A recent Meta interview with Stratechery sparked a heated debate about Meta’s vision for the future of marketing—and the role of agencies in an AI-fueled world. One quote in particular struck a nerve with Adland: “You connect your bank account… and read the results that spit out.”
To clarify Meta’s stance, Alex Schultz, CMO and VP Analytics at Meta, recently posted on LinkedIn that while AI-driven automation is game-changing for small businesses, the role that agencies play for mid-to large-sized clients is bigger than ever.
At dentsu we couldn’t agree more. AI capabilities are not a nail in the agency coffin, they are a massive opportunity for closer, more constructive collaboration between agencies, brands, and platforms.
We’ve entered the age of AI where algorithms change how people connect with one another, how content spreads, and how people come together to create culture. The imaginative interplay between people and algorithms changes the way they discover, interact with, and shop brands.
This Algorithmic Era of marketing opens up a whole new world of growth opportunities.
Brands must harness AI to realise those opportunities, but rather than abdicating responsibility for key growth decisions to the algorithm, it’s the powerful combination of AI and people intelligence, human insight, strategy, and creativity, that will help brands continue to find differentiation in the marketplace.
As Alex noted, agencies are already using AI to unlock new ways of working. Many agencies are becoming more closed-loop—walled gardens in their own right.
But at dentsu, we aim to be interoperable, innovative, and agile. We believe that what makes agencies indispensable in the marketing ecosystem is not just execution, but their ability to help complex, often political client organizations translate complexity into clarity, data into stories, and signals into strategic direction. Clients today don’t just need tools—they need interpreters, advisors, and architects.
This is where transformative partnerships across the digital ecosystem matter.
We have built an industry leading partnership with Meta that is a proof point of what this future can look like. We’re co-creating with Meta, not just “connecting the pipes” but ensuring that we fully realize the multiplier of our respective insight, strategy, and communications planning talent. This month we are launching the dentsu and Meta Algorithmic Whisperers program for our teams across the globe. This is a bespoke learning path developed for our talent to ensure they stay ahead of the Meta’s latest advancements on AI and have an under the bonnet look into how Meta’s Algorithm works. With this program, dentsu will be able to deliver even stronger business outcomes for our clients through the most sophisticated understanding of Meta’s algorithm. On top of impactful education programs we are developing tools, experimenting, and building solutions in new economies like video, business messaging, and creative.
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One example of the many tools dentsu and Meta engineers have built together to drive better business outcomes for our client’s is Tobiras. Tobiras makes it easy to access Meta Advanced Analytics and extract bespoke and actionable insights that are not accessible through the standard Meta business manager UI. It provides teams with more visibility into the impact of media investment across the Meta ecosystem and through the funnel. Tests conducted showed a 10% improvement in ROI and marketing effectiveness through the use of Tobiras. (source: dentsu Japan).
Another example of co-created tech is the WhatsApp Business Gateway solution we built with Meta. Dentsu is the first and only global agency network to become a WhatsApp solution partner. This partnership responds to the evolving ways people interact with brands, enabling business to offer more personalised services and engage deeper with consumers. The solution is part of dentsu’s ambition to drive people-centred transformation, enabling end-to-end business messaging solutions through its media, creative and customer and data capabilities. Whilst initially launching in the UK, we can now activate end to end communications for brands we work with in key markets across the globe.
It’s this kind of collaboration, true partnership between agency, platform, and brands anchored not just in connecting the infrastructure but in developing the craft that allows us—and our clients—to win in an increasingly algorithmic world.
AI will grow exponentially, but in unexpected ways and in unexpected places. At any inflection point, it is unwise to back just one possible solution and “put it all on red”. The future isn’t about choosing between automation and agencies. It’s about using AI to elevate the role of agencies—and we’re ready for it.
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