Jessica Thorpe, CEO of partnrUP, is reshaping the company formerly known as gen.video with a clear mission: to build a unified system that addresses the fragmented state of creator marketing. The Boston-based company’s latest rebrand comes after major changes in how brands and creators work together in the digital economy.

The recent transition from gen.video to partnrUP follows the company’s acquisition of Lionize and responds to challenges in a field where technology hasn’t kept pace with business requirements. According to Jessica, the current ecosystem lacks cohesion and efficiency.

“There are very few tools today that recognize brand partnerships as an ecosystem,” Jessica says. “You have the creator, the brand, maybe an agency, maybe a talent manager, and it only works if everyone can participate in one place.”

Rebuilding the Foundation

The company’s progression from Expo TV to gen.video to partnrUP aligns with the creator economy’s own developmental stages. “There’s been a meaningful shift in the space that made us relook at our business model,” Jessica explains. With almost 20 years in the field, she’s witnessed this change firsthand.

Expo TV began as a ratings and reviews platform focused on product testimonials. The shift to gen.video marked a key move away from traditional reviews toward a new direction. “Gen Video was a pivotal shift from Expo TV. We were no longer a ratings and review platform,” Jessica says. “A review is just a star rating of a product you bought, unpaid. But once you started working with bloggers or YouTubers, it was something different. We wanted to be first to market in partnering with people making videos on YouTube.”

Now, as partnrUP, the company addresses what Jessica identifies as the next phase: the merging of influencer marketing and affiliate marketing under a broader framework.

“Partnership marketing sits above creator, influencer, and affiliate marketing,” she notes. “It’s the umbrella for brands and creators working together for performance outcomes.”

This change wasn’t merely cosmetic. The rebrand reflects how the platform functions and the problems it aims to solve. As Jessica puts it, “When you change your platform and services enough, a rebrand helps brands and marketers see you as a new entity.”

The Interface Layer: A Marketplace with Dual Entry Points

Just as an operating system needs different interfaces for different user types, partnrUP has built distinct yet interconnected portals for its ecosystem participants.

“We want to make clear there are tools for both sides,” Jessica says. On the brand side, marketers log into partnrUP.ai, while creators access the same ecosystem through CreatorOpportunity.com.

This separation is intentional and philosophically important. “We didn’t want it to look like just a creator sign-up page,” Jessica says. “Nobody wants to feel like they’re joining a network just to get spammed or asked to share their data.”

Instead, Jessica notes that partnrUP offers creators a free tool with a paid membership option, delivering value independently while creating opportunities to connect with brands.

The Process Engine: AI Agents as System Processes

At the core of any operating system are processes that handle specific functions efficiently in the background. In partnrUP’s ecosystem, this role is filled by specialized AI agents, each designed to manage a distinct aspect of creator marketing that typically requires significant human time and effort.

The platform features four main agents with specific functions: Kyle handles influencer discovery, Lilly manages recruitment and contracting, Rachel helps shape campaign messaging, and Aaron coordinates campaigns and follow-ups.

These agents represent partnrUP’s solution to inefficiencies in creator marketing workflows. “We asked: ‘What’s tedious and adds no value?’ It’s the scrolling, the searching, and sending the same email over and over,” Jessica explains.

The naming approach aims to make the technology more approachable and practical. “If the goal is to empower marketers with a team through tech, it’s easier to tie each function to a named persona,” Jessica says. “You need someone for recruiting, someone for negotiation, someone creative for concepts, and someone organized to keep dozens of timelines on track.”

Importantly, Jessica adds, human judgment remains central. “The agents do the work, but I make the yes-or-no decision every time,” she says.

Access Control: Flexible Pricing

The AI agent infrastructure enables another key component of partnrUP’s operating system: flexible accessibility through practical pricing models.

“It’s tough for a brand or agency to license software for 12 months if they only do two campaigns a year,” Jessica points out. “So we’ve introduced self-service options; no salesperson, just log in, launch a campaign, and get to work within minutes.”

This allows for multiple pricing models. Jessica explains, “Some prefer free tools with a 20% fee on content spend. Others hate that – if they’re spending hundreds of thousands, that fee is too high. For them, a flat monthly license with zero processing fees works better.”

The result, according to Jessica, is increased access to influencer marketing, “from brands just starting to enterprise,” she says, sharing one example: “A golf equipment brand came in, self-served, and had 10 partners in a few days. We don’t need to be in the middle of that.”

System Integrity

Jessica’s vision for partnrUP includes clear guidelines for how AI should function: enhancing, but not replacing, the human connections that make creator marketing valuable.

While partnrUP embraces AI for workflows, Jessica draws a line against AI-generated influencer content. “The FTC [Federal Trade Commission] will step in soon,” she warns. “Brands are going to be in trouble if they dive into fake AI-generated people.”

For Jessica, creator marketing’s strength lies in its authentic appeal: “It’s a multi-billion-dollar industry because real people share their stories. Why mess with that?”

As she summarizes, “AI agents handle the busy work so you can focus on strategy and results. AI is useful, but it’s driven by you, the practitioner who understands the brand and goals and guides the agents.”

Future Development Plans

With the rebranding completed, partnrUP has a clear development path that builds on its operating system structure.

“By the end of this year, expect two announcements,” Jessica shares. “First, empowering agencies and partner companies with more flexibility, removing our brand, but giving them admin powers to scale for their own clients.”

The second, “We’re expanding affiliate analytics with predictive modeling to show which influencers work best for certain brands, based on years of data.”

Jessica reveals that the company is moving carefully with automation, recognizing trust is essential. “One or two bad decisions can spook clients and make them not want your software,” she says.

As creator marketing develops, partnrUP.ai’s operating system approach aims to reduce friction, preserve human relationships, and expand access.

“It’s the aggregation of information that makes the system smarter over time,” Jessica concludes. “Larger conglomerates and agencies have different needs. If you offer flexibility, you can be the tool they rely on when needed.”

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