While AI is accelerating the rate of in-housing among clients, the role of the agency is changing with it, argues James Townsend, EMEA CEO at Stagwell, and these relationships are increasingly ending up in hybrid models.
“We probably see it as more of an opportunity than a threat at the moment, by how we can support, set ourselves adjacently in partnership to those clients, and provide those best practices as a consultant as they mature their own organisations,” he explains.
In this interview, Townsend explores how these relationships are evolving, the incremental gains driven by AI, and the changes underway in agency remuneration models. Filmed at New Video Frontiers 2026.
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