Open to advisory & board roles
Board & Advisory Profile · Los Angeles, California
AI Consultant
& Creative Strategist
For more than 30 years I've helped build brands, teams and businesses — from Activision's turnaround in the 1990s to eco-luxury real estate in Costa Rica. Today I help leadership teams put AI to work where it moves revenue: marketing and brand, customer acquisition, and the AI tools and talking agents their people and customers use every day.
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Executive summary
Michael Rivera is the founder and chief creative strategist of AvatarAgency.ai, a Los Angeles AI marketing studio that builds digital twins, cinematic AI video, real-time talking AI agents, interactive websites, and AI Referral Optimization for companies that want the presence big brands pay agencies for. He also created LiveBrand.ai, a platform that turns a professional's face, voice and knowledge into an agent that works on their website around the clock.
His career began in 1991 at Activision, as one of its earliest employees during the turnaround that made it a dominant force in gaming. Over eight years he managed quality control, customer support and documentation through launches including MechWarrior 2, Quake II and Interstate '76, as revenue grew from $57.8 million to more than $312 million. He then joined the founding team of Ignited, a Los Angeles integrated marketing agency, where as senior online producer he led writers, designers and photographers on campaigns for Sony, Motorola, Ubisoft, and the U.S. Army.
From 2006 he spent eight years in Costa Rica luxury real estate development — first as vice president of marketing, running integrated digital campaigns and lead generation for international buyers, then as director of residential services, running homeowner relations, property management and the vacation-rental program. Since 2023 he has been executive vice president of business development at Amagaya, involved in land acquisition, modeling sustainable, tech-integrated luxury housing ventures in Costa Rica and Colorado.
That combination is what he brings to a board: the creative judgment to know what will move a market, the operator's patience to see a long, complex project through, and hands-on fluency with today's generative AI. He works as a fractional CMO for owner-led companies and is seeking advisory and board roles where revenue growth, brand and AI adoption are on the agenda.
Michael holds a BFA from the University of Michigan and an AI Assisted Consultant Certification, and is a keynote speaker with THRIVE, the speaking duo he leads with Dr. Stephanie Geter.
“AI is everywhere. Your brand is the only thing it can't replicate.”
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Meet my AI agent
Ava is my AI agent assistant — a live, talking agent like the ones AvatarAgency builds for clients. Ask her about my background, how I work with boards and leadership teams, or what an agent like her could do for your company. She can book time on my calendar while you talk.
Ava is an AI avatar created by AvatarAgency, not a real person. She runs on the same platform we deploy for clients, and conversations are limited to ten minutes.
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What I bring to a board
Two lead the list: growing revenue through marketing and brand, and bringing AI into the company. Each card ends with the board question I'd bring to the table to keep management focused on measurable results.
Who you are, who you serve, and the one message your market needs to hear — then a marketing engine that carries it to every channel and turns attention into revenue. Thirty years of campaigns, from Sony, Motorola, Ubisoft, and the U.S. Army to international luxury real estate.
The board questionWhy should a customer choose us, in one sentence — and is every channel saying it?
Strategy, tools and team adoption. Separating the AI that moves revenue from the AI that only makes noise, choosing the platforms, and getting people actually using them — with a plan the board can measure.
The board questionWhere should AI show up in our P&L in the next twelve months?
The content engine and the funnel behind it: paid, social, video and marketing automation working as one system that turns attention into booked appointments.
The board questionWhat does a new customer cost us, and how do we bring that down?
A real-time AI agent on the front line: it answers every question in the customer's own language, books the meeting and captures the lead — at 2 p.m. or 2 a.m.
The board questionWhat happens to a lead that arrives after hours?
Customers now ask ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Perplexity and Claude for recommendations, and they answer with two or three names. I measure whether the company is one of them, and fix it with AI Referral Optimization when it isn't.
The board questionWhen a customer asks an AI about our category, do we appear?
Digital twins of founders and executives — face, voice and expertise — so leadership shows up everywhere, every week, without living in front of a camera.
The board questionHow does our CEO's voice reach the market every week?
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Advisory focus
Deepest experience
Also
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Experience
2024 — Present
A full-service AI marketing agency: digital cloning, cinematic AI video, real-time talking AI agents, marketing automation, AI Referral Optimization and private Claude coaching. Leads every client engagement for real estate professionals, executives, coaches and owner-led businesses, and created LiveBrand.ai, a self-serve platform for 24/7 website avatars.
2023 — Present
Land acquisition, research, and project modeling for sustainable, tech-integrated luxury housing ventures in Costa Rica and Colorado — smart homes designed around their views — and bringing AI-driven efficiencies into core business processes.
2006 — 2014
Marketing and residential services for a developer of sustainable luxury residential communities. As VP of Marketing (2006–2010), led teams and outside agencies on integrated digital campaigns and lead generation for international buyers, and set the brand's positioning. As Director of Residential Services (2010–2014), ran homeowner relations, property management and the vacation-rental program, and grew the services portfolio.
1999 — 2006
Part of the founding team. Led writers, digital designers and photographers on integrated digital campaigns for Sony, Motorola, Ubisoft, and the U.S. Army; managed productions from concept to delivery and mentored junior producers across concurrent accounts.
1991 — 1999
One of the earliest employees of Activision's landmark turnaround. Helped build launches of classic game titles including MechWarrior 2, Quake II and Interstate '76 as revenue grew from $57.8M to more than $312M.
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Services · AvatarAgency.ai
Each service comes with its own short film. Press play — every frame was made with the same AI production we build for clients.
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Your whole content engine, run by one strategist.
What big brands pay agencies six figures for: someone who owns your story, your look and your output, end to end. You approve. We produce.
Live
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Your website stops being a brochure and starts having conversations.
A lifelike agent greets every visitor face to face, answers questions in a natural voice, books the appointment and captures the lead. Three kinds: a digital twin of you, a custom brand avatar, or a ready-to-go presenter.
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Your brand working 24/7 — without a film crew.
A digital avatar delivers listing showcases, monthly market updates and neighborhood tours. A comparable traditionally produced listing package runs $3,000–$7,000 per property and takes weeks.
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Your next customer isn't Googling you. They're asking an AI.
We test real customer questions on ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Perplexity and Claude, then make the business the answer — with structured data, FAQ content and consistent listings, re-tested at 60–90 days.
Source: BrightLocal 2026 Local Consumer Review Survey.
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From the page to the screen.
Cinematic book trailers, a talking author or character avatar, an author website and a launch campaign — whether the book is published, about to launch, or still an idea.
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One session. Endless content. Zero camera anxiety.
An outsourced video department: your clone or an original AI spokesperson, fresh branded videos every month, and your YouTube channel managed for you.
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Master Claude in 90 minutes.
A private, one-on-one working session in the client's own account, on their own data. They leave with AI already running their busywork, plus a playbook and 30 days of on-call coaching.
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The AI era, on your stage.
Keynotes and workshops with THRIVE Doctor Stephanie Geter and “Special Agent” Rivera: human connection, research and AI, for conferences, leadership retreats and corporate teams.
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Selected work
Cinematic AI video production, interactive and immersive websites, and talking avatars that teach visitors about a company's products and services, capture leads and schedule appointments. No film crew, camera rig or drone shot any of this work. Each real person gave us one short cloning session; every scene, camera move and performance was generated from that capture, then hand-finished in a professional edit. Our original characters started with no one to photograph at all.
Cinematic film · 1:49
Hero film · 2:54
Film · 1:19Probate & trust real estate · California
Agent recruiting, probate outreach and a brand story — calm, warm and steady — with his twin placed in photographs of his real office.
Cinematic film · Digital clone · Shorts
Practice film · 1:13Dentistry · San Diego County
Every room a real photograph of the practice, relit — never an invented set — plus “Maya,” a talking assistant who knows every service and never diagnoses.
Film · Short-form spots · Talking avatar
Trailer · 2:30Original character · Fraud prevention
A superhero built from nothing — face, suit, emblem and nemesis — with a studio-style teaser trailer and a talking avatar.
Character · Trailer · Talking avatar
Film · 1:02Higher education · A thank-you film
An enrollment leader recast as the superhero she already is — a designed character alongside a client's own digital twin, in one minute.
Character · Film · Digital twin
Motion test · 15 sBeauty · Campaign pitch
A fifteen-second campaign concept for a lip-care brand: seven-shot storyboard, an original model and motion tests, for an agency's pitch.
Campaign · Storyboard · Original model
UGC ad · 0:18 · 9:16Consumer tech · UGC spec ad
An original AI creator and a finished 18-second spot for an AI voice-recorder brand, delivered the same day the brief arrived.
UGC ad · AI creator · 9:16
Talking avatar · liveHome services · Prototype
A fictional trades business built to show what an avatar can do for a local service company: 50 checked answers, safety first — a gas smell gets “get outside” before anything else — and he books the visit without ever quoting a price.
Talking avatar · Original character
Talking avatar · liveChildren's books · Client character
The little white Snoodle puppy from a Christian picture-book series for children, brought to life as a photoreal talking character that children can meet and talk with, safely, in her own voice.
Talking avatar · Client character · Child-safe
Client films are shared privately, with our clients' permission. Open the full portfolio to watch every film, see the cloning sessions behind them, and talk to the live avatars.
Open the private portfolio08
Working together
Working sessions with the CEO and leadership to map the goals, the customer journey, and where AI already touches the business.
An AI and marketing audit: brand, channels and funnel — and how ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Perplexity and Claude describe the company today.
A 90-day plan the board can hold management to: priorities, budget, and metrics we'll report every quarter.
Let's talk
Bring the company's goals and the questions keeping leadership up at night. You'll leave with a clear view of where AI and marketing could move the numbers — whether or not we work together.
