March 10, 2026  |  SIGN UP

PRESENTED BY

Ronan Shields
SENIOR REPORTER, AD TECH

Agency practitioners used last week’s Media Buying Summit town halls to highlight the growing gap between AI enthusiasm and operational reality inside media agencies.

Held under Chatham House rules, the discussions revealed frustration with senior marketing leaders who push AI-driven creative or automation without understanding the labor, risks or workflow implications involved. Several participants said AI deployments often suffer from poor adoption because tools are too broad or poorly explained. Others warned that heavy reliance on automation risks weakening training pipelines for junior talent, who still need foundational skills to judge AI outputs.

Proposed solutions centered on education, governance, and practical use cases. Participants suggested structured briefings for senior leaders, clearer frameworks for testing AI tools, and risk-based discussions with clients eager to adopt new technology. Ultimately, attendees argued agencies should focus less on AI hype and more on where the technology tangibly improves planning, execution and business outcomes.

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