In the AI race, holding companies and independent agencies are taking very different paths — and moving at different speeds.
Indie agencies are highlighting their agility and nimbleness. Holdcos are showcasing their scale and large resources to invest in AI solutions, including partnerships with leading AI players such as OpenAI and Microsoft.
Both sides are under pressure to incorporate AI and deliver results, agency leaders say.
“There’s a huge lane opening up for indies in the AI space because we don’t have as much red tape,” Christine Schrader, vice president of strategic innovation at indie agency Wpromote, tells The Current. “The speed of change gives smaller companies the space to catch up to holdcos.”
And some are doing more than catching up. Companies like Snowflake and OpenAI are working with indies to build custom, proprietary AI solutions — fueling the kind of innovation Schrader is describing.
“I think there’s such a big misconception that the indies are playing catch-up,” Melissa Andraos, senior vice president at indie agency Exverus by Brainlabs, says. “Agility has really been the key here. We’re not waiting for rollouts. We’re rolling up our sleeves; we’re testing; we’re building; we’re adapting everything in real time.”
Holding companies, meanwhile, are using their heft to their advantage. All of the majors have partnered with or acquired AI companies. Dentsu, for example, reported last year that using Microsoft’s Azure AI cut the time to find media insights by 90%.
The combination of these partnerships, layered onto Dentsu’s existing data and resources “permeates everything we build,” according to Stephen Kiely, the CEO of Dentsu Canada and CEO of Tag Americas.
