AI: getting serious
At some point we have to shift from experimentation to adoption. From tinkering to committing.
Working with dozens of agencies across all sorts of disciplines, and advising the people who run them, one gets a pretty good overview of the journey most are on with AI and how they feel about it. Currently, most agencies under 25 headcount bracket seem to be at one of two stages:
1. Experimentation
People in your team are having a go, experimenting with different tools. There is an atmosphere both of excitement and trepidation. Some individuals are emerging as self-styled experts, others are quietly getting on with it, a few are still hiding in a cupboard hoping it will go away.
At best, individuals are teaching themselves, using AI tools sporadically or for specific tasks. But it’s still a bit individual and because you haven’t yet established an agencywide approach - what tools you want people to try, what areas to explore - people are likely to be a bit guarded about how they apply AI to their day-to-day work, let alone sharing what they’ve learned. And this just means you lack consistency and oversight - no one is actually driving adoption.
This is perfectly normal - sometimes trying to get ones head around everything that AI could do is a bit like drinking from a fire hydrant, - but it’s easy to get stuck here.
2. Adoption
At some point you have to move beyond the tinkering stage and establish a more applied approach to adopting AI. What’s needed now is some structured discussion around how it will help the business survive and thrive in the coming years.
This does not mean you have to do everything. But you do have to take the initiative. It’s time to get organised.
Form a small taskforce to help you look at how AI could move the needle across different aspects of the business. How it could enable you to behave like a bigger agency (but with fewer resources and greater agility, obvs).
Areas might include strategy, ICP and proposition development; aspects of new business; responding to briefs; resource planning; creative ideation; productivity tracking; financial analysis and more. Pick areas off and charge people with exploring, experimenting but planning for tangible gains.
How can AI augment what your human team already does?
How can it help you automate certain processes or functions so your humans can focus elsewhere?
And what new things might AI permit you to do - and offer clients - that you couldn’t without it?
I would get your taskforce to work in sprints - to specific timeframes - to maintain accountability and momentum.
Finally, consider:
establishing cross-company training - starting simply with routine team shares - to encourage adoption and collaboration and to ensure you are improving everyone’s understanding at the same time - after all “a rising tide lifts all ships”
standarising and integrating certain tools into your everyday workflows, whilst formalising how you manage data
Get organised and you will start feeling less daunted and more excited about the future.
We help agency owners hatch a longer-term growth plan, incorporating every aspect of an agency business which has a bearing on growth. Whether it be New Business, Client Development, Marketing, Talent, the Financials or indeed developing an AI strategy, we’re here to help. Meet the team here.
