IPAi Forum

Welcome to IPAi Forum. Our new gabfest is designed to help our member agencies navigate the fast-moving world of Generative AI and practical AI deployment. 

In many ways, this Forum builds on the foundations laid back in 2018, when our then-President Sarah Golding urged the industry to embrace “the magic and the machines.” Long before Generative AI entered the mainstream, she challenged us to recognise that human creativity and emerging technologies would shape our next century as profoundly as they shaped our last. Her agenda championed curiosity, experimentation and a willingness to work with new tools, not to fear them. That spirit sits firmly at the heart of this publication. 

We all know that AI is evolving at breakneck speed, reshaping how we work, create, collaborate and compete. But with rapid change comes uncertainty. As ever, we need to hold two truths at once: technology tends to be over-estimated in the short term and under-estimated in the long term: Amara’s Law in action. 

With that in mind, this Forum is not here to over-hype. With every issue, we’ll try to cut through the froth and focus on what’s happening on the ground: how agencies are adopting AI, where it’s adding real value and what pitfalls to avoid. We’ll share practical insights, highlight emerging opportunities and offer a clear-eyed view of what’s coming next. If you're not an early adopter, you might find it useful to start with our quick reads, which will give you a good starting point.

We hope it will inform the skills and capabilities our industry needs to develop. We will be looking to provide updates on training and development programmes, as well as a legal perspective to help you navigate the evolving regulatory and compliance landscape with confidence. And we’ll tackle the questions people often don’t feel comfortable asking; the “things you always wanted to know” about AI but didn’t want to ask. 

As IPA President Karen Martin says: “AI has injected fresh energy into our industry, accelerating experimentation, expanding creative ambition and unlocking new possibilities. At its most powerful, it acts as a partner to human creativity, amplifying our judgement, care and perspective. I truly believe that the strongest work comes when human imagination supported by technology move forward together.”

I'm very grateful to Conor Nichols who is our special reporter. He has done a tremendous job in getting around the industry and interviewing some of our brightest practitioners in the AI space.

IPAi Forum is based on the maxim that all of us are smarter than any one of us. By sharing the myriad ways in which our industry is already using AI, it should provide something for everyone. 

Paul Bainsfair – Director General IPA