TikTok creator agencies turn to AI to cut costs

Photo credit: TikTok Indonesia / Facebook

Creator networks working with TikTok are using AI to recruit talent, analyze performance, and automate parts of their operations, while some are experimenting with AI-generated creators.

Malaysia-based W Talent Entertainment, which manages more than 800 creators, uses AI to analyze data and identify potential recruits, a company representative told Tech in Asia.

“Data is showing us what to do, but humans are the ones that know how to do it,” the representative said, adding that staff still manage relationships and develop individual career plans for creators.

Indonesia’s Folago, which manages about 5,000 creators in the country, uses AI across recruitment, content recommendations, and performance analysis.

The company said that AI can screen potential creators and automate initial outreach before human staff take over once a creator shows interest.

Folago is also experimenting with AI-generated creators. The company has developed around 1,000 accounts using AI creators for its commerce business and created 12 AI-avatar singers, with plans to hold an AI concert.

The tech is also beginning to affect staffing. Folago has reduced its number of video editors as AI tools take over parts of the editing process, a company representative said. They added that manpower remains the biggest cost of running its creator network.

Still, representatives from both companies see limits to how far AI can go in livestream entertainment.

Folago said AI creators are currently better suited to ecommerce, where they can sell products around the clock. In contrast, livestream entertainment continues to depend on interactions between people.

As creator networks experiment with the technology, TikTok is rolling out AI tools to support their operations. The company introduced Live Bax, an AI-powered business assistant on its Live Backstage platform designed to streamline routine tasks and provide performance insights.

The platform unveiled the tool at its inaugural Creator Networks Global Summit in Bangkok last week.

TikTok said more than 21,000 independent creator networks support 4.7 million livestream creators worldwide. Southeast Asia accounts for about a quarter of those networks and a third of the creators they support.

More than 240 million creators livestreamed on TikTok in 2025, nearly double the number a year earlier, the company said.