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As artificial intelligence continues to transform the advertising landscape, industry leaders recently gathered to discuss how agencies and brands are navigating this rapidly evolving technology. The conversation offered valuable perspectives on the future of AI in advertising, strategic investment approaches, and the changing dynamics between agencies and their clients.
Mari Kim Novak – CEO and Founder MKnCo Advisory, Inc. – predicts that AI will soon touch every aspect of the advertising ecosystem. "AI is going to just not be in the back room, but it's going to be in the front room," she noted, emphasizing that this technology will permeate all parts of the industry.
Novak believes AI will level the playing field, allowing smaller, specialized shops to compete with larger agencies by leveraging AI capabilities effectively. She also highlighted the importance of process development: "How do you build in standards? How do you build in process so that you can actually go from output to input to outcomes?"
Jon Reilly – CEO and Co-Founder of Akkio – described how the advertising industry has spent years aggregating vast amounts of data, but often struggled to effectively utilize it due to complexity. He explained that language models and generative AI are now changing this paradigm by automating many data-related tasks.
"This enables the person who's trying to do the job to start asking, you know, the seven whys of Toyota. 'Why is this happening? How should I think about this?' And the model can often come back with a take on that, looking at all of the data you have access to," Reilly said.
The panelists agreed that AI will significantly enhance media planning and campaign optimization by enabling better audience definition, tighter segmentation, and more effective feedback loops for campaign performance.
When discussing how agencies should approach AI investments, Reilly emphasized the accelerating pace of change: "In a state of constant change, I don't think a winning strategy is to sit back and let it play out. You will really get left behind, and you'll get left behind faster than you've ever been left behind before."
He advocated for a two-pronged approach:
Mari Kim Novak stressed the importance of workforce development: "Every single role will definitely need to evolve in order to be able to appreciate the speed and the technical output happening within these organizations." She emphasized that agencies must invest in training their teams to use AI effectively.
Tyler Pietz – CEO and Co-Founder of Antrologic – recommended mapping organizational priorities and focusing on tasks that are time-intensive but naturally have a human in the loop. He noted that the traditional model of building or procuring technology on a multi-year timeline won't work with AI: "The value comes from actually identifying places where the technology can be used to augment humans in a novel and productive way."
When asked whether agencies should build their own AI infrastructure or partner with tech companies, the consensus favored a balanced approach. "It's a false dichotomy," said Pietz. "You need to be leveraging the best partners that are out there and figuring out how to build value for your organization."
Mari Kim Novak predicted significant changes in agency-client relationships. While global agency models won't disappear for multinational brands, she foresees more experimentation with different types of partnerships and service models. She also suggested that the traditional FTE-based agency compensation model will continue to evolve toward outcome-based approaches.
Tyler Pietz noted that as clients develop their own AI capabilities, particularly in marketing, agencies will need to adapt: "Fundamentally, whoever harnesses the power of AI is going to be the one that the majority of the surplus value accrues to." This could mean agencies will need to find new ways to collaborate with increasingly AI-savvy clients.
On the question of maintaining agility while scaling AI use, Jon Reilly made an important observation: "Adoption of AI makes teams more agile." He emphasized creating the right incentives for experimentation and learning within organizations.
"Creating an environment where people are encouraged to try things and learn, and then rewarded when they do something meaningful — I think you'll see both agility actually go up and adoption be quite smooth," Reilly concluded.
The panel discussion made clear that AI is no longer just a future consideration but an immediate priority for advertising agencies and their clients. Those who effectively harness AI capabilities while thoughtfully managing the human dimensions of this transformation will be best positioned for success in the rapidly evolving advertising landscape.
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