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AI in Video Production: What You Should (and Shouldn’t) Automate in 2026

Written by Jared Floyd | February 4, 2026

Why AI Matters

AI in Video Production: What You Should (and Shouldn’t) Automate in 2026

AI can do a lot in video, but it shouldn’t replace your team’s taste or your brand’s voice. The sweet spot is simple: let AI handle the repeatable, rule-based tasks, and keep people in charge of the creative calls and sensitive decisions.

Think of AI as your production assistant. It can: 

  1. draft captions and transcripts
  2. resize the same edit for different platforms
  3. clean up rough audio
  4. send helpful reminders
  5. turn one great video into a handful of short clips
  6. That frees your team to focus on story, performance, and client relationships, the things that actually move the needle.

In this guide, you’ll get:

  • A clear list of what to automate now (and what to avoid for now)
  • A lightweight workflow your team can actually follow
  • Simple safety steps (like adding a small “made-with” label and following platform disclosure rules) so you can move fast without risk
  • A 30-day plan to pilot AI in your process and measure real wins

By the end, you’ll know where AI saves hours (and headaches) and where human judgment still matters most. If you’d prefer a done-for-you setup, see the TL;DR for a quick way to get started with Ajax Creative.

 

Why AI in Video Matters in 2026

AI can save hours in the edit bay. It shouldn’t make your creative calls.

Use it where the steps repeat. Keep people on story, tone, and sensitive decisions.

  1. Speed
  2. Consistency
  3. Taste

Marketers know video works. They create more content across more channels on tighter timelines. 

Demand is up. Deadlines are tighter. Editors are stretched.

So where does AI actually help? Mechanical steps with clear rules. Captioning interviews. Pulling a rough cut from a transcript. Resizing one edit for many platforms. You press “go,” and the machine lifts the heavy stuff while your team shapes the moments people remember.

  1. Less hunting
  2. More cutting

There’s a business angle, too. Companies that win with AI start small and measurable. 

Skip flashy stunts. Focus on workflows that save time and reduce errorsThe 2025 AI picture is clear: narrow, repeatable use cases deliver value; big, showy experiments do not.

Now the reality check. Even the strongest models struggle with control, continuity, and nuance. That matters when your brand voice and context are on the line. 

Treat generative video as an assistant, not an editor; the text-to-video capabilities and constraints make that clear.

That’s why every team needs two constants:

  1. Guardrails to set the limits up front.
  2. Human review to make sure the final cut feels right.

On the tools side, editors are getting help where it counts. They can find the right clip faster, without rummaging through endless bins. Assistants are moving directly inside the software

One example is media-intelligence search in Premiere Pro, which makes retrieval faster and shaping easier.

So yes, AI matters this year. Not because it replaces taste, but because it clears the busywork and speeds the handoffs. Your team can stay with the moments that sell the story: performance, pacing, and that “this feels right” judgment only humans bring.

 

What to Automate

What to Automate (Right Now) in Video Editing & Post

Let AI do the busywork. People keep the final say.

  1. Speed first

  2. Fewer handoffs

  3. Cleaner first cuts

Pre-production (assist)

Transcripts you can edit against.

Turning dialogue into text inside your edit is now a standard step. The machine drafts it, and you fix brand terms or tricky names. It speeds review and doubles as captions when you publish. Try speech-to-text transcription in Premiere Pro.

 
Cut from words, not waveforms.

When the story is interview-driven, you don’t need to scrub endlessly. Highlight the sentences you want, lift the filler, and you’ve got a working draft in minutes. Text-based editing in Premiere Pro makes it possible to assemble a cut straight from the transcript.

 
Project scaffolding on autopilot.

Every production repeats the same setup: folders, bins, starter timelines. Automating that build keeps projects consistent, especially when teams are large or deadlines are tight. 
Boring but powerful.

 

Find cuts faster.

Long-form footage can be overwhelming. One file, hours of content. Let AI detect the edit points, drop markers, and give you a head start.

Scene edit detection in Premiere Pro does it in seconds, so editors spend less time hunting and more time shaping.

  1. Less hunting

  2. More cutting

Want concepts and boards that sell the idea before a single shot is taken? Our creative development team helps you visualize the story early, saving time and costly revisions later.

 

Production (assist)

One video, many sizes.

Every platform asks for a different frame. Horizontal for YouTube, vertical for TikTok, square for Instagram. Instead of re-editing each version, let AI reframe automatically. Auto Reframe in Premiere Pro keeps the subject centered and gives you instant 16:9, 9:16, and 1:1 versions of the same cut.

 

On-set nudges that keep you on track.

Shoots move fast. It’s easy to forget if cards have been backed up, if a battery is near empty, or if a scene was missed. Simple rule-based reminders send alerts for shot list completion, media offloads, or gear checks. 
Those are small nudges that prevent costly reshoots.

 

Tag as you go.

Organizing on set saves headaches later. Mark each take with its scene number, shot ID, and talent name while filming. Editors will thank you when clips are searchable instead of being buried in endless folders.

  1. Less confusion

  2. Fewer misses

  3. Cleaner handoffs

When the shoot is complex (multiple cameras, bigger crews, fast turnarounds), human direction matters even more. Explore our production services to see how we handle complex shoots with clarity and control.

 

Post-production (automate → review)

Auto-captions and transcripts.

As covered in speech-to-text transcription in Premiere Pro, AI can generate a baseline transcript and captions in minutes. A human pass is still needed for names, brand terms, and tone, but it takes a fraction of the time compared to starting from scratch.

 

Clean up voices.

Background noise or muffled dialogue doesn’t always mean a re-record. Enhance Speech in Premiere Pro lifts clarity from rough audio, giving editors a stronger base before handing it to a sound mixer.

 

First-pass color.

Editors don’t need to grade every shot manually at the start. Auto Color in Premiere Pro applies a consistent base look, so the colorist can focus on creative choices later.
Time-savers across the suite. From faster subtitles to multicam editing improvements, DaVinci Resolve 20 updates give editors new tools that reduce repetitive setup work and keep post moving.

 

Automated quality checks.

Technical checks that once ate hours can now run in the background:

  1. Keep audio within range using EBU R128 loudness standards or ITU BS.1770 recommendations.

  2. Flag mistakes like blank frames or dead audio with blackdetect and silencedetect filters in FFmpeg.

  3. Ensure delivery matches platform requirements with YouTube encoding settings for upload.

  4. Fewer technical misses.

  5. Cleaner client handoffs.

When projects demand polish beyond what automation can cover, our post-production services handle finishing at the level brands expect.

 

Distribution & Ops (rule-based + provenance)

Repurpose content across formats.

A single master video can generate a dozen assets: shorts, reels, text summaries, and thumbnails. Each platform has its quirks, so matching the right export specs matters.

 

Reviews that run themselves.

When a cut changes status, it can trigger the right notifications automatically. 
Editors, colorists, and sound designers get alerts. Deadlines appear on calendars. Approved edits move to “publish” and final files archive themselves. Rule-based systems keep handoffs smooth.

 

Go global without losing nuance.

AI can draft subtitles and translations, but a human should check for tone, culture, and brand voice.  Accessibility isn’t optional; publishing with captions is required. See the WCAG 2.2 accessibility guidelines for captions on prerecorded video for compliance standards.

 

Tell viewers what’s AI-assisted.

Regulators and platforms are tightening rules on disclosure. Creators must label synthetic or heavily altered content. Review YouTube disclosure rules for synthetic and altered media and TikTok requirements for AI-generated content labeling to avoid flagged posts or takedowns.

 

Prove how the content was made.

Metadata can travel with your files, confirming when and how AI assisted.  Adobe Content Credentials for provenance tracking, built on the C2PA open standard for content authenticity, adds that label inside the asset itself. Delivery pipelines can now preserve these markers. Cloudflare’s image pipeline for preserving Content Credentials is one example of ensuring provenance survives across platforms.

  1. Clear labeling

  2. Accessible publishing

  3. Trusted delivery

 

What Not to Automate

What Not to Automate (Story, Brand & Client Communication)

If it touches trust or taste, keep people in charge.

Client conversations and approvals.

AI can schedule a call or send a reminder, but it should not be the voice replying to a client’s notes. Cut feedback, sensitive revisions, and big approvals demand a human response. Anything less risks damaging trust.

 

Creative decisions.

Story arcs, timing, pacing, and brand tone are emotional signals that shape how a viewer feels. Even advanced systems still trip on nuance, as the limitations of current text-to-video models show. Creative calls need human judgment because audiences notice when it’s missing.

Rights-heavy areas.

AI can help brainstorm or speed research, but when it comes to likeness, voices, or music, the rules are clear: get consent and use proper licenses. Without it, the risks extend beyond reputation. They’re legal.

Industry rules and union contracts (see Policy, Legal & Platform Compliance Section) are tightening every year, and the safest route is to keep people accountable.

  1. Trust

  2. Taste

  3. Legal clarity

And here’s the bigger picture: audiences can forgive a glitch, but not a brand that feels robotic or careless. That’s why the most memorable work comes from human choices supported by AI, not replaced by it.

See how we handle the balance between creativity and craft in our portfolio of client work.

 

Your AI Tech Stack

Your 2025 Video AI Stack (Reference Architecture)

Think of this as a balanced toolkit: editing features, a few automations that shave hours off routine work, and a trust label stamped on every file.

Ingest and tagging.

Keep footage in a shared library where it’s easy to find. Smarter AI-powered search inside editing apps is already arriving, which means editors spend less time rummaging and more time shaping.

 

Edit layer.

This is where AI earns its keep. Features like speech-to-text transcription, text-based editing, and auto reframing for different aspect ratios handle the heavy lifting. Pair them with Resolve’s AI-assisted editing tools for faster rough cuts and subtitles.

 

Review and approval automations.

Instead of chasing status updates, use workflows that automatically spin up project folders, assign owners or approvers, post Slack/Teams reminders, and archive final masters in your media library once signed off.

 

Provenance and disclosure.

Every exported file should carry a digital label proving how it was made. Standards like Content Credentials and C2PA provenance tags help keep that chain of custody intact. Wider watermarking is also emerging, including Google’s SynthID embedded in Veo and Imagen 3. These are critical as platforms tighten synthetic content rules.

 

Regulations.

Finally, don’t overlook compliance. Regional frameworks like the EU AI Act are moving from proposal to enforcement. Building with disclosure and provenance baked in is future-proof.

Quick takeaway: Build a clear, dependable stack that handles the routine, keeps files compliant, and leaves people free to make the creative calls.

 

ROI & Results

Proof: ROI & Case Signals

The fastest wins come from tasks that repeat over and over. Automating those is where the payoff shows up quickest.

Versioning at scale.

When you need to resize one video into multiple formats, auto-reframing and batch captioning from speech-to-text transcription turn a single master into platform-ready assets in a fraction of the time (see Pre-Production and Production).

Faster first cuts.

Tools like Enhance Speech for audio cleanup and text-based editing let editors assemble a rough cut quickly, which they can then refine creatively (see Pre-Production and Post-Production).

 

More output per shoot.

One strong recording session can feed an entire content pipeline. With smart repurposing for shorts, reels, and thumbnails, teams squeeze more mileage out of every shoot (see Distribution & Ops).

Quick takeaway: ROI doesn’t hide in bold experiments. It lives in the unglamorous but constant tasks (captions, reframes, first passes) that AI can knock out while humans stay focused on story and brand.

 

Team & Workflow

Team & Workflow: Humans + AI

Technology only works if people know where they fit. The smartest move is to design the human workflow first, then layer in AI where it makes life easier.

Who does what:

  1. Producer / Project Manager: Handles simple automations, checklists, and keeps status notes current.

  2. Editor: Uses transcripts, rough cuts, and reframes with AI’s help but always makes the final creative calls.

  3. Colorist / Sound Team: Starts with quick AI fixes, then applies the polish that only humans can bring.

  4. Coordinator: Keeps reviews moving, tracks deadlines, and makes sure the right people get notified.

 

Avoid the usual pitfalls

Start small. Measure your results. Keep human decision-makers on anything subjective. AI should never override taste or trust.

Keep content accessible

Every project should be published with captions. That’s part of accessible video standards for prerecorded captions. Accessibility helps your work reach more people and keeps you compliant.

 
 
 

 

Implementation Plan

30-Day Implementation Plan

Think of this as a starter playbook. You don’t need to flip your whole workflow overnight. In fact, the fastest wins come from small, predictable changes stacked week by week.

Week 1: Foundations
  1. Turn on provenance and disclosure templates (see content credentials and provenance labels) so every file is traceable.

  2. Adopt a captions-first approach using caption accessibility guidelines, and every video leaves your shop with captions by default.

  3. Pick three easy automations to prove value quickly: generate captions, use auto-framing for multiple aspect ratios, and set up a daily progress note.

 

Week 2: Simple Ops
  1. Automate the “plumbing”: review/approval notifications, starter folder setups, and export presets.

  2. Establish a repurposing rhythm. One master video becomes clips, shorts, text snippets, and thumbnails.

 

Week 3: Human Gates
  1. Add checklists for story, brand, and rights compliance (see Policy & Compliance). These become the non-negotiables where humans must weigh in.

 

Week 4: Measure & Improve
  1. Track wins: minutes saved, fewer errors, more posts delivered on time.

  2. Add one more predictable automation to expand efficiency without breaking the flow.

 

Vendor Checklist

Vendor / RFP Checklist

When you’re evaluating partners or platforms for AI in video production, focus on what actually matters. Ask vendors if they support:

  1. Content Credentials and C2PA provenance labels to track how your content was created.

  2. Built-in disclosure tools that make AI-assisted clips transparent to platforms and audiences.

  3. Strong caption support for accessibility compliance.

  4. Audit logs so you know who touched what and when.

  5. Reliable review and approval flows to keep teams aligned.

  6. Export presets for consistent publishing.

  7. EU AI Act readiness if you’re distributing internationally.

  8. Legal indemnities and model/data transparency (no surprises down the line).

 

Mindset tip: always favor clear, rule-based features over vague promises of “AI magic.”

Want to see how a production partner balances creativity with compliance? Meet the Ajax team or explore the video portfolio.

 

Glossary & Resources

Glossary & Further Reading

Not every term is obvious. Here’s a quick primer with trusted references if you want to go deeper:

  1. Generative video for ideation → tools like Runway Gen-3 show how far text-to-video has come (and where its limits are).

  2. Provenance vs. watermarking → Content Credentials and C2PA (covered in distribution) show authenticity better than hidden watermarks.

 

Key terms worth knowing:
  1. Rule-based automation - predictable tasks with clear outcomes.

  2. Digital replica - AI-generated likeness of a voice, face, or style.

  3. WCAG captions - an accessibility standard requiring captions for prerecorded video.

 

Ajax Production & Post Locations

For search visibility and client convenience, Ajax’s production and post-production hubs span multiple cities:

Post-Production:

  1. Chicago

  2. Los Angeles

  3. USA HQ

Production:

  1. Austin

  2. Chicago