As AI takes on more repetitive marketing tasks, agencies are being forced to rethink what they’re selling. Omnicom Media Group North America CEO Ralph Pardo joins Digiday from the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity to talk about the future of agency talent, the rise of “capability companies” and why human judgment still matters.

What happens to agencies when AI does the busywork?

The Digiday Podcast

Hello, hello, and welcome to another episode of The Digiday Podcast, a show for anyone trying to justify a holdco in the age of AI. I'm Kamiko McCoy, Senior Marketing Reporter here at Digiday. And I'm Tim Peterson, Executive Editor of Video and Audio, Digiday Media. So, Kamiko, this week you're taking us back to Cannes. I am. Let's do the time warp again. I am taking guys back to Cannes where I had an interesting conversation with Omnicom Media North America CEO, Ralph Pardo.

One of the things that a lot of people have been talking about is the role of a holdco in the age of AI. And who better to ask about that defensive position than the CEO of Omnicom Media North America. So, real juicy for you. Yeah, so I'm curious what he has to say because I feel like usually the agency holding companies, you know, say, you know, talk about their size and especially their leverage when it comes to being able to secure inventory at scale.

Like, basically, these are the people who can go into the media version of a Costco with like a wheelbarrow while the rest of us are in like usual shopping carts. And they can just like really be buying in bulk. And so the idea is, like, if you want to be buying Disney or NBC or YouTube or TikTok, we can get you those.

And we can get you those at probably a better deal because we're buying so much from them, which is valid. But if I can just use AI to do a lot of the thing. Well, I was going to say, is it? That's kind of the whole argument that brands and clients are now asking, right? Because if AI can do...

What happens to agencies when AI does the busywork?

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.

What happens to agencies when AI does the busywork?

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast, not the earnings call.

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.