In this episode of the Nobel Podcast, Vladan speaks with Mitch Voskuilen, founder and CEO of Billy Grace. Nobel recently started working with Billy Grace to help them build out their commercial team and this episode gives a closer look at the company, its mission and why this is such an exciting moment to join.
Watch the complete episode in the video below or listen to it on Spotify.
From Digital Marketing Experience to AI Innovation
Mitch’s background is deeply rooted in digital marketing. After fifteen years in the industry, working across marketing strategy, management and recruitment platforms, he saw a clear shift happening. Marketing had become increasingly data-driven and while data created enormous opportunities, it also pulled marketers away from the creative side of their work. Billy Grace was born from that frustration. The idea was simple but powerful: build an AI platform that automates repetitive and data-heavy marketing tasks so marketers can spend more time on creativity, messaging and real brand impact.
Bringing Back the Creative Marketer
One of the strongest messages in the episode is that great marketing is not remembered because of the data behind it. People remember campaigns because they are funny, moving, bold or memorable. Mitch refers to classic campaigns like “Even Apeldoorn bellen” as examples of advertising that stayed with people because of creativity and emotion. According to him, marketers have spent the last decade drowning in data from Google, Meta, TikTok, Snapchat and countless other channels. Billy Grace wants to change that by helping marketers move back toward the creative work that actually builds brands.
Solving the Data Problem in Modern Marketing
Billy Grace does not only focus on automation. The platform also tackles one of the biggest challenges in marketing today: measurement. Brands spend large amounts of money across different channels and each platform reports performance in its own way. That makes it difficult for marketing teams to understand where their budget is truly generating returns. Billy Grace creates what Mitch calls a new truth for marketing teams by measuring marketing activity independently and showing where every euro performs well and where it does not. By combining measurement and automation in one platform, the company solves two major challenges at once.
Built Before the AI Hype
Billy Grace started building in 2020, long before AI became a mainstream conversation through tools like ChatGPT. At the time, the idea of using AI to automate marketing decisions was still difficult for many people to understand. That changed as the market became more familiar with AI. The company officially launched in 2022 and started its commercial go-to-market motion in 2023. Since then, Billy Grace has been growing rapidly and proving that its vision fits a real and urgent market need.
Rapid Growth in the Benelux and Beyond
Today, Billy Grace has grown to around forty people and is actively hiring as the company continues to scale. Mitch explains that the business has grown five times in the last twelve months, after growing seven times the year before and eight times the year before that. Most of the company’s revenue still comes from the Benelux, but Billy Grace is already working with customers in the Nordics, Germany, the UK and the US. The ambition is clear: first become a European leader and then continue expanding further.
Why Agencies Are Central to the Growth Strategy
A key part of Billy Grace’s commercial strategy is its focus on agencies. In the Benelux, many larger brands work closely with agencies for their digital marketing execution and expertise. That makes agencies a scalable route to market for Billy Grace. Instead of only selling directly to brands, the company works with agencies that use the platform for their clients. This requires a different kind of sales approach. It is less transactional and much more relationship-driven because the goal is to teach agencies how to use Billy Grace, how to sell it to their clients and how to create better marketing outcomes with the platform.
Human Contact Still Matters in AI
Although Billy Grace operates at the forefront of AI innovation, Mitch strongly believes that human contact remains essential. Salespeople at Billy Grace are called partner managers because their role is not just to close deals. They help agencies understand the platform, build a business case and successfully introduce it to end clients. That work happens both online and face to face. In a world where AI is changing almost everything, Billy Grace sees personal relationships and real collaboration as even more important.
Why Marketers Should Pay Attention
For marketers, Billy Grace represents a major shift in the industry. Mitch believes the marketing profession is moving in two directions. Some marketers will go back toward creativity, campaigns and messaging, while others will move deeper into data. Billy Grace sits between those worlds by using data and AI to empower creative marketing. For people who want to be at the forefront of the future of marketing and help change how the industry works, joining Billy Grace means stepping into a company that is actively disrupting the market.
The Next Phase: Professionalizing and Scaling
Mitch describes Billy Grace as being at the beginning of a hockey stick growth curve. The product has proven itself, the platform has proven itself and the go-to-market model has proven itself. The company is no longer in the earliest stage of constant pivots and daily uncertainty. Instead, it is entering a professionalization phase where the focus is on scaling what already works. That makes this a particularly exciting time to join because the foundation is there, while much of the growth is still ahead.
Final Thoughts
This episode of the Nobel Podcast shows why Billy Grace is an exciting company to watch and work for. The company is solving a real problem in modern marketing by combining AI, automation and independent measurement in one platform. But more importantly, its mission is rooted in something deeply human: helping marketers become creative again. With rapid growth, strong agency partnerships and the ambition to become a European leader, Billy Grace is entering a defining phase in its journey.
We hope you enjoyed this episode. Stay tuned for more inspiring guests!
Find Mitch on LinkedIn.
