Awestruck Launches AI Division with Embedded Catalyst Program

Awestruck, the Bethlehem, Pa.-based advertising agency and four-time Inc. 5000 honoree, has launched a new division called Awestruck AI. The division's core offering is Catalyst, a program that embeds an Awestruck team inside a client's business, either on site or through a structured virtual residency, to map workflows, identify where AI can be most effective, and then build an internal AI task force that guides the company toward a set of AI products tailored to its operations.

The company said it tested the approach inside its own agency before offering it to clients. "We ran this exact process inside our own agency. Within months, we had rebuilt our capability set from the ground up," said Ryan Sprance, co-founder and co-CEO of Awestruck, in a statement. "Then our clients started asking how we did it. Awestruck AI is the answer."

Unlike traditional consulting engagements that deliver a report and leave, the Catalyst program embeds a team for months to a year, building actual products and training internal staff. The process follows four phases: discovery, where the team interviews leadership and maps operations; strategy, where it identifies high-impact AI opportunities; build, where it develops the AI products using a backend platform; and deployment, where it trains the client's internal team and hands over the tools. The residency typically lasts multiple months to a year, with ongoing support as the client scales.

Awestruck AI uses Lyzr, an enterprise AI agent platform, to build and deploy the AI products. Lyzr provides infrastructure that is SOC 2, GDPR, and HIPAA-ready. The platform's client list includes Accenture and Hitachi, two of the largest technology services firms globally. Accenture holds an Alpha Score of 59, while Hitachi scores 65, according to AlphaScala data.

The launch continues a pattern that has defined the agency since its founding. When Awestruck could not find an OTT advertising provider that met its standards, it built its own campaign management system, now known as Awestruck Streaming, and became the national authority on streaming media within the hospitality and destination sector. That same instinct, identify the gap, build the solution, prove it internally, then bring it to clients, now powers Awestruck AI.

The approach has fueled extraordinary growth. Awestruck debuted at No. 25 on the 2023 Inc. 5000 with a three-year growth rate of 11,247 percent, and has earned a place on the list four consecutive years, focusing on tourism, hospitality, and entertainment clients.

"Unyielding innovation is one of our core values, and Awestruck AI is its next expression," said David Marcy, co-founder and co-CEO of Awestruck. "We rebuilt our own business with AI before we ever offered this to a client. Awestruck AI is the exact system that transformed us, delivered by the people who did it."

Residencies are structured as long-term partnerships, typically spanning multiple months to a year, with ongoing support as clients scale their AI capabilities.