The new agency-client contract: how AI is redrafting expectations   

It is no secret that AI is acting like a catalyst in every part of the marketing process, right through from creative development to campaign delivery. The tech is embedded in agency workflows, fundamentally reshaping the modern client–agency relationship. Timelines are compressing, possibilities are expanding, and long-held ideas of “value” are being rewritten for the AI era. 

But are clients simply expecting more for less? Or is something more interesting happening - a recalibration of what agencies and clients each bring to the table? 

To find out, we spoke to agency leaders across creative, media and production to understand how AI is redrawing the boundaries of speed, cost, quality and collaboration.  

Turnaround times have been truly squashed. What once required weeks of iterative development now happens in days or even hours. Speaking at an ‘AI Turing Test’ event, where Lloyds Banking Group and its agency Ogilvy pitted human creativity against AI and human-plus-AI teams, CMO Suresh Balaji described how he expects campaign cycles to potentially shrink down from six-to-eight weeks to weekly launches. That shift alone has profound implications for how brands respond to culture and performance data.  

For Adrienn Major, founder of post-production agency POD LDN, AI has delivered dramatic time gains, removing weeks spent in pre-production and shoots.

“AI allows us to jump to the post-production stage much quicker. In adapting and versioning, with the right tools, knowledge and workflows in place, these tasks can now be automated, and with the help of AI we can deliver thousands of assets in a matter of hours - something that previously took many artists many days.” 

However, speed does not always equal simplicity. Will Lion, chief strategy officer at BBH London, noted in an interview about AI that the tech has changed the rhythm of client conversations. "There are moments where we'll have a tab open while discussing strategy, and we'll type in something like, 'What are five other ways we could say this?' Then the client will go, 'Oh, it's the fifth one down - that's the one that resonates.' Before, this would have been a long back-and-forth over email, and now it happens live." 

For media agencies, the pressure is even more acute. James Robinson, managing director at Hello Starling, recognises that clients are aware of AI’s ability to generate options, insights and scenarios in minutes. “Expectations for speed have risen across our planning cycles, forecasting and reporting,” he says. “The pressure isn't simply to move faster, though. Our clients are tasking us to move faster without losing the critical thinking they've come to expect from us." 

Ted Kohnen, founder and CEO of Park & Battery, echoes the sentiment that speed is only part of the equation. “The real shift isn’t just speed; it’s precision and optionality. AI allows agencies to explore more pathways, pressure-test concepts, mitigate risk and model performance before any media is spent. Clients increasingly expect ideas that are both fast and deeply informed.” 

The simplified assumption that AI simply makes work cheaper misses the bigger picture of creating effective work. Kohnen pushes back on the ‘more for less’ narrative: "Yes, some clients expect 'more for less,' assuming automation reduces effort. But the reality is more nuanced: AI has expanded the surface area of what's possible. Clients aren't asking for cheaper work; they're asking for smarter work, backed by data, scenario modelling, audience simulation, and real-time optimisation." 

This is echoed in the media agency sphere. Robinson notes that the expectation of reduced cost often overlooks the actual shift in value. “For me, this links directly to value perception. Many clients assume AI should make work cheaper or effortless, but the reality is more nuanced. AI reduces manual effort, yet it also expands what’s possible - from deeper audience insight and stronger scenario modelling to more sophisticated optimisation. Clients ultimately get more, but it’s more in terms of intelligence and impact rather than bargain-basement pricing.” 

Cost conversations are happening but in a more sophisticated way. "Clients have definitely started asking about the cost reduction benefits that come with using AI tools,” Major confirms. “We make sure to educate all our clients on the main differences in approaches, and create a traditional, a hybrid, and a full AI quote where possible. We also communicate what the trade-offs are." 

The language here is telling: iterative, co-created, collaborative. This is not transactional anymore - it is relational. Chris Davis-Coward, head of consumer marketing at Lloyds Banking Group, described how AI shifted the agency dynamic during Ogilvy and Lloyds' recent AI Turing Test. “AI brought fun, play, and creativity,” he added. “Agency work felt more iterative and co-created. The human plus AI collaboration was a shift in how we work together." 

What clients are paying for has not fundamentally changed - judgment, strategy, brand truth and creativity - but AI has raised the creative bar for what agencies need to deliver. 

Speed and scale mean nothing if work loses its soul. Lion emphasises that agencies must act as guardians. "Clients are embracing AI, but they all recognise the importance of maintaining standards and effectiveness, experimenting without sacrificing quality. We still need to act as guardians. Letting it pass over us could result in grey, average work dominating the brand, and that's what we want to avoid." 

Davis-Coward echoed this tension, noting that while speed and efficiency are valuable in some contexts, how you leverage AI is important. "AI can show what it's trying to do by itself, but it still requires human nudging. Its potential is significant and it helps maintain objectivity, but it's not fully autonomous in creativity." 

For Kohnen, using AI is also a matter of creative integrity.

"Agencies must protect originality in a world where sameness can spread quickly. At Park & Battery, we use AI to augment the creative process and enhance craft, all the while ensuring that strategy and brand truth remain human-led. The best work happens when AI expands imagination, not when it dictates it." 

The risk, as Robinson put it, is that "AI can help identify patterns, but it can't decide which media moments matter, how messaging fits with brand truth, or where human behaviour might diverge from the model." 

 

AI has not just changed how agencies work - it has changed what clients ask for. Kohnen notes that briefs are now more data-heavy and iterative. “They are more focused on defining the problem as opposed to prescribing the deliverable. Teams need clearer and deeper inputs such as audience signals, category dynamics, competitive activity and desired outcomes." 

Major has also noticed new trends within client briefs. "We see a lot more requests for tests and proofs of concept early in the pitch phase. We also get more questions around considering client IP and the servers and tools used. The more advanced clients also think long-term about how the content will feed into content ecosystems." 

Some clients are even using AI to write briefs themselves - with mixed results, Robinson says. However, the broader shift is toward more collaborative, iterative briefing processes, he notes.

"Briefs are evolving. We're now having to request more from clients. AI hasn't replaced the relationship; if anything, AI is bringing agencies and clients closer together." 

 

AI is not diminishing the agency-client relationship - it is elevating it. But only for agencies that can balance automation with artistry, speed with substance and intelligence with intuition. 

AI is not diminishing the agency-client relationship - it is elevating it. But only for agencies that can balance automation with artistry, speed with substance and intelligence with intuition. 

The agencies that thrive will not be the ones that simply work faster or cheaper. They will be the ones that use AI to think bigger, explore more pathways and deliver work that is both strategically sound and creatively compelling. 

As Kohnen put it:

"The agencies that thrive will pair intelligence with soul and help clients navigate the complexity with clarity and creativity." 

Or as Lion more bluntly concluded: "Clients are looking for something cheaper and faster, but not less effective or less impactful." And that is the new equation agencies need to solve.