Choosing Ad Agencies in the AI Era: Why Independents Are Poised to Lead, Part I

Industry veterans Jess Lewis and Daniel Aks reveal:

  • The four structural advantages that make indies the preferred choice in an AI-first world
  • Why first-party data partnerships matter as much as media buying power
  • The “atomic media buying” revolution that’s creating major arbitrage opportunities
  • How agentic AI is democratizing capabilities that once required vast infrastructure and related scale advantages

The most insightful finding? Agencies using AI as their “operating system” (not an add-on) are seeing 83% better acquisition costs and 72% higher ROI.

The agency landscape is being rewritten. The question is: Will you be ahead of the curve or scrambling to catch up?