Anything is Possible's CEO and Co-Founder Sam Fenton-Elstone explains why the agencies that thrive won’t be the ones that adopted AI the fastest. They’ll be the ones that use it with intent. To reduce friction, to unlock thinking, to get closer to meaningful work.
When you’re running an agency you have to keep on top of the trends, so I’ve seen a few come and go. But as much as you sense some corners of the industry would wish the AI question to go the way of the Metaverse, I am consistently surprised by how much AI fatigue I’m not feeling.
I know you’ve read a lot of words to this effect recently, but indulge me when I say that the rate of AI change is astounding, and that anyone who says they know when it will stop disrupting the advertising industry is lying. Chat GPT4o’s recent image generation update - which seems to crack the language barrier to turn simple images into enhanced messages and produce 80% finished advertising creative in just a few prompts - makes me think we are still only at the beginning.
AI isn't the enemy, or advertising’s one-shot saviour. But it is a force multiplier. If you have strong ideas, clear values, and sharp people, AI can help you deliver all of that faster, better and at scale. But if you're fuzzy on what makes you valuable, it’ll just accelerate the slide into sameness.
We talk a lot about AI in terms of speed. Faster content, faster decisions, faster everything. But the real opportunity isn't speed - it’s about what speed gets you:
Momentum. Liftoff.
Elevation.
That shift from low-value, repetitive task work to what we call higher cognition work: the strategic, creative, human layer that adds meaning and makes work matter. It’s what any client working with an agency really wants to pay for. Space to think. Ideas they couldn’t imagine on their own. That transformative perspective on their business they were always missing because they were too close to it.
From inside the agency we are running the same people at the same costs. But the outputs - and the impact on the client - are radically different.
In our old model, too many teams were weighed down by execution. Manual reporting. Fragmented processes. Tedious production loops. This isn't just inefficient - it's a waste of talent. When those same people are freed to think, strategise, and challenge, the value they generate skyrockets.
We’ve had AI in the agency since day one, back in 2018 (remind me to introduce you to AIPete sometime.) So it’s already enabling sharper strategy, faster iteration, and new models of creative collaboration. That’s the prize AI offers, if we use it right.
So what if we get it wrong?
The risk - and it’s a real one - is cognitive outsourcing. If we let machines replace thinking rather than support it, we end up with work that’s efficient, yes, but dull. Bland. Unquestioning.
That’s not what clients need. And ultimately, they won’t pay for it. They don’t need to. AI puts the ability to do vast amounts of mediocre marketing in the hands of literally anyone. (I assume you’ve heard of ‘vibe marketing…’)
And then there’s the economic climate. Growth is slower. Clients are cautious. Sales cycles drag. That puts pressure on agencies to prove their worth early and often. No one’s buying indulgence - they’re buying clarity, confidence, and partnership.
AI isn't the enemy, or advertising’s one-shot saviour. But it is a force multiplier. If you have strong ideas, clear values, and sharp people, AI can help you deliver all of that faster, better and at scale. But if you're fuzzy on what makes you valuable, it’ll just accelerate the slide into sameness.
That's the crux of it. Over-reliance on AI risks turning agencies into production engines - high-speed, low-impact. The real differentiator going forward is the ability to think. To ask better questions. To look beyond briefs. To orchestrate, not execute.
So yes - use the tools. Embrace automation where it helps. But never let it dull your judgement. The value agencies provide to brands lies in interpretation, instinct, imagination. AI can support those things, but it can’t replace them.
This is our moment to reimagine what we’re for. The agencies that thrive won’t be the ones that adopted AI the fastest. They’ll be the ones that use it with intent. To reduce friction, to unlock thinking, to get closer to meaningful work.
The ones who say: let’s make this technology serve the people, not the other way around.
That’s what I’m saying. What do you say?
Sam Fenton-Elstone is CEO & Co-Founder of Anything is Possible
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