To unlock AI's value look to your operating model

The marketing industry spent 2024 in a state of discovery, captivated by the promise of thousands of new AI tools. But as we move further into the decade, the conversation has pivoted from demos to delivery, from potential to performance. The search for value is leading in one clear direction: the marketing operating model itself.

Simply bolting AI onto old ways of working will not deliver the step-change brands are looking for. The true opportunity lies in fundamentally rewiring how marketing gets done, augmenting human creativity and expertise with intelligent platforms like WPP Open.

A new model for marketing

The most forward-thinking organisations are proving that the largest gains come from evolving team structures, skillsets and processes. The rigid, disciplinary silos of the past are falling away. WPP Open, our AI platform for marketing, is enabling a new, more integrated reality.

We are seeing the rise of focused, multi-disciplinary teams that can manage the end-to-end marketing process with unprecedented speed and scale. For one challenger brand, this new model meant a specialised, integrated team working within WPP Open produced more than 200 assets per sprint – a threefold increase in output. This is not an outlier; across more than 20 recent pilots, we have seen an average of 48 per cent efficiency gains, freeing up valuable time for individuals to focus on higher-value strategic work.

The power of connected intelligence

A critical component of this transformed operating model is a new approach to data. In the past, the goal was to centralise all data into one massive database – a slow and expensive process. Today, WPP Open allows us to securely collaborate with partners and draw insights from different data sources without ever moving or pooling them.

By connecting what we know about our customers with the rich, real-time signals our partners hold, we can build a far more powerful and predictive understanding of consumer motivation. For a CPG client, this approach pinpointed a high-value growth audience so accurately that media performance surged well beyond expectations. It’s a powerful example of how connected intelligence, combined with an evolved operating model, translates directly into business impact.

How to build a value-driven, AI-powered operating model

Re-architecting your operating model requires bold, deliberate steps. To move from incremental gains to transformative impact, brands must focus on these key areas:

• Empower integrated teams: break down the traditional silos between creative, media, and commerce. Build collaborative teams that are empowered by AI to drive end-to-end marketing at speed.
• Focus on augmenting talent: frame AI as a tool that enhances, rather than replaces, human expertise. Use it to automate repetitive work and free up your people to focus on strategy, creativity, and growth.
• Redefine the client-agency partnership: move from a linear model of hand-offs and approvals to one of integrated co-creation. Work with your agency on a common platform like WPP Open to strategise, review, and build campaigns together.
• Measure what matters: focus on the success of AI by its impact on business outcomes – attributed sales, speed to market, and efficiency gains – not by the number of tools you have deployed.

The businesses that will win in this new landscape are not those with the most technology, but those with the courage to change how they work. The proof points exist today. The opportunity for brands to grasp this new reality and build better futures for their customers and their business is here, now.