How Codex became a collaborator for OpenAI’s creative team

This is part of our series sharing internal examples of how OpenAI is using its own technology and APIs. These tools are being used internally, at OpenAI, and are shared here as illustrative examples of how frontier AI is supporting use cases across our teams.

Most people assume Codex is just for engineers and developers, but for Chad Nelson, Creative Specialist at OpenAI, Codex has become a creative problem solver and collaborator. Chad’s role is to explore what OpenAI models can make possible for creative teams, then turn those possibilities into demos, workflows, and ideas brand partners can build on.

Used to working within the constraints of the standard software for creatives, Chad’s been impressed with Codex’s ability to help him create better tools, build custom workflows, and generate campaign directions grounded in the full context of a project.

“I’m actually bringing Codex sketches, storyboards, and design style guides—things that you wouldn’t assume Codex could understand. But it not only understands those things, it actually helps me collaborate and create utilizing those different assets.”

—Chad Nelson, Creative Specialist, OpenAI

Building custom tools that understand the brief

“The tools I’ve been using my whole career have no idea what project I’m on, what brand I’m working for, what product I’m trying to pitch,” Chad says. “Codex and ChatGPT have the context. They understand that I’m working for this client, with this product, with these strategic goals.”

Codex can also understand brand books, style guides, fonts, and composition—and with that knowledge becomes more attuned to the creative needs of a project.

A campaign direction is shaped by the brand it’s for, the product, and the emotional quality you want to convey in the work. Chad found that Codex can take all of this context and work across those inputs in a way traditional tools could not.

He also uses Codex to create and customize tools that will help solve specific problems.