Agencies must reinvent to stay relevant in the Age of AI, says Publicis Groupe's Rishad Tobaccowala
In a conversation with Storyboard18 at the sidelines of Goafest 2025, Rishad Tobaccowala, author and senior advisor to Publicis Groupe, reflected on the evolving role of agencies in the rapidly advancing age of artificial intelligence.
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As artificial intelligence reshapes industries at breakneck speed, agencies stand at a crossroads. In a conversation with Storyboard18 at the sidelines of Goafest 2025, Rishad Tobaccowala, author and senior advisor to Publicis Groupe, reflected on the evolving role of agencies in the rapidly advancing age of artificial intelligence. Calling AI both a disruptor and an enabler, he said agencies must undergo reinvention and show strong leadership to thrive, not just survive.
“The role of agencies is not diminishing—it’s changing,” Tobaccowala noted. “Historically, every major technological leap has helped the agency business grow. But growth is conditional on adaptation. Those who don’t evolve will fade out.”
He predicted that AI will automate between 20–40% of tasks across industries, including agencies, consulting firms and client organizations. However, he stressed this shouldn’t necessarily translate to a loss in relevance. Instead, AI could free up bandwidth for higher-order thinking, strategic planning and creativity; areas where human insight continues to add irreplaceable value.
Recalling the Deep Blue–Kasparov era, Tobaccowala said, “While Deep Blue beat Kasparov, the combination of Kasparov and Deep Blue beat Deep Blue. That’s the model for agencies: people plus AI, not people versus AI.”
When asked about the wave of mergers and consolidations in the industry, such as the reported IPG-Omnicom merger, he attributed them to both economic and structural reasons. "It’s often about achieving scale in media and data, managing costs, and adjusting to oversupply in the marketplace,” he explained. “Mergers reduce capacity and make supply chains more cost-effective.”
On what brands now expect from agencies in an AI-powered environment, Tobaccowala highlighted a dual pressure, that is agility and specialization. With multiple AI platforms such as OpenAI, Gemini, Anthropic and potentially homegrown Indian solutions, coming into play, fragmentation and complexity will increase.
“In such a landscape, agencies still have a role, but the role is evolving. The question is - will agencies step up to it?” he said. “Clients are going to ask: do I need an agency, or can I do this myself?”
Interestingly, Tobaccowala also predicted that companies may eventually downsize internally, relying more on agile, AI-enabled partners. “Clients might shrink their size and outsource more. Agencies could become even more important if they deliver the right value.”
“AI will not replace agencies. But agencies that use AI effectively will replace those that don’t,” he noted.
