When we set out to create The Future of Skills and Hiring in the Age of AI with our partners at Spark AI, our goal was to move beyond AI hype and get to the truth of what’s really happening inside agencies. How ready are teams? Where are the skills gaps? And what needs to change in how we hire and develop talent?

To launch the report, The Industry Club and Spark AI co-hosted an event bringing together senior leaders from across the industry. Melissa Smith, our founder, chaired a panel with:

• Vix Jagger, head of creative innovation and AI, Droga5 London
• Robin Garton, ECD, Sky Creative
• Natalie Winford, chief solutions officer, Jellyfish
• Charlotte Mulley, head of planning, MullenLowe UK
• Laura Jackson, head of strategy, Not Actual Size

Across the discussion, one theme kept resurfacing – and it’s at the heart of the report.

The Confidence Paradox

Introducing the whitepaper at the event, I discussed a pattern that stood out clearly in the data: the more structure and strategy leaders have around AI, the more they can see how complex and fast-moving it really is. Those who are further along the journey tend to be more aware of what they don’t yet know.

By contrast, organisations still in the early, more experimental phase often underestimate the scale of the shift required.

Our benchmarking data backs that up. While 63% of leaders say their organisation is “AI ready”, more than a third are still using AI sporadically and without a clear strategy. The gap isn’t just technical; it’s about how AI is embedded into workflows, commercial thinking and creative practice.

In other words, confidence and genuine readiness are not the same thing.

What the Data Tells Us About Skills and Readiness

The report draws on responses from 149 senior leaders across independent agencies, networks and in-house teams. A few themes come through strongly:

• Skills gaps aren’t primarily about coding. Leaders are more concerned with applying AI commercially: how to sell its value, integrate it into processes, and use it strategically and creatively.
• Training is becoming a core competitive advantage. Around 68% of organisations plan to invest up to £15,000 in AI training this year, and more than half say they will prioritise upskilling existing teams over new hires.
• Adaptability and curiosity are rising in value. With specific tools and platforms evolving so quickly, leaders are focusing less on narrow technical expertise and more on mindset, learning agility and the ability to navigate change.

Yet even as training budgets increase, the report shows that many teams are still in an “experimentation” phase – lots of testing and trying, but not always the structure needed to turn experiments into repeatable, scalable ways of working.

Beyond Hype: Structure Over “Magic Buttons”

One of the most grounded parts of the panel conversation was the reality check on AI hype.

Vix Jagger stressed that we must be honest with clients about what AI can and can’t do. There is no “magic button” – what the industry often sees on LinkedIn and in case studies is the polished 1%, not the messy, iterative work behind the scenes.

That’s exactly why structure matters. The whitepaper sets out four phases of AI readiness – from Experimentation through Adoption and Optimisation to Innovation. Many organisations have pockets of innovation, but they’re not yet joined up. As Robin Garton described at Sky Creative, different teams can sit at different stages at the same time; the challenge is in spreading best practice, not just incubating it.

The takeaway is clear: loose experimentation is a beginning, not an end state. To move beyond the hype, agencies need governance, shared standards and clear expectations for how AI is used across teams.

New Roles, New Pathways

The report and the panel both highlighted the emergence of new, hybrid roles.

Natalie Winford pointed to functions like AI transformation leads and customer success-style roles as increasingly important – people who understand both the tools and the client, and who can identify where AI-driven innovation really adds value over the course of a year, not just in isolated projects.

This raises a crucial question for leaders:
Do we redefine and stretch existing roles, or do we create entirely new ones?

Our findings suggest that most organisations are currently trying to do both – upskilling current teams while also experimenting with specialist roles to anchor AI strategy and delivery.

What About Junior Talent?

One of the most sensitive areas is the impact of AI on junior roles.

Charlotte Mulley reflected on how many of the tasks she did early in her career – competitor analysis, surface-level insight gathering – are now prime candidates for automation. But that doesn’t mean we can afford to underinvest in junior talent. If we reduce entry-level hiring too aggressively, we risk losing the fresh perspectives and diversity of thought the industry depends on.

At Not Actual Size, Laura Jackson noted that younger team members are often the most vocal about the ethics and power dynamics around AI. That challenge from within is healthy; it helps organisations sharpen their own principles and focus on using AI to enhance creativity, not just squeeze efficiency.

The message here is twofold: we need to protect the pipeline of new talent, and we need to bring them into the AI conversation, not treat them as an afterthought.

Leadership, Margins and the Willingness to Change

Underpinning all of this is a very real commercial tension.

Our data shows 44% of agency leaders believe AI will improve margins and reduce costs, but they also recognise that thoughtful implementation demands time, focus and investment.

Coming off the back of a cost-of-living crisis and lingering post-Covid pressures, many agencies are understandably cautious about changing their operating models too quickly. But as several panellists noted, the bigger risk is standing still while the market moves on.

The organisations that will thrive in the age of AI are those willing to:

• Be honest about where they really are on the readiness curve
• Invest in structured training and clear roles
• Redesign processes, not just layer new tools on top of old habits
• Involve their people – at every level – in shaping what “good” looks like

Download the Full Skills & Hiring Benchmarking Report

If your organisation is grappling with these questions – skills, structure, talent, culture and commercial impact – our new state-of-the-industry whitepaper is designed to help.

Co-authored by The Industry Club and Spark AI, The Future of Skills and Hiring in the Age of AI sets out:

• The four phases of AI readiness
• Where UK agencies are today
• The key skills and roles emerging across the industry
• Practical considerations for hiring, upskilling and organisational design

👉 Download the report here:  The Future of Skills and Hiring in the Age of AI