AI is reshaping the future of work at agencies, from reducing junior roles to cutting down on hiring altogether. Nearly all (91%) of US senior agency leaders expect AI to reduce agency headcounts, per Sunup’s AI’s Effect on the Marketing Industry report. Over half (57%) of agencies have slowed or paused entry-level hiring. To maintain value in the AI era, agencies should protect and cultivate talent pipelines and use AI to deepen offerings like audience insights and personalized campaign plans, which automation alone can’t replicate.
OpenAI signed a seven-year, $38 billion cloud compute deal with Amazon Web Services (AWS), its first partnership with the cloud market leader. The development effectively ended the startup’s exclusive reliance on Microsoft, its primary backer, per CNBC. OpenAI will use existing AWS data centers, and Amazon will build dedicated infrastructure for OpenAI as part of the ChatGPT maker’s expansion. While hyperscalers like AWS, Microsoft, and Google race to secure workloads, costs for training and inference are expected to decline. For brands, this means reduced outage risks and increased options for deploying AI-driven creative, analytics, and automation systems at scale.
When it comes to AI investment, Google CEO Sundar Pichai's mantra that the risk is underspending, not overspending, seems to be holding true at Meta. It forecast roughly $600 billion on AI-related capital expenditure over the next three years, but investors are questioning whether that philosophy has limits. Meta’s heavy focus on AI could aid its ad offerings, especially personalization options and its AI-powered ad suite. At the same time, overspending could lead to uneven focus that leaves other ventures—including its cash-burning Reality Labs and plateauing interest in Facebook—vulnerable.
Meta, Google, and Microsoft are spending at historic rates in the race to secure AI dominance. Each posted record quarterly earnings last week—and warned that even higher capital expenditures are an imperative for growth, per Wired. For marketers, the AI buildout presents both an opportunity and a cautionary tale. As Big Tech chases scale, brands must chase substance—using AI not for hype, but for measurable value today, not in the future. AI’s future isn’t guaranteed by capital—it’s earned through trust, differentiation, and adaptability. Brands that master those traits will thrive no matter how the infrastructure race unfolds.
WPP cut its full-year outlook after Q3 organic revenue fell 5.9% to £2.46 billion, its steepest quarterly decline since 2020. New CEO Cindy Rose said the company “hasn’t gone fast enough” to meet client needs and outlined a turnaround focused on AI, operational efficiency, and simplifying its agency network. WPP’s slump reflects broader challenges facing holding groups in the AI era: proving value through speed, integration, and measurable results as brands increasingly turn to self-serve, platform-driven ad solutions.
Fraudulent streaming is siphoning royalties from human artists, complicating ad targeting for marketers, and leading consumers to listen to AI-generated music without their knowledge. Fraudulent genAI content can degrade users’ streaming experience and make it harder for advertisers to accurately plan campaigns since they may not know what user data is legitimate, Inna Vasilyeva said. With data quality and trust serving as major elements of campaign deployment and optimization, brands must demand transparency from streaming platforms and prioritize verified ad inventory.
Ad-supported and free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) are surging in popularity—what started as low-cost, complementary streaming options are becoming primary destinations for discovery. Total US hours spent watching FAST services reached 1.8 billion in August, per Comscore’s 2025 State of Streaming report, up 43% YoY. Advertisers should view FAST and ad-supported streaming options as a crucial part of the CTV media mix, tapping into rising demand for budget viewing options and the services’ wealth of user engagement data for campaign optimization.
Netflix is testing vertical short-form video content on mobile devices to diversify its platform offerings. The streamer’s goal isn’t to compete with TikTok since it won’t feature user-generated content (UGC). Instead, videos will include clips from Netflix’s longer-form content, such as live events or stand-up comedy sets. Netflix’s move into shorts could create new ad inventory or brand placement opportunities, pairing the brand safety of curated clips with the engagement of short video. Marketers should keep an eye on how Netflix’s short-form ecosystem evolves.
YouTube is reorganizing staff within its product teams, which won’t directly involve eliminating any roles, per Business Insider. Starting November 5, those teams will fall into three categories with distinct priorities. At the same time, the company implemented a “voluntary exit program” with severance offers for US employees. YouTube’s now-separate product segments could open up new pathways for TV ads and influencer marketing, and brands should watch for how these siloed divisions could change campaign development and ad placement, and whether outreach with YouTube will become more complicated.
A global Azure and 365 outage hours before earnings revealed the fragility of Microsoft's dominance, briefly disrupting apps and websites worldwide. But its latest earnings demonstrated its unmatched lead in enterprise AI. Azure and other cloud services jumped 40%, powering Microsoft Cloud’s 26% revenue surge to $49.1 billion. Despite the hiccup, Microsoft’s results confirmed AI’s full integration into its business model, with Copilot and Azure fueling recurring cloud consumption—and turning productivity into predictable, high-margin growth.
OpenAI completed its public benefit corporation (PBC) restructuring, reflecting how the AI industry has matured since ChatGPT first launched. The company retains a nonprofit arm—the OpenAI Foundation—that holds a $130 billion equity stake in the OpenAI Group PBC for-profit arm. Prepare for rapid evolution of AI capabilities, faster product cycles, and more aggressive scaling of tools like ChatGPT Enterprise, Sora, and Pulse as OpenAI tests which offerings can grow into major revenue drivers.
A growing cohort of companies, including Next PR, Parcel Perform, and Geostar, is helping brands optimize their generative engine presence, ensuring that content surfaces in queries from consumers seeking recommendations and new products. Marketers should consider their brands’ strategic goals—whether it’s driving conversions or boosting visibility of web content—and identify the GEO partners that best align with them. As genAI tools become more mainstream for consumer discovery, proactive optimization is key to stay relevant and manage reputation in AI outputs.
Amid pressure to establish better child safety guardrails in the AI industry, Character AI will block users under 18 from chatting with bots on its platform. Starting November 25, minors will only be able to generate photos and images with safety limits in place and review prior chats. As regulatory and safety concerns rise, advertisers face greater scrutiny when looking to reach younger audiences. CMOs should assess brand alignment with AI platforms and, on platforms that have the potential to pose a safety risk for children, shift efforts to target adults users.
Spotify is boosting its visual offerings for the big screen with a revamped Apple TV app. Users can now watch music videos and video podcasts on their TVs and get AI DJ recommendations, smarter queue management, a redesigned UX built for tvOS, and remote control via Spotify Connect, per 9to5Mac. As Spotify expands its CTV and broader media consumption offerings, it’s making a bid to claim more space on the biggest screen in the home. CMOs should start building CTV campaigns that merge Spotify’s audio precision with the reach and impact of video.
Streaming music is gaining momentum as radio starts to lose share in the ad-supported audio listening market. Fifteen percent of audio listening time goes to ad-supported streaming audio, per Nielsen’s The Record report, up 36.4% YoY. Radio’s share dropped 5 percentage points YoY to 62%. Marketers should diversify audio spend by incrementally shifting dollars from radio to streaming to follow the ears as listening time shifts platforms. Test creative formats like interactive audio—including shoppable ads or tap-to-engage spots—to boost engagement and brand recall.
Amazon cut 14,000 corporate roles on Tuesday, calling the cuts an effort toward “reducing bureaucracy, removing layers, and shifting resources to ensure we’re investing in our biggest bets,” per Bloomberg. Affected divisions include gaming, cloud computing, logistics, and others. It’s been a challenging year for the workforce with rising inflation and a softening labor market—to say nothing of AI. Whether a company is looking to avoid layoffs or streamline operations, they should experiment with multiple AI tools to find the right solutions for specific roles and companies, even if that means learning that AI isn’t right for them.
OpenAI will reportedly expand its portfolio to include genAI music tools, per The Information. The company is said to be collecting data, such as annotated music scores, from Juilliard School students to develop and refine upcoming music-generation tools. CMOs should assess their tech infrastructure to ensure that teams have the skills and systems to integrate new AI tools smoothly. Maintain agency relationships amid AI-generated audio experimentation to keep human creativity in the loop and retain oversight as AI adoption heats up.
Rates of adoption and familiarity with AI are surging—53% of US consumers either regularly use genAI or have experimented with it, per Deloitte’s 2025 Connected Consumer Survey, up from 38% in 2024 and 16% in 2023. Sixty-nine percent of US genAI users engage with AI through social apps, everyday software, and online services. Companies should look beyond customer service chatbots and integrate AI-powered search, product discovery, and personalization tools into brand websites. Boost intelligent tools such as AI personal shopping assistants to increase engagement and time spent, removing the need to navigate elsewhere to find answers or recommendations.
On today’s podcast episode, we discuss what OpenAI as the next big operating system maker looks like, how they might make money from this, which integrated apps will become most popular inside ChatGPT, and how this potential super app could impact consumer AI devices. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host, Marcus Johnson, Analyst, Grace Harmon, and Principal Analyst, Yory Wurmser. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.
Marketers are doubling down on content relevance and strategy as key drivers of performance, but personalization is being left behind. Nearly two-thirds (65%) of North American B2B marketers who say their efforts have been effective in the past year cite content relevance as a main reason, per Content Marketing Institute (CMI). Despite the potential payoff, 94% of marketers say their use of personalization is either basic or moderate. Marketers should pivot AI’s role from content creation to content intelligence, focus on high-quality signals, and implement data-driven personalization to get a sustainable edge in campaign efficiency and engagement.