For many marketing agencies, the promise of AI is compelling. Smarter workflows, better use of time, and clearer insights. But in reality, AI adoption remains slow. Not because the tools aren't ready, but because many agencies aren't.
Behind the scenes, I often see the same operational pain points again and again: siloed teams, duplicated effort, inconsistent processes, over-servicing clients, and a whole lot of lost time trying to stitch things together manually. These challenges don't just make daily work harder, they actively block the adoption of new tools, including AI.
So, what's holding agencies back? In my experience, the biggest barriers aren't technical at all. They're about education, awareness, and skill sets.
Many agency leaders aren't fully aware of what AI can realistically do, or what's already available. AI isn't just about chatbots or generative content; it's also behind the scenes, powering smarter time tracking, forecasting resourcing needs, auto-tagging creative assets, or analysing client sentiment.
Agencies often over-estimate how complex or expensive it is to implement these tools. In reality, you may already be paying for AI-powered features inside those you've already got, but no one's using them because no one knows they're there.
Even when awareness grows, many teams stall at implementation. They might experiment with AI tools in isolation, but struggle to scale or integrate them into workflows. Why? Because no one is educating the team on how to shift their processes - or even redesign them entirely.
Are your teams manually producing the same types of campaign reports that could be auto-generated and templated? Quite possibly. Not because the tools don't exist, but because no one stopped to teach the team how to redesign the workflow, test it, and embed it.
AI won't replace people — but it will change the type of work people do. The challenge is helping your team build the confidence and capability to work with these tools. This starts by developing operational muscle: mapping how work flows through your agency, identifying duplication or friction, and training people on how to think about problems (not just how to use tools).
Run a process audit – Map your end-to-end delivery for a typical project. Where are the delays, handoffs, or duplications?
Educate in context – Bring your team into the conversation. Teach them what AI could do for their role, not just in theory
Start small, but integrated – Pilot one AI-driven change (eg. automated job bag creation or report generation) that saves measurable time, and build from there
You don't need to transform overnight, but you do need to start making space for smarter ways of working. AI is only as good as the foundation you put it on. And for most agencies, that starts with rethinking operations, not just technology.
For many marketing agencies, the promise of AI is compelling. Smarter workflows, better use of time, and clearer insights. But in reality, AI adoption remains slow. Not because the tools aren't ready, but because many agencies aren't.
If you're running a marketing agency right now, you likely won't thank me for reminding you that AI is changing everything. And while that's true, here's the part not enough people are talking about - your internal operations will determine whether AI becomes your agency's superpower or just another tool that clogs up your workflow.
Client demands, tight deadlines, and the ever-evolving landscape of tools and tactics. These are the things that shout the loudest in the agency world.
Continuous improvement. What every business should be striving for.