How AI is reshaping agency models

[upbeat music] Hi there.

Welcome to today's, uh, Drum podcast.

I'm Richard Draycott, the associate editor here at The Drum, and I'll be your host, uh, for the next 25 minutes or so.

Um, now, for years, marketers have, uh, debated whether brands are better served by full service agencies, uh, that can do everything under one roof, or specialist agencies, uh, that have deep expertise in specific disciplines.

Um, and as that debate continues to rage on, AI has now arrived, um, uh, with us and changed agency models all over again.

So, uh, today agencies can automate tasks that once required huge teams.

Um, they can launch new capabilities almost overnight, and they can collaborate, uh, across disciplines in ways that previously weren't possible.

Um, so the question is, uh, no longer simply full service versus specialist.

Uh, so the question is whether is AI fundamentally changing agency models because, uh, what brands need from agency partners today is changing altogether.

Uh, so to explore that very question, I'm joined by very, uh, by three very experienced agency leaders, all with different perspectives.

Uh, so I'd like to give a warm welcome to Nick Beck, who's the founder and CEO of TUG.

Hi, Nick.

Um, hi, Heather McNern, uh, who's the managing director at Space & Time.

Hello, Heather.

And, uh, we've also got Jennifer Maclennan, who's the group managing director at Fifth Ring.

So welcome, everybody.

Thanks for being with us today, um, and looking forward to, uh, uh, hearing what you've got to say on this, uh, very interesting subject.

So, uh, we'll jump straight in, um, with my first question, uh, to get the ball rolling, and we'll start with a quite a big, a big broad question.