskilling, learning and owning your future) was yesterday. The next best time is right now.

Fittingly, the BYNDY campaign leaned on AI itself for inspiration. Prompts were issued across three AI systems including ChatGPT, Manus and Claude and helped the team arrive at the provocation: Because You’re Not Done Yet.

Visually, the creative team took the opportunity to shift academyEX’s visual identity from its familiar neon palette of pinks, oranges and greens into stark, sultry tones. Going ‘dark’ was a striking departure from the institute’s usual exuberant branding and deliberately chosen to symbolise the ‘darkest before the dawn’ moment professionals are facing. “Colour hasn’t disappeared – it’s waiting, ready to break through when learners step forward into their next chapter,” explains Rowland.

Billboards, static and moving images and social assets all carried the same stark energy and a ‘Career-loading’ icon became shorthand for a career mid-flight, signalling both urgency and possibility. The tone was deliberately serious, but not hopeless – a provocation that says: pause, reset, pivot.

Every message was bookend with the phrase ‘Because You’re Not Done Yet’, including the campaign radio advert, becoming a catchcry of resilience and reinvention for professionals refusing to fade quietly in the age of AI.

“At the heart of the campaign is a belief that AI could replace you; but it could also amplify you. And that’s the point of BYNDY. For seasoned professionals in the longest, slowest part of their careers, this is the pivot moment: to stay relevant, to bring wisdom and judgement to the table and to turn lived experience into leadership in the AI economy,” adds Rowland.

nd academyEX has built the study pathways for exactly this: from short, part-time micro-credentials through to their Masters of Technological Futures.

Each step is cumulative, building knowledge, networks and confidence. “This isn’t a four-hour webinar fix,” says Rowland. “It’s an ongoing, supported transformation. We’re creating the skills, the credentials and the communities that New Zealand needs.”

The campaign helped drive unprecedented demand in registrations for Disruptive Technologies: The AI One. Applications closed early after hitting capacity in record time and tellingly, the average age of registrants was 50, with more executives and governance leaders enrolling than ever before from all across New Zealand, including from Fonterra, Councils, law firms, Government and across the creative sector in NZ.

“The campaign has helped us drive interest in courses that build literacy and confidence. The next step is to use it as a tool that attracts learners to courses that help them build the governance and ethics programmes that will shape how AI is integrated responsibly through Masters-level programmes that position learners as future-fit leaders and entrepreneurs,” says Rowland.

Across every learning experience, academyEX is building not just courses, but a skills-based community – a unique model that connects professionals to the best conversations in the country and prepares them for the 12 million new AI-related roles predicted worldwide.

Because you’re not done yet

The message lands hardest with those who’ve been quietest – professionals over 45 who’ve felt invisible, sidelined or uncertain are being invited to experiment, to play, to learn and to lead.

“Sooner is smarter. The only wrong move right now is doing nothing,” concludes Rowland.

Founder: Frances Valintine
Creative Director: Perrin Rowland
Design: Emily Wragg
Office Management: Ben Sang          
Brand Storyteller: Monique Doy
Head of Growth: Lauren Mueller
PR: Launch PR
Partnered with Phantom Bilstickers, Lumo Digital Outdoor, Osmond Signs Ltd