Star treatment for tech creators at new talent management firm

Tech creators are receiving top-tier recognition.

Reign Maker Group, which bundles brand, media, marketing, and talent agencies, is unveiling a new management firm with YouTuber Tech with Tim, as learned by Business Insider.

The purpose of Kernel Management is to link tech creators with brand sponsors, aid in business growth beyond YouTube, and foster community through monthly gatherings.

Kernel has signed Tim Ruscica, the face behind Tech with Tim, who will serve as an equity partner and mentor clients.

He will team up with Jonathan Chanti, the CEO and cofounder of Reign Maker Group; while Damian Skocylaz, president at Reign Maker Talent, will manage the operations.

Chanti expects to bring on board between 30 to 100 clients this year. Among other things, he’s scouting creators with a minimum of 70,000 YouTube followers, indicating their efforts to cultivate a loyal audience.

Other known agencies in this area include The Drive Agency, representing tech talents like Jean Kang and Mariana Antaya, and Creator Authority, which partners with B2B influencers in tech and similar fields.

Chanti mentioned creators such as Delia Lazarescu, an AI educator with 387,000 followers on Instagram under the name Tech Unicorn, and David Ondrej, who shares AI software guides with his 362,000 YouTube subscribers, as models for the type of creators Kernel seeks to collaborate with.

Major AI entities like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Microsoft are seeking collaboration to enhance the appeal of their innovations.

The CoreWeave, supported by Nvidia cloud service, escalated its advertising investments by 700% in 2025, reaching $144 million.

Software companies that formerly advertised through niche magazines or events are now seeking partnerships with creators, as explained by Patrick Zielinski, CEO of The Drive Agency.

"Each AI firm has amassed substantial investments, aiming to reach potential buyers. If you are influential in this area, you can capture part of that market," said Avi Gandhi, founder of Creative Logic, which advises firms regarding the creator economy.

Ruscica shared that inbound queries from brands have doubled in the last half-year. He's been offered $40,000 for a single video and over $1 million for a longer partnership.

"The financial resources flowing into this domain are massive," he expressed.

Meanwhile, the rise of vibe coding, where individuals without extensive tech backgrounds utilise AI to code, is broadening the audience for educational content.

"We need more engineers exerting their influence alongside these brands, which in return require trusted experts," Chanti added.

Agencies that specialise in specific fields, like sports or music, are typical in Hollywood but newer to the creator economy landscape.

Beyond tech, Chanti is looking into other creator niches to develop businesses for, including basketball and finance.

On the supply side, Chanti believes there's a limited pool of skilled individuals in video-making and communication.

Some tech creators also require support in selecting brand partnerships that won't tarnish their credibility. Kernel aims to guide and discover such creators.

"Some creators struggle with declining offers," Chanti noted about those deliberating brand partnerships. "Misaligning with the wrong brand presents significant risks. The decisions are very critical."

Ruscica began programming at 12 and refers to himself as a self-educated developer.

He uploads two to three tech tutorials weekly to roughly 2 million YouTube followers. He identified a gap in the market for agencies catering to specialists like himself.

"We operate in specific ways," he remarked. "Trusting a third party can be challenging, and finding an agency with technical depth isn't easy."

Nonetheless, some creators told CNBC they refrain from endorsing AI-centric sponsorships due to associations with job displacement.