Agency bosses say the AI gap with clients is only getting wider

Agencies are out in front on AI. Advertisers are not.

That’s the view of agency bosses who spoke to Digiday at Cannes Lions. They said that for most of the clients they work with, they’re still stuck figuring out governance, budget, and whether they even trust what they’re being sold. Nothing new there. Agencies are, after all, meant to be early adopters, guiding clients through every technological contortion. Yet judging by how some executives reacted, it might as well have been fighting talk. Several only agreed to talk if their names were left out, as if they’d said something sacrilegious.

Joe Maglio, CEO Cheil Agency Network, summed it up when he was sharing one of his main takeaways from the week-long event. “The macro AI takeaway: agencies are further along than brands; agencies are the early adopters.”

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Media Buying Briefing: It’s a world party at the World Cup, unless you’re looking to get in now

Happy 250th Birthday, America! As one of three host countries of the 2026 World Cup, you received a bit of a gift from the U.S. Men’s National Team, which is on to the round of 16 having beaten Bosnia and Herzegovina on July 1 to advance. Today the team faces Belgium in hopes of getting one step closer to the final match at the Meadowlands stadium in the swamps of New Jersey on July 19. 

The real gift — and it’s been a bit of a surprise — is the fact that the World Cup has been nothing short of a major success, for FIFA (the ruling body of international football), rights holders Fox and NBCUniversal and for football fans who have been treated to some top-quality football (soccer) and startling upsets. The lead-up to the start of the World Cup had seen a flurry of worry and bad-news reports of unfilled hotel rooms, fears of ICE raids outside stadiums and exorbitant ticket pricing. 

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