The news: Despite ad agency professionals viewing AI capabilities as a critical competitive advantage, the majority face barriers to adoption, lack a strong AI strategy with formalized guidelines, and don’t see measurable ROI, per AI Digital data provided to EMARKETER.

• Several barriers to AI adoption are present: Professionals cited skill gaps and training needs (60.7%), being too busy with daily work (51.8%), and technology integration challenges (44.6%) as the biggest barriers.
• 73.2% of agency professionals stated that “staff upskilling” is their number one need for widespread generative AI (genAI) adoption.
• Agencies are lacking in AI governance. The majority (58.9%) do not have a shared prompt or best-practice library, while only 16.1% have comprehensive policies and training in place.
• Most agencies are struggling to measurably understand AI’s impact. Nearly half (46.4%) don’t measure ROI yet, while an equal amount only measured through assessing time savings and efficiency metrics.

The need for AI skills: Developing AI fluency is critical for agency professionals for several reasons.

• Even as agencies struggle to achieve widespread AI adoption, agency professionals view AI skills as critical for future competitiveness. The average importance rating out of 10 for having advanced AI capabilities was 8.1, according to the survey, while the average rating for how different the agency business will look by 2030 because of AI was 8.2.
• AI is becoming increasingly important for automating tasks like basic design, media pitching, and employee training. As more agencies automate with AI, those who don’t will struggle to save time, reduce costs, and focus on higher-level strategic and creative work on par with competitors.

What it means for agencies: Those who don’t make AI skills a core part of employee training risk being sidelined, especially as major tech platforms’ AI tools are already threatening traditional agency models. Agencies who look for hires that come prepared with AI knowledge and who prioritize AI upskilling have the best chances of survival in the AI-first era.