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Marketing agencies are in a period of transformation, thanks in part to AI, and are taking the opportunity to think about purposeful reinvention, according to a survey of agency leaders.
The report, “The effect of AI on the marketing industry” (registration required), Sunup found that AI is already driving changes in many agencies’ hiring practices.
Agencies are fundamentally rethinking what they offer clients, how they structure their teams and what skills the marketer of 2030 will need to succeed, the report said.
Among the findings:
- 57% of agencies have slowed or paused entry-level hiring as AI absorbs the execution work once handled by junior hires.
- 54% of large agencies plan significant staff reductions within three years.
- 75% of agencies are actively hiring for AI-focused roles that combine creative and technical depth.
- 91% of agency leaders see agency headcount shrinking due to AI as value shifts to senior-led work.
The report was the result of an August 2025 survey of 225 U.S. marketing agency leaders, at the VP or C-suite level. Small, medium and large marketing agencies were included in the report to ensure the results were representative of a broad swath of the industry.
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About the author
Mike Pastore is Head of Content & Media at Third Door Media, the publisher of the Martech and Search Engine Land websites and the producer of the SMX and MarTech conferences. In nearly three decades in B2B marketing, Mike has worked as an editor, writer and marketer. He first wrote about marketing in 1998 for internet.com (later Jupitermedia). He went on to work with marketers at some of the best-known brands in B2B technology, creating content for marketing campaigns at both Jupitermedia and QuinStreet. Before joining Third Door Media as editor-in-chief of the MarTech website, he led demand generation at B2B media company TechnologyAdvice.
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