GUT Instinct: Inside the Creative Engine Driving GUT Asia

SINGAPORE – At the GUT Asia office tucked inside Singapore’s vibrant Raffles Place, there’s a buzz of bold ambition. Within its glass walls, creativity and courage collide — not as lofty ideals, but as guiding principles. In this exclusive adobo Magazine interview, Carlos Camacho, Chief Creative Officer, and Jessica Davey, Managing Director of GUT Asia, open the door to their world of borderless collaboration, creative bravery, and what it truly means to be “a brave agency for brave clients.”

A creative calling: Carlos Camacho on Asia and going GUT

Carlos’ journey from MullenLowe Colombia to Asia Pacific was fueled by both trust and opportunity. Handpicked by creative legend José Miguel Sokoloff, Carlos took on the challenge of navigating a new region and an entirely new set of creative expectations. When Sokoloff offered him a shot to work in Asia, he didn’t hesitate. “I told him, ‘Give me a one-way ticket.’ I didn’t want a safety net. I wanted to make it work,” Carlos recalls. “I didn’t come for money. I came for the opportunity to do things my way.”

“I used to come to Asia for a week at a time to work on projects. It was amazing,” he shares. “José trusted me to succeed here — and that trust made all the difference.”

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From Vietnam to China, Hong Kong to Singapore, he immersed himself in the complex fabric of Asia’s cultural diversity. “This region is incredibly nuanced. Korea is nothing like Vietnam. Singapore is different from China or India. That taught me to listen and adapt — and that’s where creativity thrives.”

When Carlos got the call from GUT’s founders to lead the agency’s expansion into Asia, it felt like destiny. “Anselmo and Gastón called, and I just said, ‘Vamos.’”

Now as GUT’s creative leader in the region, Carlos is channeling that experience into bold, culturally grounded work. One such highlight: a TV spot in South Korea that amassed over 11 million views, becoming a powerful proof point of GUT’s creative resonance across Asia.

“We’re here to push boundaries — not just for ourselves, but to make our clients more ambitious,” he says. “We want to challenge them in ways that unlock new possibilities.”

For Carlos, GUT’s strength lies in its ability to merge instinct with strategy—something that’s especially vital in a region as diverse as APAC.

Independent by design: Jessica Davey on agility, culture, and open kitchens

GUT isn’t just a name — it’s a blueprint for how the agency operates. With offices across Miami, Buenos Aires, São Paulo, Madrid, Toronto, New York, Los Angeles, Amsterdam, Mexico City, and now Singapore, the network is powered by three core values: Courage, Transparency, and Intuition.

As Managing Director, Jessica brings a fresh lens to the business side of bravery. With experience across holding groups and disruptor agencies like Media.Monks, Ogilvy and McCann, Jessica understands the operational agility that sets GUT apart.

“We are unambiguously 100% agility and 0% bureaucracy,” she says. “We’re not built for layers. Our people are polymaths and multi-taskers — the business demands it.”

Jessica explains that at GUT, independence is both structural and cultural. The agency operates under a unique 50/50 model: half of the culture is defined centrally by GUT’s global values, and the other half is shaped locally by each office.

“That level of nuance is hard to achieve in large multinationals. We empower initiative and encourage entrepreneurial thinking — it’s in our DNA.”

Jessica adds, “We have a philosophy of “Open Kitchen” where we want to work with our clients as closely as possible, bring them into the process and genuinely partner with them in developing great ideas. That level of intimacy and trust is something that I think gives us a really unique POV on what our clients actually need, versus what an agency might want to ‘sell’ them.”

Brave work, brave clients

Together with Managing Director Jess, whom he calls “an amazing partner with guts and creative instinct in her DNA,” Carlos built the Singapore office from the ground up. Their shared ambition: to work with clients who don’t just want to be safe, but significant. The APAC office has CASS, Stella Artois, foodpanda, Corona, Budweiser and META in the current client list.

“We want clients who are ready to break the mold. Those who are tired of the same old. If they’re not ambitious, if they don’t respect creativity, we’re not the right agency for them,” says Carlos.

Both Carlos and Jessica point to GUT’s philosophy of being an “Agency of Culture” as a defining differentiator. It’s not just about advertising—it’s about understanding cultural moments and responding to them with creative solutions that matter.

“It’s not about doing hype or crazy stunts,” says Jess. “It’s about doing something the client hasn’t done before — something brave that moves their brand forward.”

Carlos echoes this: “Bravery doesn’t mean being loud. It means being true — true to the brand, true to the insight, and true to the people we’re trying to connect with.”

In a world where clients are increasingly splitting business between multinationals for scale and independents for innovation, GUT’s proposition is clear: it’s not about being everything to everyone, but about being the right partner for the right kind of creative leap.

AI as a creative ally

While many in the industry fear the implications of artificial intelligence, Carlos sees it as a smart ally — especially for small, nimble teams like GUT Asia.

“We use AI to move faster and make better things. It helps with animation, video, even refining writing,” he says. “But AI is a tool, not a substitute. If you don’t tell it what you want, it just throws noise at you. Creativity still needs a human soul.”

Trust, talent, and total involvement

When it comes to hiring, Carlos is looking for more than ideas. “I want people who care deeply about craft. Who are consistent. Who go the extra mile.”

His advice to the next generation of creatives? Go all in.

“There’s this quote I love: ‘Everyone wants to go to heaven, but nobody’s willing to die.’ It’s the same in advertising. You want to be brave? Then be brave. Walk the hard road. Fight the monsters. Break the walls. Just f*cking go.”

One of GUT Asia’s core working principles is what they call the “Open Kitchen.” It’s a philosophy that invites clients into the creative process from day one.

“We work closely with our clients — not to sell, but to solve,” says Davey. “That level of intimacy builds trust, and trust unlocks better work.”

It’s a model that also reflects the chemistry between Davey and Carlos — two leaders who balance strategic acumen and creative passion. Together, they’re shaping GUT Asia into not just an agency to watch, but one to reckon with.

The GUT Formula in Asia:

0% bureaucracy, 100% agility
Half-global, half-local culture
Brave ideas for brave clients
A culture of trust, not hierarchy
An Open Kitchen approach to collaboration

“Creative is our business,” Carlos emphasizes. “We put people first, then the work, then clients. We want to do work that nobody dares to do — and do it with integrity and heart.”

“We want to shake things up. We want to do things nobody else dares to do. That’s what GUT is all about.”

With creative leadership in Carlos and operational vision in Jess, GUT Asia is writing a new playbook — one where independence fuels innovation, culture drives creativity, and trust builds the bravest work of all.

Worth noting that In just a few short years, GUT Global has become a creative powerhouse, racking up global recognition: