Why Your Next Agency Hire Should Be Taking AI Seriously

AI isn’t just another tech trend, it’s fundamentally changing how we work and how B2B buyers buy. In fact, a recent Forrester report found that 9 out of 10 ad agencies claim to be using AI, with about two-thirds tapping generative AI tools.

Everyone’s talking about AI. But talking isn’t enough.

Marketers and business leaders need agency partners who don’t just dabble in AI, but live and breathe it to deliver results. The bottom line? If your agency isn’t taking AI seriously, you risk falling behind.

B2B buyers and CEOs alike now expect marketing agencies to leverage AI for smarter, faster outcomes, not just fancy reports or cookie-cutter campaigns.

Let’s unpack how these expectations are evolving and what a truly AI-forward agency partnership looks like.

From Dashboards to Done: Buyers Want Outcomes, Not Just Data

Have you ever been handed a slick marketing dashboard filled with charts, but no clue what to do next? That’s the old way. Today, business leaders aren’t impressed by agencies touting the “latest analytics portal” or yet another automation tool. They want results – tangible business outcomes – delivered proactively.

Marketing tech is increasingly operated by AI “agents” under the hood, meaning the value is in what they do, not what they look like. As one industry expert predicts, when martech is primarily run by AI, “integration capabilities and APIs will become more crucial than user interfaces and dashboards”.

In other words, we’re moving to a world of agentic outcomes (when AI tools go do something on your behalf), where the behind-the-scenes AI can execute tasks and drive value without a human clicking every button. For B2B organizations, this shift is palpable. B2B buyers want outcomes, not specs. They don’t care if your agency uses GPT-4, a CDP, or a magic 8-ball, as long as it delivers meaningful, measurable value.

B2B expectations are shifting from static reporting to partners who can leverage different tools to deliver results, based on data orchestrated action. They want an agency that doesn’t just send weekly analytics, but uses those analytics to constantly optimize and “level up” the marketing program.

It’s about orchestration: connecting the dots between channels, content, and data to drive forward progress.

It’s about insight: not just data points, but strategic guidance on what to do next.

And ultimately, it’s about outcomes: more leads, higher conversion rates, faster sales cycles, better ROI.

Consider this perspective: “Clients don’t care about buzzwords, they care about outcomes. The smart move isn’t talking about AI, it’s showing how it supports the creative work that matters most.”

That might mean using an AI tool to automatically personalize content on your website for higher conversion, rather than just handing you a personalization dashboard. Or using AI to analyze your CRM and proactively flag the best opportunities, rather than just giving you a lead scoring report. At 3 Media Web, we’ve been testing proprietary AI tools that ingest large amounts of data quickly to surface trends, anomalies, and actionable insights from Google Analytics 4 (GA4), Google Search Console (GSC), and Semrush, to make strategic IA/UX decisions.

In short, marketing leaders are asking agencies, “What are you doing with AI that moves the needle for us?” If the answer is “We have a cool dashboard!”, that agency might not make the cut.

Introducing 3 Media Web’s Human + AI Operating Model

At 3 Media Web, we’ve embraced a philosophy that we believe is the future of agency work: Human + AI.

It’s simple: we pair the speed and power of AI with the seasoned judgment and creativity of humans. AI-accelerated, human-led delivery. Why this model? Because experience (and industry evidence) shows that the best results happen when AI and people collaborate, not compete.

A recent industry piece on agencies and AI put it perfectly: “The key is handing more operational tasks to AI and having humans oversee and fine-tune the work. AI is necessary for the speed of today’s business, but it’s not doomsday for agencies… Knowing how to prompt, train and interpret AI has become a new form of literacy.”

Exactly.

We let AI do what it does best: crunching data, automating routine steps, generating first drafts. Then our team does what it does best: adding strategic insight, creative polish, and quality assurance.

It’s not AI vs. talent, it’s AI with talent.

This Human + AI approach isn’t just an internal mantra; it directly benefits marketers and business leaders.

CMOs get an agency team that’s exponentially productive, hitting your deadlines and growth goals faster, yet still aligned to your strategic vision (because humans are steering the ship).

Mid-level marketers get a day-to-day experience where your agency team is highly responsive and proactive. They’ve got AI assistants monitoring your campaigns 24/7, so issues are caught early and new ideas come to you quicker. Meanwhile, the human account manager ensures nothing goes out the door unless it meets your brand standards and objectives. We believe AI is a tool, not a crutch. As 3 Media Web’s founder, Marc Avila, often says: “AI extends our capabilities, but our accountability to the client remains 100% human.”

Contact us today or book a strategy session to see how we can put our AI-powered, human-driven approach to work for your organization. The next generation of marketing awaits – and we’d love to lead you there.

What Buyers Really Want: Orchestration, Insight, & Outcomes

Let’s drill deeper into those three magic words – orchestration, insight, outcomes – because they encapsulate the core needs behind this AI push.

Orchestration

Modern marketing is complex and it’s getting even more complex at an even faster pace. Multiple channels (web, email, social, search, events), multiple tools (CMS, CRM, marketing automation, analytics), and multiple customer touchpoints. What buyers like you want is an “orchestra conductor” agency: one that can integrate and coordinate all these moving parts into a harmonious strategy.

Or using an AI agent to pull data from Google Analytics, HubSpot, and LinkedIn Ads and compile a unified insight report without a human analyst spending days in spreadsheets. One ad industry CEO noted that agencies are focusing on “interconnectivity across the ecosystem,” so outputs of one process feed directly into the next.

If your current agency is handing you siloed pieces (a dashboard here, a report there) and leaving you to connect the dots, that’s a problem. A Human + AI agency will connect those dots for you automatically. Speed to insight, speed to outcome, and the ability to orchestrate and connect the dots are the new benefits that matter.

Insight

Data is great, but actionable insight is better. Business leaders are drowning in data; what they crave is clarity. A good agency uses AI to sift noise from signal. Maybe it’s an AI tool that analyzes thousands of customer feedback comments to tell you the top 3 pain points in the market. Or an AI that monitors your SEO rankings daily and alerts with insights (“Your competitors gained on these keywords because they published on Topic X – let’s respond”).

Crucially, insight also comes from human expertise. The role of the agency strategist is evolving into that of a translator: translating the output of AI analysis into meaningful recommendations. MarketingProfs noted that what we measure and how we strategize are changing with AI. Instead of manually poring over spreadsheets, strategists can focus on guiding decisions.

Remember, data ≠ insight. Insight is data explained, contextualized, and applied. Your agency’s AI should provide the raw material, and the agency humans should distill the “so what.” If they can’t, that’s a red flag.

Outcomes

This is the big one. Marketing exists to drive business outcomes: revenue, pipeline, customer lifetime value, brand equity. In the age of AI, the expectation is that agencies will be even more aligned to outcomes because the busywork is automated.

Instead of spending 10 hours building a slide deck, your agency team can spend those hours optimizing campaigns or brainstorming a strategy pivot that will lift results. Agency partners are increasingly structuring contracts around outcomes (performance-based) rather than just deliverables, precisely because AI should enable greater accountability for results. In a MarTech survey, B2B marketers emphasized proving ROI with measurable outcomes as central to modern marketing.

It’s no longer enough to say “we built you a website”; the question is “what did that website achieve?” Agencies taking AI seriously are obsessed with this question. For example, at 3 Media Web we don’t just launch a site and hand over the keys. We use analytics (often powered by AI-driven analysis) to continuously tune that site for better outcome metrics – faster page loads, higher engagement, more conversions – and we report those outcomes back to you.

One agency leader at Omnicom Media Group captured it well: success with AI should be measured by “measurable outcomes like faster campaign setup or improved media performance, not novelty.”

At 3 Media Web, our Human + AI model is designed explicitly to orchestrate marketing activities seamlessly across platforms, to surface actionable insights faster, and ultimately to drive better outcomes for our clients.

Inside the 3 Media Web Brain: Our AI-Ready Knowledge Engine

To truly deliver on the promise of AI, an agency needs more than just tools – it needs intelligence at its core. That’s why we built EmberIQ™, 3 Media Web’s proprietary platform that serves as the brain of our operations.

What is it? It’s essentially our consolidated, AI-ready knowledge center of everything we do, from standard operating procedures (SOPs) and checklists to past proposals, case studies, code snippets, and creative assets. We’ve been feeding this “brain” so that our team (and our AI assistants) can draw on our collective experience in seconds.

Imagine an internal AI-powered assistant that knows how we do things at 3 Media Web. New project starting in the fintech industry? EmberIQ™ can surface relevant insights for upcoming client projects, like what messaging resonated or what UX design patterns worked well for their specific industry. At the same time, we’re careful not to upload client data or client specifics, to any AI tool, including our EmberIQ™ tool.

Why does this matter to you as a client? Because it makes our agency faster, smarter, and more consistent in delivering for you.

Faster Onboarding

When our team starts on your account, they can query EmberIQ™ for relevant learnings going back to the sales process, and avoid reinventing the wheel. Instead of spending weeks digging through past documents or asking around for tribal knowledge, we start with context. That means less time ramping up and more time making progress. Now when we ask a client to complete the intake process, much of the information is already prefilled and the client can focus on expanding or tweaking our brain.

Smarter Strategy

We can instantly tap into cross-industry insights and proven tactics, both internally and external proven methodologies and tactics, to apply to your challenges. If we’ve tested a headline formula that boosted conversions for a B2B SaaS client, or optimized a user journey that shortened sales cycles in manufacturing, those learnings are already in EmberIQ™ and ready to be reused, remixed, and tailored for your business.

Consistent Quality

Our AI tools are fed with our vetted processes and brand guidelines, which means when they generate an output (like a draft report or a code snippet), it’s using our guardrails and best practices as context. EmberIQ™ is how we ensure that when you hire us, you’re not just getting the individuals on your team, but the collected knowledge of our entire agency, past and present.

We’re actively training this EmberIQ™ to be more powerful. Think of it as building our own internal ChatGPT that knows marketing and web development the way we do it.

This is what we mean by AI with structure. It’s not random experiments or each employee doing their own thing; it’s a coordinated system – a brain – that ensures AI is used strategically and with quality control. So when we say we’re AI-accelerated and human-led, EmberIQ™ is core to that. Our humans lead, but they have a seriously smart assistant in their ear (well, in their browser) at all times.

Ready to embrace the future? Let’s talk.

3 Media Web’s Human + AI team is here to help orchestrate your marketing success and drive the outcomes that matter to you.

Contact us today or book a strategy session to see how we can put our AI-powered, human-driven approach to work for your organization. The next generation of marketing awaits – and we’d love to lead you there.

Real Results: How Human + AI Delivery Is Helping Our Clients

It’s all talk unless there are results to back it up, right? Fortunately, we have some outcomes we’re proud to share: real use cases where the combination of smart people and smart tech made a difference.

How we’re putting AI to work: SEO & UX Strategy Analysis

We’ve developed a sophisticated AI-powered analysis system that transforms how our strategists approach SEO and UX audits. The system integrates with Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and Semrush to analyze 12+ months of historical data—a task that previously took our team days to compile and cross-reference manually.

Here’s where the human expertise becomes crucial: Before the AI begins its analysis, our strategists feed it rich contextual information about each client’s unique situation—their ideal customer profiles, target keywords, competitive landscape, and industry-specific nuances. This human-curated context ensures the AI isn’t just processing data in a vacuum but understanding it through the lens of real business objectives.

The AI then performs multi-dimensional analysis, identifying patterns, anomalies, and opportunities that might be invisible when looking at individual data sources. It applies our proprietary 3 Media Web frameworks to generate initial recommendations for UI/UX improvements and SEO/AEO/GEO strategies. But here’s the key: these aren’t final deliverables. They’re intelligent starting points that our experts review, validate, and enhance based on their deep industry knowledge and creative problem-solving abilities.

What previously required 5-10 hours of manual data extraction and analysis now takes minutes, allowing us to deliver comprehensive audits 80% faster while uncovering 3x more actionable insights. More importantly, our teams are catching opportunities they might have missed before—subtle correlations between user behavior and search performance, or emerging content gaps that traditional analysis might overlook. It’s this combination—AI’s processing power with human creativity and judgment—that’s helping our clients stay ahead in an increasingly competitive digital landscape.

Outcomes That Matter

These case studies share a common theme: outcomes that matter. Uptime improved, traffic increased, conversions boosted, engagement deepened. In each case, AI played a role: sometimes visibly (like 3D models or AI analytics) and often invisibly (like automated QA, SEO analysis, or personalization).

But importantly, in each case, our human team directed those efforts towards the client’s strategic goals. AI was never used for gimmicks; it was used to get results. And when agencies use AI in a structured, purposeful way, clients notice the difference. It’s not hype, it’s help, delivered.

Speaking of hype, not all agencies using AI are doing so effectively. Let’s talk about how to spot the difference.

Hype vs. Help: Red Flags When Agencies Talk AI

By now, you might be convinced that any agency worth its salt should be using AI. But how do you separate the true innovators from the imposters?

Here are some red flags to watch out for when an agency is claiming they “do AI”:

Buzzword Overload, But No Substance:

If an agency’s pitch or website is littered with AI jargon – “we have a proprietary AI-driven synergistic growth engine!” – but they can’t clearly explain how it benefits you, beware. As one LinkedIn thought leader put it, “Clients don’t want AI hype. They want AI help.”

An agency that is truly leveraging AI can concretely tell you what tasks it automates, what insights it yields, or what outcomes it drives. If instead you hear a word salad or they immediately change the subject to their “years of experience with big data,” consider it a red flag. They might be name-dropping AI to seem cutting-edge, but behind the scenes it could be business as usual.

No AI Strategy or Structure:

Ask how the agency manages its AI usage. Do they have an internal team or initiative for AI innovation? Do they train their staff on AI tools regularly? If they just say “oh, our folks use AI here and there when needed,” that indicates a lack of structure.

Here at 3 Media Web, before we rolled out any AI tools across the team, proprietary or not, we created a company-wide AI Governance Policy. This helped safeguard responsible and effective use of AI across the company, without introducing risks, like sharing client data or internal company information to a public AI tool.

Look for agencies that have a clear POV on AI. For example, at 3 Media Web we’ve defined our Human + AI model and invested in the 3MW EmberIQ™ – that tells you we’ve thought this through. An agency that can’t articulate how they integrate AI into projects (and how they govern it to ensure quality and ethics) likely isn’t truly walking the walk.

Lack of Quality Control (QA) on AI Outputs:

AI can generate content, code, images, but it can also generate errors, bias, or off-brand material if left unchecked. A big red flag is an agency that seems to rely on AI without a robust QA process. For instance, if they proudly say “We use AI to write blog posts in minutes!” but don’t mention human editing, run away. Your blog could end up with factual inaccuracies or a robotic tone that alienates your audience.

Similarly, AI-written code might function initially but be unmaintainable or insecure if not reviewed by senior developers. A responsible AI-enhanced agency will emphasize human oversight. AI is powerful, but it’s not infallible and agencies know this. Those just hyping speed and volume without mentioning quality are risking your brand’s reputation.

No Case Studies or Specific Examples:

This might be the biggest tell. Can the agency give you specific examples of AI-driven improvements they’ve made? If they claim to do AI, they should be able to point to a client project and say, for example, “Using an AI A/B testing tool, we improved that client’s conversion rate by 20%,” or “Our AI content audit identified SEO opportunities that raised their organic traffic.”

If all you get is blank stares or generic statements like “Our clients have benefited across the board,” they might not actually have real AI wins. An agency that’s serious will love to talk numbers and results . The pretender will stay vague, because there’s nothing concrete behind the curtain.

Overpromising Autonomy:

Be cautious of agencies that imply AI will run your marketing on autopilot (“Just sign and watch the AI magic happen!”). Effective AI use in marketing still requires strategy and guidance. We’re in 2025, and yes AI agents are emerging, but even top analysts note that “AI’s true potential is often overestimated in the short run.”

We’ve seen the hype cycles. You want an agency that’s optimistic about AI but also realistic about its current limits. Overpromising might mean they haven’t actually implemented what they’re selling (or worse, they’re planning to use your account as a guinea pig).

In summary, look for clarity, not smoke and mirrors. The agencies worth hiring will talk about AI as a means to an end (better insights, faster execution, higher ROI) and will be transparent about how they use it. The ones to avoid will either gloss over specifics, drown you in buzzwords, or treat AI like a magic wand.

We’re now beyond that hype peak – time to deal with AI in a disciplined, value-focused way. Make sure any agency you hire does exactly that.

Ready to embrace the future? Let’s talk.

3 Media Web’s Human + AI team is here to help orchestrate your marketing success and drive the outcomes that matter to you.

Contact us today or book a strategy session to see how we can put our AI-powered, human-driven approach to work for your organization. The next generation of marketing awaits – and we’d love to lead you there.

5 Smart Questions to Ask Your Agency About AI

To help marketing and business leaders (and anyone in their shoes) cut through the noise, here are five pointed questions you should ask any agency that claims to be “AI-powered” or using AI in marketing.

These will reveal very quickly whether they know their stuff or are just blowing hot air:

1. “How exactly are you using AI in your workflows, and how will it benefit our account specifically?”

Don’t accept general answers. If they say content creation, ask for details (Are they using AI for research, first drafts, optimization? Which tools?). If they say analytics, ask how that translates to recommendations for you.

A good answer might be: “We use AI to monitor your ad campaigns hourly and adjust bids – so you get better results for the same spend. We also use an AI writing assistant to draft social posts, which our team then polishes, meaning you get more content, faster, without extra cost.”

You want to hear concrete use cases relevant to your needs.

2. “What processes do you have in place for quality control when AI is used?”

This is crucial. The agency should describe a human-in-the-loop process. For example: “Our designers use AI to generate design variations, but our Creative Director reviews and refines the final design to ensure it’s on-brand.” Or “If we use AI for copy, we fact-check and edit everything before it goes live.”

If they don’t have a clear QA step, that’s a red flag (as discussed). The best agencies will even provide examples of catching AI mistakes. This shows maturity in their AI usage.

3. “Can you share an example or case study of AI making a measurable impact for one of your clients?”

Put them on the spot to prove it. It’s one thing to say “we use AI,” but show me it works. Maybe they’ll share how AI-driven email personalization lifted open rates by 15%, or how an AI chatbot generated 50 sales-qualified leads in a quarter. Specific numbers or outcomes are what you’re looking for.

We at 3 Media Web might answer: “Certainly: for Client X, our AI SEO audit uncovered content gaps that, once filled, boosted organic traffic 40% in 6 months. And for Client Y, the AI sales assistant we implemented, set 30 extra meetings for their reps in a quarter.” If an agency struggles to provide a clear success story, they might not have one.

4. “How do you keep your team (and your AI tools) up to date with the latest developments?”

The AI field is moving fast. Today’s cutting-edge can become yesterday’s news in months. A strong agency will talk about continuous learning: attending AI conferences, internal training sessions, pilot programs with new tools, etc. Maybe they have an AI Center of Excellence, or their senior technologist is always evaluating the next best thing.

You want to gauge if they’re staying ahead or if they learned one tool in 2023 and stopped. The best answer would include something like: “We have quarterly AI training for our staff and we allocate R&D time to experiment with new AI APIs. In fact, we recently started exploring GPT-4’s latest features to improve content quality even further.” That shows commitment to staying cutting-edge.

5. “Will we have visibility and input into how AI is applied to our projects?”

This speaks to transparency and collaboration. You likely want an agency that doesn’t treat AI as a black box behind the scenes. Ask if they’ll let you know when AI is doing something significant in your campaign. For example, if an AI is deciding email send times, will they tell you and share the rationale?

Also, can you request they try an AI approach for something, or conversely, opt out if you’re not comfortable (like maybe you want all creative to be human-crafted)? A savvy agency will be open and consultative: “Yes, we discuss our AI usage in our strategy meetings. If we plan to deploy an AI chatbot on your site, we’ll show you how it works and get your feedback on the tone and answers. You’ll always know what’s human vs. machine in your project.” If they get cagey (“Don’t worry about it, trust us”) that’s not a good sign.

Asking these questions will quickly separate those who have real expertise from those with superficial knowledge. For CMOs, these questions help you ensure the agency can align AI with your strategic goals and has the rigor to deliver ROI. For mid-level marketers, these questions help you know if the agency will make your life easier or harder. Are they going to be transparent and collaborative, or leave you guessing how they got that result?

The agencies worth hiring will appreciate these questions. In fact, they’ll likely light up at the chance to talk about what they’re doing (we certainly do!). If an agency bristles or gives you fluff answers, you just dodged a bullet.

The Next-Generation Agency: Where Human Creativity and AI Converge

Let’s zoom out and envision the future – the next-generation agency model that is emerging right now.

In this model, agencies are neither old-school luddites nor AI-run robot factories. They are fluid, adaptive teams where human creativity and strategic thinking are amplified by AI at every turn. This is where the industry is heading, and it’s where growth-focused marketing leaders will find their greatest successes.

Picture your agency partner as an extension of your team that’s augmented with superpowers. They still brainstorm big ideas and craft compelling stories (that win hearts and minds, and make your brand shine). That’s the human art that never goes away.

But alongside that, they have an AI “brain” (like 3 Media Web’s EmberIQ™) that gives them instant knowledge and crunches data at superhuman speed. Repetitive tasks? Handled. Data analysis? Done overnight. Personalization at scale? Implemented in a flash. This frees the humans to focus on strategy, creativity, and relationship-building, the things that humans should do.

In the next-gen agency, every team member is part creative/problem-solver, part “AI pilot”. Just as today we expect professionals to be computer-savvy, tomorrow they’ll be expected to be AI-savvy. That means knowing how to get the best out of AI tools, how to verify AI outputs, and how to weave them into campaigns seamlessly. MarketingProfs’ 2025 outlook even suggests “AI teammates” will become valued team members in many organizations.

The agency of the future will treat AI as just that: a teammate. Not a threat, not a gimmick, but a new type of team member that needs onboarding, training (with good data), management, and a clear role.

Next-gen agencies will also likely have new roles – like an AI Operations Manager or a Chief Automation Officer – ensuring the technology is fully leveraged. If you see roles or titles like that, it’s a sign the agency is serious about evolving (and not just delegating AI to the intern who’s “good with computers”).

The next-gen agency model means you finally get what CMOs have always wanted from partners: proactive strategy and tangible growth impact. These agencies don’t wait for you to ask for a report, they’re delivering insight in real-time. They’re not executing the same playbook quarter after quarter and hoping for the best, but continuously learning and adapting with AI’s help, finding new opportunities to exploit. And they’re speaking the language of the C-suite: outcomes, revenue, efficiency, ROI.

It means less last-minute fire drills and more steady, strategic execution. It also means you get to learn and upskill alongside them. A great next-gen agency will bring you into the fold on their AI tools, teaching your team how to use certain insights platforms or automation tricks. They’re a partner in elevating your whole department’s game, not a silo.

Most importantly, a next-generation agency is results-obsessed. They have to be, with AI handling a lot of execution, the focus naturally shifts to strategy and results. They will set KPIs that matter and use every tool (human or AI) to hit them. And they’ll be more accountable than ever. We foresee more performance-based partnerships, more shared-risk models, and deeper integrations between internal and agency teams.

This is the agency model where growth-focused marketing leaders need to be. Those who stick with agencies doing “business as usual” might survive for a while, but they’ll miss out on the agility and insight that their competitors are getting. The gap is already widening between agencies (and companies) that embraced AI and those that hesitated. As Luca Senatore noted, “Agencies that use AI with clarity, speed, and trust are outpacing everyone else… Clients will notice who’s playing catch-up and who’s leading the charge.” The same goes for marketing teams in general.

So, as you consider your next agency hire – ask yourself: are they equipped for this new era? Do they have the Human + AI chops to orchestrate my marketing, deliver true insight, and drive real outcomes?

If yes, you’ve likely found a keeper. If not, keep looking (and hey, we happen to know a great agency that fits the bill ).

In sum: don’t settle for agencies that only talk about AI, hire the ones that deliver with AI. Your future growth depends on it.