How is marketing automation affecting the work agencies do?
Is AI slowly replacing, or simply augmenting, the marketing workforce? The Drum asked the trusted experts in its Rolodex for their take on how automation is changing their working days.
In most cases, agencies are investing in upskilling their workforces (Michael Dziedzic/Unsplash)
From strategy to execution, brands and agencies are building and adapting stacks, as well as crafting whole new operating systems, to align with the capabilities of a new generation of AI-enabled tools. But, the interesting part: what’s this doing to the workforce?
The Drum asked its members for their candid takes on how AI and automation are affecting their working lives, and those of the teams they look after.
Ricky Abbott, president, Americas, Transmission: “To address the elephant in the room: no, we aren’t necessarily downsizing so much as reskilling our teams to be more integrated. This is a challenge because the traditional agency model has departments that naturally hand off to one another (albeit much quicker than client-side), and AI and automation have upended that: there are fewer hand-offs, and more opportunities to execute end-to-end within smaller working groups. At Transmission, we’ve taken a different stance to many other agencies that are creating single-discipline AI-enabled services – think media planning tools, creator tools, etc – as we don’t see value for the client when they’d still have to knit disparate platforms together. Instead, we’re in the enviable, but challenging position where we can deliver end-to-end through our agency operating system, Propulsion. This is where automation and AI are helping us drive material growth for clients, allowing us to speed up our workflows, create more efficient processes, and deliver tangible business outcomes.”
Brendan Turner, SVP digital experience, The MX Group: “At The MX Group, AI has sharpened what we deliver to clients, not just how we operate. Custom scripts and skills built on a Google Cloud and BigQuery backbone let us synthesize first-party and public data at scale, producing market maps and strategies with more signal and less assumption. Custom tooling has also enhanced how we approach information architecture (IA), site mapping, and content strategy, turning competitive and behavioral research into actionable structure. And we ‘fight’ AI with AI, optimizing for GEO, AEO, and AIO in near real time while keeping SEO sound and the user experience on-brand.”
Hannah Crouch, associate partner, Threepipe Reply: “What has stood out for me recently isn’t a lack of confidence or capability. Many people are already using AI in some way personally. The hesitation at work is more nuanced: a belief they can do it better themselves, skepticism about whether it really saves time, or a sense that using AI is somehow cheating. This is where we need to lead by example. If managers and team leads don’t visibly use these tools, talk openly about how they fit into their workflows, and demonstrate the time they give back, adoption will remain patchy. We need to show how we use it, where it saves time, and how it frees us up for higher‑value thinking rather than replacing it. AI isn’t a shortcut; it’s a tool. And while it won’t replace strong thinking, those (agencies and talent) who learn to use it well will inevitably move faster than those who don’t.”
Robert Heldt, CEO & co-founder, AIM B2B by Custom Media: “AI hasn’t magically freed anyone up for more creative work. That only happens with intention. We’ve been rolling out what we call ‘Project Augment,’ a phased AI roadmap grounded in a simple principle: process first, people first. The tech is the easy bit. The real challenge is creating the space for teams to experiment without fear, and being clear that this is about augmentation, not replacement. We haven’t downsized, but roles are definitely shifting. Our CTO now spends more time on systems architecture than production oversight, which barely existed as a focus three years ago. We’re also investing in ‘AI Champions’ across departments: curious early adopters who help bring others along. The technology is largely there. It’s the human side that now demands the most leadership.”
Lydia Wigley, paid media strategy director, Croud: “Marketing automation and AI have been fundamental to Croud’s operating model and platform since day one. So while others are adapting, we’re accelerating. Our on-demand Croudie Network means we’ve been managing decentralized, flexible workflows since the agency’s inception, and that foundation has only been strengthened by ongoing advances in AI. Agentic Croudies now handle many repetitive, data-heavy tasks, freeing up our in-house teams to focus on the questions no AI model can answer alone: what’s right for our clients and why. When it comes to teams, the more interesting story is about capability, not size. We’re seeing a meaningful shift in the skills most in demand: creative technologists who feed AI the right assets; data strategists who ensure the machine learns from the right signals; and media investors who identify where clients need to be visible.”
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Callum Dolan, client success director, Luxid UK: “AI and automation are enabling us to fundamentally step up the pace of change for our clients. Martech has always been evolving, but the speed of progress now is unlike anything most of our clients and I have experienced. In fact, the thing we hear most from clients is that trying to stay on top of change is taking up a lot of time! A survey earlier this year found that 95% of marketers said their workload had a negative impact on their mental health and that AI being introduced too quickly was a significant contributor. This is shifting how we show up for clients, focusing on not just delivering the best possible external experience for their customers, but thinking about how to improve the internal experience for their teams. That’s part implementation, but also a huge part education. I’m a big believer in sharing the love and sharing the knowledge.”
Daniel Blank, head of AI & digital innovation, EMEA, We. Communications: “AI hasn’t freed up our EMEA teams’ time as much as it’s raised the bar on what we do with it. Research is faster, ideation is richer, and briefs get interrogated more thoroughly. It’s allowed us to shift how conversations are happening, not just internally, but with clients. When you’re not burning meeting time on data pulls, desk research or first drafts, conversations naturally go somewhere more interesting. Clients are coming to us to think, not just to produce. Ironically, AI has effectively made the rooms we work in more human.”
Simon Billington, EVP, global executive creative director, TEAM LEWIS: “Marketing automation is reshaping our work in a very direct way. We’ve spent the last three years building Marketing SideKick, an end-to-end marketing AI platform, in-house. Alongside this, we’ve carefully integrated additional AI methods into our creative production cycles end-to-end, rather than bolting on a single ‘tool’. On insights, we automate the capture and structuring of signals – coverage, narrative shifts, competitor moves, and emerging themes – so teams start from a clearer, shared picture of what’s changing. In strategy and ideation, we use AI to accelerate first hypotheses, routes, and messaging options. Outputs stay anchored to an agreed ‘playbook’ of positioning, tone and proof points, so speed doesn’t come at the cost of rigor. In implementation, Marketing SideKick reduces the manual drag of drafting, repurposing, and deck-building, and tightens QA loops for consistency and accuracy. The workforce impact is rebalancing: less time on repetitive production and coordination, and more time on judgment, creativity, and governance. Roles are shifting toward people who can orchestrate AI safely, set direction, and take accountability for outcomes.”
Guo-You Chew, managing director APAC, Tommy: “When we started exploring AI, it wasn’t some lofty concept. It was about bridging the gap between theory and day-to-day practice. The brief to team leads was simple and honest. AI and automation are tools to absorb heavy executional workflows. By offloading these routine tasks, we’re carving out time for what our studio actually wants to do. Higher-level, impactful creative work. It’s been overwhelmingly a net positive. It’s eased anxiety around role displacement, and just as importantly, workload. It’s never been about downsizing, but instead upskilling. The focus needed to be on empowering our team leads to build custom workflows that make sense for our specific strengths. When automation is approached as an exercise in practical change management, it unlocks creative freedom rather than threatening it.”
Jonathan Hassell, CEO, Hassell Inclusion: “It’s a proven fact that more diverse teams bring more creativity. For example, there are many benefits to recruiting neurodivergent people into the creative industries. They bring innovative approaches to problem-solving and can often create new ideas by looking at a brief in a completely different way. However, there are also challenges. For example, responding to a brief can require reading lots of information and doing considerable research. For those who are neurodivergent, this can often be overwhelming, meaning too much time is spent on the background, rather than the creative work. This is where AI can be a real force for good. AI summarisers can help neurodivergent creatives cut through the noise of long documents and get to the point much quicker, freeing up time for the real, exciting thinking. So, agencies should ask neurodiverse employees whether these tools would help them, and then put guidelines in place so they are used effectively.”
Jonathan Healey, group technology director, IDHL: “Marketing automation has been nudging how teams work for years; less friction, fewer repeatable chores, and more room for the bits humans are actually good at (judgment, strategy, and creative problem-solving). AI speeds that up, letting marketers move faster and personalize more, but only if you’re deliberate about where you use it (and where you don’t). The best results tend to come when automation is treated like a capability, not a feature you switch on. The brands doing well put time into deciding what’s genuinely worth automating, designing journeys with intent, and keeping the platform fed with high-quality, on-brand content. When that foundation is in place, automation doesn’t replace marketers; it raises the bar. You spend less time pushing the same buttons and more time looking at what’s working, testing new ideas, and driving growth. The tech is largely ready; the difference is the thinking, skills, and day-to-day stewardship behind it.”
Steven Filler, UK country manager, ShowHeroes: “AI should enable companies to do more with their existing resources rather than simply cut headcount and operate at the same level with fewer resources. Some companies will, of course, do the latter, but the successful businesses will be those that see AI as an opportunity to improve and enhance rather than just cut. Regarding day-to-day campaign activation, while many agencies increasingly use AI for tasks such as building audience profiles and personas, or for lower-funnel creative production, very few campaigns have a fully automated end-to-end process. This means people are still required to oversee and implement campaign strategy and activation. What’s also clear is that AI output cannot be relied upon blindly; it again needs human input to check, adapt, and optimize. This brings up the wider challenge of businesses and individuals finding the balance of not becoming over-reliant on AI tools and losing some key analytical, planning, and creative skills.”
