Gartner warns CMOs against using agency AI platforms

Marketers are being urged to look before they leap into adopting agencies’ proprietary AI platforms, amid claims that half of these tools will either wind down or become obsolete within three years.

That is according to a new report by Gartner which claims that agency-built offerings need to contend with the rise of open-source AI platforms developed by the likes of Google and Meta that can service functions beyond marketing.

With more and more clients seemingly unwilling to pay for creative ideas and seeking to slash overall costs, most ad groups are pinning their hopes on their own tools – including WPP Open, Publicis Marcel, Omnicom Omni, Havas Converged.AI and Dentsu’s Merkle GenCX – but Gartner claims this strategy is fraught with danger.

In fact, Gartner predicts open-source platforms will support more than 75% of business AI deployments by 2028, gaining traction for their level of customisation and favourable cost compared to proprietary platforms.

Gartner for Marketers vice president and analyst Jay Wilson said: “I don’t hear [agencies] talking about those platforms, whether it’s WPP Open or Omni or anybody else, being an enterprise-wide AI platform.

“That’s the big disconnect or the big risk to agencies right now. They’re still thinking at the marketing level, at the advertising level, maybe getting into CX.”

The threat is tied up in the broader organisational influence, with CMOs seemingly way down the pecking order. While many marketing decision-makers have been early adopters of AI for tasks like content creation, chief information officers and related roles are far more more likely to make the final call on what AI tools brands choose to adopt across the business, Wilson claims.

He explained: “Essentially, we believe that at an enterprise-wide level, the CIO is going to own that enterprise AI strategy, and a CMO who’s basically embedding with a WPP or an Omni or a Dentsu or whatever, is likely going to get disintermediated from that discussion.”

Wilson believes agencies currently provide a lot of value in helping brands navigate AI disruption, including through upskilling, speed to market and drawing on knowledge from a wide client base and global reach.

“What an agency provides that is not tech-dependent – meaning it cannot be as easily commoditised – is that outside-in perspective on a client’s business,” he added.

However, there is the danger of what happens if and when a brand changes agency, with the costs and complications of migrating to a different agency AI platform.

Gartner insists that CMOs should avoid locking into long-term contracts related to AI and instead push for initial proofs of concept and the right to terminate agreements without incurring penalties.

As for the agency groups, Gartner reckons they need to consider how they can differentiate as the technology category at large becomes more democratised, commoditised and open source.

The consultancy warns that the current cost-cutting programmes – WPP is slashing £500m by 2028, Omnicom wants $1.5bn saved by the same year and Dentsu is also wielding the axe – could spell more trouble down the line, as qualitative capabilities and a degree of human discernment may be more important in the long run.

Wilson concluded: “The agency value goes back to what the traditional agency values have been, which have been creativity, innovation and customer insight. Agencies can still provide value in applying the art on top of the science of AI.”