AI changed the workflow, not the judgement
Transcription, subtitling, rough assembly, reframing for four aspect ratios, generating twelve variants of a cut — all of that is now fast and cheap, and it used to eat most of a week. What has not changed is the part that decides whether anyone watches: the idea, the opening line, where the cut lands. Any agency selling AI as a replacement for that is selling you a faster route to content nobody finishes.
Ask what the tools are actually doing
There is a large difference between an agency using AI to remove drudgery and one feeding your brief to a model and forwarding the output. Ask which tools, at which step, and who reviews the result. A studio that cannot answer that in plain language is either not using AI or not admitting how much.
Judge the reel, not the showreel
A showreel is edited to impress other editors. Ask instead for three pieces made for a brand like yours, and the retention graph for each. Watch-through is the only number that survives contact with a real feed, and an agency confident in its work will show it without being pushed.
Turnaround claims are worth testing on one job
Everyone promises fast delivery. The honest test is a single paid pilot with a real deadline, before any retainer. What you are measuring is not the edit — it is how they handle the second round of changes, which is where most relationships actually fail.
Who owns the footage
Get this in writing before the first shoot. Raw footage, project files, edits and any licensed music should be yours outright, handed over in source format on request. An agency that keeps your project files is keeping leverage, and you will feel it the day you want to move.
Revisions need a number, not a spirit
"Unlimited revisions" usually means unlimited within reason, and reason is defined afterwards by whoever is more tired. A fixed number of rounds with a clear brief produces better work than an open door, because it forces the thinking to happen before the timeline.
Where we stand
We have been editing short-form since 2018 and we use AI across the workflow — transcription, versioning, first assembly, captions. Scripting, direction and the final cut stay with people, because that is where a video is won or lost. Our own feed is public and carries the same production standard we sell; judging us on it is fair.