From Billable Hours to Business Impact: The Shift Is Real, But Not That Simple

Last week S4 Capital (.Monks) just formalized what many of us have sensed for some time. The traditional agency model, built on time sheets, retainers, and FTEs, is increasingly incompatible with the way marketing actually works today.

🔗 S4 Capital trades billable hours for outputs as AI redraws agency economics

With the rise of AI, the value equation is evolving. It is no longer just about who was in the room or how long they were there. It is about what was delivered, how fast it moved, and what it actually drove in the market.

In short, we are moving from time to traction.

That shift is necessary, but it is not as clean or complete as some might suggest.

1. The Model Isn’t Broken, But It Is Misaligned

I say this with perspective. I have worked at many agencies latest one
Monks
, and today I lead global sourcing strategies on client side with impact at scale.

Over a year ago, I wrote that AI wouldn’t simply reduce costs. It would force us to rethink how we define and price creative value. Here’s that original piece and today, it feels more relevant than ever.

That moment has arrived.

S4’s move toward output-based pricing is one answer. But we must ask ourselves these questions. What exactly is an output? And who decides what it is worth?

• Is a six-second TikTok the same as a campaign idea that anchors a brand for 12 months?
• Is a single-market demo comparable to a culturally localized asset adapted across five regions?
• And if a meme goes viral but leads to no conversion, is that success or just noise at scale?

Without shared definitions, output-based pricing risks becoming another next black box, just as opaque as billable hours ever were.

AI Is Not a Shortcut. It Is a Stress Test

Yes, AI can reduce time, improve consistency, and scale production. But it also forces us to confront difficult questions.

• If production is automated, what exactly are clients paying for?
• If time decreases and quality improves, are agencies expected to charge less?
• If value is detached from hours, how do we continue to support strategic and senior creative work?

Traction must not be confused with volume. More content does not mean more performance.

And in a market flooded with assets, business impact depends on relevance and strategic clarity.

2. What No One Wants to Change: The Incentive Problem

This is what is rarely addressed. Most agencies are still commercially structured to sell time. Most procurement teams still benchmark headcount. Many CMOs still treat content as a cost rather than a performance engine.

You cannot build a new economic model using the same outdated incentives.

If we want to shift from hours to outcomes, we must rework the briefing, contracting, and measurement systems that support the model.

Otherwise, output-based pricing will remain a theoretical concept, not a functional one.

3. Rethinking Value Through “Creative Sovereignty”

One way to reframe this shift is through the idea of what I call “creative sovereignty”. Put simply, it means knowing exactly what we’re creating, why we’re creating it, how well it works, and what it’s really worth, no matter the platform, the format, or the market.

“AI didn’t kill the agency model. It just made its inefficiencies impossible to ignore.”

This is not about discarding creativity. It is about making its value measurable, its model more flexible, and its results aligned with business growth rather than effort alone.

So yes, a new era is beginning.

Creators are becoming strategic partners. Agencies are evolving from delivery units to orchestrators of business traction. But for this to work, we need to do more than change language.

• We must define what an output actually is.
• We must protect strategic thinking and senior expertise.
• We must redesign incentives for both agencies and clients.

The future will not reward those who worked the longest. It will reward those who moved the market with clarity, purpose, and measurable outcomes. Welcome to the Traction Age. Now comes the real work : building the systems, standards, and shared understanding to make it real.

I am curious. Whether you are on the brand or agency side, how are you navigating this shift?

Disclaimer: Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.

#CreativeSovereignty #TractionEconomy #AIandCreativity #OutputBasedModel