AI is great, but agencies need to remember in 2025 they’re in marketing

Here, agency leaders muse on what they have learned about AI and tech and how agencies should handle it in the year ahead.

Katy Wright, CEO, FCB London: “Business is tough, but we need to remember what business we’re in. AI can’t replace creative genius. It will continue to try, but going into 2025, we need to keep our focus on what we do well, which is to create work that shifts the dials. There are so many distractions, but we should stick to our course, double down on creativity and keep coming up with different solutions to our clients’ business challenges. That’s not to say we should ignore the benefits of the advancements in tech – we still need to keep learning and innovating for our clients’ sake. I’m not going to give you our new business strategy, but next year – as it should be every year – the key ingredient for success, our secret sauce, is our people. We must continue to make sure we’re creating the best possible environment for them to thrive.”

Dan Gardner, co-founder, Code and Theory: “Being in the digital transformation business means embracing change. It requires balancing the implementation of today’s technologies to address current challenges while helping companies invest in their future to seize tomorrow’s opportunities. Too often, companies fall into the trap of treating digital solutions as tactical executions rather than as an organizing strategy that seamlessly connects creativity with systems. The key lesson we’ve learned is that relentlessly scaling ideas and fostering a culture that delivers exceptional value for clients is the only way to thrive in this ever-evolving digital landscape. One of our greatest achievements has been our investment in maintaining a balance of 50% creatives and 50% technologists. This unique proposition has truly paid off over the past year, positioning us as the only scaled company capable of delivering this level of integration. While many in the industry talk about this balance, few back it up with the actual composition of their teams – we do. This balance is critical not just for today’s challenges but for addressing the complexities of tomorrow’s opportunities. As the industry shifts rapidly, it’s essential to adapt internally by leveraging emerging technologies and cultivating a culture of innovation – enabling us to do the same for our clients. Success isn’t just about using advanced tools; it’s about creative thinking and applying those tools in a truly differentiated way.”

Deb Hall, CEO, Dive: “2024 has been a year of transformation and recalibration. The most important lesson has been the value of agility – staying nimble in strategy while remaining deeply committed to creative excellence. Dive’s clients use authentic, creator-driven stories that resonate across both digital and physical worlds. Investing in innovation, particularly in how we integrate social UGC into DOOH and CTV campaigns, has driven performance. This year, we placed increased emphasis on brand safety through the enhancement of our Dive platform. Ensuring a secure and trustworthy environment for advertisers has been a key differentiator and we will continue to innovate and expand this focus to maintain client confidence in 2025. Our Deep Dive measurement solutions have given clients cross-platform measurable impact, pushing us to strengthen our analytics and reporting capabilities. One thing that remains the same is that bold, creative ideas, when paired with tech-enabled delivery, yield exceptional brand experiences. Looking ahead to 2025, we’re doubling down on scaling UGC cross-channel campaigns by enhancing content moderation and expanding partnerships and collaborations for even greater impact.”

Leonardo Ricagni, founder and executive creative director, Migrante: “Safeguarding the craft of storytelling and filmmaking has never been more important. In an ad industry increasingly dominated by AI, we’ve been seeing human creativity getting increasingly sidelined. At Migrante, we are filmmakers and storytellers first and foremost. Engaging consumers’ emotions relies on talented people who are skilled in the craft of storytelling. An over-reliance on tech and data has homogenized much of the output from the ad industry. It is only through human creativity that we can cut through.”

Sarah Mehler, CEO and co-founder, Left Field Labs: “2024 marked a year of voracious learning for us all – spurred on by the dynamic landscape of AI and emerging tech. We truly leaned into the ‘laboratory’ part of who we are; R&D accelerated our ability to create real-world applications of the latest technologies and push our clients’ businesses forward. And not a moment too soon, as the interplay between AI and immersive technologies promised deeper disruption. In 2024, consumers rewarded human-centric, immersive experiences. This imperative extended beyond entertainment, redefining B2B and B2C engagement through participatory, emotionally resonant experiences. As AI and emerging technologies rapidly evolved, we discovered success hinged on three fundamentals: rigorous experimentation, swift real-world deployment and an unwavering focus on human needs. By making investments in these areas while balancing technological capability and human expertise, we’ve refined an agency model that transforms innovation into a systematic process for growth – one well-calibrated for 2025’s opportunities.”

Courtney Lewis, chief marketing officer, The Variable: “AI was the MVP of our agency in 2024 and will continue to give us an edge in 2025. Our talent is so sophisticated in their use of AI tools that we’ve built a moat around our work and other agencies’ ability to compete with us. We’re able to personalize spec work, thought starters and insights in ways that weren’t scalable before. Being a small agency is hard, but it’s a lot less scary with tools that allow you to act as though you’re double the size. AI isn’t replacing our talent – it’s creating even more distance between the quality of our work and that of others.”

Joe Maglio, president, Cheil North America, and CEO, McKinney & Barbarian: “There are many learnings from 2024 that will shape our thinking in 2025, starting with AI. We have seen AI provide incredible operational efficiency, lighting-fast computational power and impressive, albeit nascent, creative abilities. The primary lesson is any agency that doesn’t figure out how to leverage AI will inevitably fall behind and clients will see and feel it. Another key learning from this year can be pulled from the presidential election – namely, do you truly understand your target audience? This applies to agencies – are you tapped into your client’s business to the degree that you really know what they need in 2025? We need to understand that there are things driving the client’s business that have nothing to do with advertising and media and take a holistic view of what the clients are worried about. And for brands, do you recognize not only where your sales come from today but where they will come from tomorrow and are you showing up in the right places with a culturally relevant message that will inspire action?”

Michael Monaco, SVP of marketing analytics and insights, Kepler: “As an industry, we are heading into 2025 with renewed energy and focus. Marketers continue to place value on business understanding, exceptional service and the agility that allows mid-sized agencies to outperform larger holding companies. Agencies that prioritize eliminating unnecessary costs while investing in truly differentiated technology and cultivating talent to deliver high-value thought leadership and service will lead the way in shaping the future of the market.”

Lauren Kay-Lambert, co-managing director, Shape History: “2024 has been a year of relentless global challenges – from devastating world events to troubling new leaders accelerating social impact crises. As an agency, we’ve faced consistent hurdles: integrating AI into our work, managing cash flow amid partner delays and carving out space to push creative boundaries. But these pale in comparison to the urgency of our sector’s need for bold leadership. A key lesson has been embracing my role to speak openly – within my team and the wider industry – about how these crises shape us and demand immediate change. Whether it’s contributing to The Drum (hi!) or challenging norms on a panel, we must be fearless in naming what needs to shift. As an agency rooted in social impact, we’re compelled to listen deeply, think progressively and create boldly – because the stakes demand nothing less. This is the moment for our sector to act with clarity, courage and vision.”