Credit: Igor Omilaev via Unsplash
Agencies are rethinking how they deliver value and how they get paid as AI reshapes workflows, pricing models and client expectations.
Matt Hunt, CEO of Frontier Media AI, says the traditional agency model is no longer fit for purpose.
“The old model rewards inefficiency, the longer something takes, the more revenue it brings in. That doesn’t make sense anymore,” Hunt told AdNews.
Frontier is part of a growing group of agencies using AI and automation not as a bolt-on, but as a core framework for how work gets done.
That includes how they scope jobs, structure teams and how they price.
The shift is not just theoretical. Hunt’s team has scrapped billable hours and moved to performance-based pricing.
“We define success with our clients. If they grow, we grow,” he said.
That alignment is becoming more important as clients ask harder questions about what they’re paying for.
According to the IAB’s Data State of the Nation Report 2025, concerns around transparency and accountability in AI usage are rising, not from fear, but from a desire to understand how value is being delivered.
The report found that just 32% of organisations have fully integrated AI across their media operations today, but nearly half of the remaining group expect to do so by 2026.
The pressure is on to move beyond pilots and isolated use cases toward scalable, business-wide transformation.
At IPG Mediabrands, COO Geoff Clarke agrees that AI has huge potential, but only if the groundwork is done first.
“If you automate broken workflows, all you’re doing is scaling inefficiency,” he told AdNews.
Before bringing in bots or AI tools, Clarke’s team mapped 155 individual steps across their investment process.
The goal was to find where automation would make a genuine impact and where human expertise still carried the most weight.
“A lot of organisations rush into tech implementation without fixing the basics. We wanted clarity before capability,” he said.
The IAB backs this approach.
Its research shows that companies seeing the strongest returns from AI investments are those with structured rollouts, clean data foundations and strong internal alignment.
That includes rethinking incentives.
As automation frees up time and reduces manual effort, it forces a conversation around what agencies actually do and how clients perceive value.
For agencies like Frontier, that conversation is well underway.
Moving to an outcomes-based model has changed not just billing, but team behaviour. Hunt said the focus has shifted toward business impact rather than time spent.
“There’s less obsession with hours, more emphasis on what actually drives growth,” he said.
Clarke sees the same pattern emerging.
“Every hour not spent reconciling spreadsheets is an hour spent on meaningful conversations,” he said.
This “human-in-the-loop” model, where AI handles repetitive tasks and humans lead creative, strategic and cultural work, is gaining traction.
The IAB stresses the importance of maintaining human oversight, especially in areas that require judgement, insight and nuance.
“We automate the busywork and elevate the brainwork,” Hunt said.
That doesn’t mean an overnight transformation.
Both Hunt and Clarke are cautious about the hype cycle surrounding AI.
They say the real work is often less glamorous: fixing messy processes, aligning teams and experimenting with new models without blowing things up.
“It’s not about doing everything with AI. It’s about doing the right things better,” Clarke said.
Rather than forcing a hard break between old and new ways of working, the shift towards AI-enabled models gives agencies room to evolve at their own pace.
But the rewards are clearer for those who act with intent.
The IAB found that companies with clear goals, cross-functional collaboration and a focus on value, not just efficiency, are leading the pack.
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