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Intelligent Artifice: become a 10X performance marketer
Welcome to Intelligent Artifice, the podcast that helps you become a 10x performance marketer.
Intelligent Artifice explores the cutting edge of the intersection of AI, creatives and performance marketing.
Every week, we deconstruct the ad systems behind high-performing advertisers using our in-house semantic analysis system, BruteForce AI , or we sit down with top operators redefining how advertising gets done in a Gen AI world.
Whether you’re scaling user acquisition, leading a creative team, or building a creative engine with AI, this podcast is your unfair advantage.
Intelligent Artifice is hosted by me, Shamanth Rao, the founder and CEO of the boutique growth marketing agency Rocketship HQ.
Find out more:
Work with us: rocketshiphq.com (ideal for advertisers spending $50k+/month on paid social)
Website: IntelligentArtifice.net
Intelligent Artifice newsletter: https://intelligentartifice.kit.com/
Episodes
27 episodes
I Roasted Headway's $400mm Ad Creative Strategy. 730 Ads, 3 Blind Spots.
Headway is one of the leading subscription apps in the world: and they run a LOT of ads. I pulled 730 of their display ads and broke them down by angle, format, and messaging to find the patterns behind their scale. Three things stood out: form...
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3 Ad Tricks from Apple’s App of the Year Finalist(Steal These)
Ladder was a finalist for Apple's App of the Year in 2025: and they run a LOT of ads. I pulled 60+ of their video ads and ran them through our AI analysis tool, BruteForce, to find the patterns that actually drive conversions. Three things stoo...
This AI video startup founder scaled to 7 figures with more agents than employees: with Romain Torres, Co-founder at ArcAds
🎙 In this episode: We sit down with Romain Torres, co-founder of Arcads, to explore how they scaled a hypergrowth startup using AI agents, automated workflows, and a data-driven creative engine that produces winning ads at ...
I studied 70 ads to deconstruct Duolingo’s 500M-download ad engine
In this episode, we break down the ad strategy behind Duolingo, the world’s most downloaded language-learning app with over 500 million downloads.Using BruteForce AI, our proprietary ad intelligence system, we analyz...
He wrote the book on AI growth 5 years ago. Here is his 2026 playbook: with Lomit Patel, Chief Growth & Marketing Officer at TYB
🚀 In this episode, I’m joined by Lomit Patel, a growth executive and the bestselling author of Lean AI. Lomit was pioneering AI automation strategies for user acquisition years before ChatGPT made headlines. In this conversation...
How to build(+ sell) future-proof AI apps: with Evelin Herrera, Founder of EHVM Capital
🚀 In this episode, I’m joined by Evelin Herrera, the founder of Reflect Place and an expert who has seen hundreds of mobile app acquisitions up close. Evelin breaks down the exploding AI app market — what’s working, what’s failing, and why valu...
🚀I Cracked Babbel's 9-Figure Ad Formula (50+ Ads Analyzed With AI) 🚀
This language-learning app is quietly dominating the education category, and its ads reveal exactly why.With massive global adoption and some of the highest trust signals in the space, Babbel’s creative strategy is a masterclass i...
Using narrative/storytelling with AI to drive 40%+ ROAS lift: with Karen Levy Atias, Director of Creative at Supersonic from Unity
🚀 In this episode, I’m joined by Karen Levy Atias, the Director of Creative at Supersonic from Unity. Managing creative strategy at a massive scale for global hit games, Karen has navigated one of the biggest shifts in the industr...
Building defensible AI apps: product loops, retention & data flywheels: with Phil Carter
🚀 In this episode, I’m joined by Phil Carter, the Founder and CEO of Elemental Growth. A former growth leader at Quizlet and Faire and a Stanford GSB grad, Phil has actually done the work: scaling world-class subscription apps from the inside a...
🩸 Deconstructing Flo’s ad engine: humor, relatability, and candidness 🩸
Flo is a mobile app for women that’s redefining how femtech brands earn trust and scale fast. With over 3 million downloads and $2M+ in monthly revenue, Flo’s creative strategy is a masterclass in empathy-driven marketing.In this video,...
This team launched 3 breakout image apps: before the GPT hype hit: with Rohan Khadatkar, Head of Marketing at InstaHeadshots
🚀 Welcome to Intelligent Artifice – the podcast that gives you the unfair advantage in performance marketing.This episode is 🔥 because we’re diving deep into how AI, creatives, and performance marketing are colliding...
How to scale to 100s of ads per week: with Félix Boudreau, VP of Growth and Marketing at Pok Pok
🚀 Welcome back to Intelligent Artifice, the podcast where we break down the real strategies behind AI, creatives, and performance marketing.In this episode, I’m joined by Félix Boudreau, a true practitioner in the AI + crea...
From Early AI to Agents: Lessons from Promova’s CEO Andrew Skrypnyk
In this episode, we sit down with Andrew Will — founder of Promova, one of the most prolific advertisers on Meta and an early pioneer of AI-first organizations.From building pronunciation models before GPT existed...
AI as Your Competitive Advantage – A Deep Dive with Yves Benchimol
Welcome to Intelligent Artifice — the podcast built for performance marketers who want to 10x their results using AI, creativity, and data-driven strategy.In this episode, I sit down with Yves Benchimol to unpack how his ...
🥗 Deconstructing Noom’s $800K ad engine: habits, visuals, psychology 🥗
📈 How did Noom ads generate $800K+ revenue in 30 days? In this breakdown, I reveal the 5 winning ad strategies they used — and how you can apply them to your own performance marketing campaigns.You’ll learn:✔️ Noom’s...
🧘 Deconstructing BetterMe’s $2M ad engine: stories, lifestyle, emotion 🧘
🚀 I Analyzed 71 BetterMe Ads Using AI (Here’s What I Found…)BetterMe made $2M in a year with their ads — but how? 🤔I broke down 71 of their campaigns using AI and discovered 5 key strategies th...
🏋Deconstructing Ladder’s growth engine: urgency, FOMO, identity🏋
In this episode, we break down the ad strategy behind Ladder — the strength training app for busy people that has generated over $19 million in the past 12 months.Using BruteForce AI, our proprietary ad intelligence ...
📷 Deconstructing Remini’s ad engine: nostalgia, identity, transformation 📷
In this episode, we break down the ad strategy behind Remini — the AI photo and video enhancement app with over 2 million downloads and $6 million in monthly revenue.Using BruteForce AI, our proprietary ad int...
🌱Deconstructing this plant ID app’s ad engine: curiosity, lifestyle, growth 🌱
In this episode, we break down the ad strategy behind PictureThis — the plant identifier app with tens of millions of downloads and a thriving subscription model.Using BruteForce AI, our proprietary ad intelligence s...
🗣️I deconstructed $80M of Donald Trump & Kamala Harris’ ads: here’s what I learned 🗣️
In this episode, we break down the ad strategy behind the 2024 Trump vs. Kamala campaigns — a political ad battle that poured over $80 million into Meta ads in just three months.Using BruteForce AI, our proprietary a...
🧠 Deconstructing Impulse’s $6M/mo ad engine: identity, curiosity, challenge 🧠
In this episode, we break down the ad strategy behind Impulse Brain Training — a personal development app generating over $6 million in monthly revenue and running more than 50,000 ads on Meta.Using BruteForce AI<...
✝️ Deconstructing Bible Chat’s $3.6M ad engine: faith, emotion, transformation ✝️
In this episode, we break down the ad strategy behind Bible Chat — a Christian guidance app that’s quietly generated over $3.6 million in revenue and 7 million downloads in the past year.But this isn’t just a niche f...
📘 Deconstructing Headway’s 50,000-ad engine: identity, urgency, scale 📘
In this episode, we break down the ad strategy behind Headway — a micro-learning app that’s running over 50,000 creatives and dominating the Meta Ads Library.But this isn’t just a volume play. Using BruteForce AI, ou...
😴 What 1,800 Rise Science ads reveal about sleep debt, identity-based marketing, and the psychology of habit change 😴
In this episode, we break down the ad strategy behind Rise Science — a sleep optimization app that’s generated over $5 million in revenue and tested tens of thousands of creatives in the past year.But this isn’t just...
💄What 68 Glam AI ads reveal about effortless virality, beauty tech, and the secret to scroll-stopping creatives 💄
In this episode, we break down the creative strategy behind Glam AI — a beauty tech app that’s taken the internet by storm with over 900,000 downloads and more than $1 million in revenue in just one month. But we’re not just t...