GWA AI White Paper: Value Over Volume

The GWA AI White Paper 2026 This is not a technology report, but rather a decision-making framework for companies and agencies alike. Under the title «The New Value. Agencies Caught Between AI Maturity and Customer Expectations,» the GWA (General Association of Leading Communications Agencies) has published a roughly 120-page study based on two empirical surveys: In collaboration with the Handelsblatt Research Institute (HRI), 170 CEOs and CMOs were surveyed about the future of AI use in marketing. At the same time, the GWA surveyed 78 managing directors of member agencies. The white paper is supplemented by about a dozen interviews with experts as well as seven in-depth analyses on topics such as business and compensation models of the future, visibility in an era of AI-generated content floods, training the next generation, creativity, and regulation.

80 percent want to do more in-house—but agencies are still in demand

According to the GWA AI white paper, 80 percent of the marketing decision-makers surveyed plan to handle more tasks in-house in the future. This most commonly applies to research and market research: 52 percent plan to increase in-house use in these areas. In the creative department, the figure is 50 percent, and in the production of advertising materials, it is 44 percent. As their main motivation, 61 percent of companies cite efficiency gains, 54 percent cite greater effectiveness, and 49 percent cite cost reductions.

Nevertheless, this trend does not signal a retreat from agency relationships. Only 8 percent of the companies surveyed expect the role of agencies to diminish in the future. Rather, the market situation should be viewed as a transitional phase: Only 10 percent of the companies surveyed have established AI as an integral part of their processes, while 45 percent report using it regularly in specific processes.

Nina Haller, GWA Board Member and Managing Partner at muehlhausmoers, summarizes the white paper’s key insight as follows: «As production becomes faster and, in some cases, almost infinitely scalable, value will no longer be derived from how much we produce or how long it takes us to do so.» Value is shifting toward judgment, guidance, context, impact, and responsibility. «Agencies must now translate this very shift into their services and business model, or they will be replaced,» says Haller.

Agencies Have Matured Technologically—But Still Have Weak Spots

76 percent of the GWA agencies surveyed have already introduced AI-based products or services. 72 percent consider themselves advanced in their use of AI, while another 24 percent describe themselves as experts. Only four percent still consider themselves beginners.

However, technological maturity alone does not solve all challenges. Sixty-seven percent of agencies cite a lack of skills, expertise, or talent as the biggest hurdle to AI implementation. Fifty percent see a lack of time and resources as a problem, 45 percent cite legal uncertainties, and 42 percent point to difficulties with technical integration.

Michael Frank, GWA Board Member and CEO of Die Crew, emphasizes: «It’s no longer a question of whether AI can be used, but rather what concrete value it creates. Cost efficiency is one potential benefit, but not the only one. Agencies must link their use of AI to a clear value proposition—that is, to the question of what value is being created.» According to Frank, as companies increasingly take on operational tasks themselves with the help of AI, their need for guidance, technological integration, strategic consulting, creative quality, and responsible management increases.

Young Talent at GWA AI White Paper: Consciously Developing Skills

One of the most pressing questions raised by the GWA AI White Paper concerns the development of the next generation of talent: How will experience, judgment, and creative excellence be cultivated in the future if AI is taking over precisely those tasks that young professionals have traditionally learned through on-the-job training? Véronique Franzen, spokesperson for the GWA Forum Tech & Innovation and Managing Partner at Publicis Media, sees this as «a fundamental problem for all employers, not just agencies.» Everyone must explore new ways of learning and, for example, strongly promote mentoring. «It’s not the next generation as such that’s at stake. What’s at stake is the ability of organizations to no longer let competence develop incidentally, but rather to consciously develop skills and experience in the future,» says Franzen.

According to the study’s findings, there is no indication of large-scale job cuts due to AI: 72 percent of companies expect employment levels to remain the same or increase. In fact, 47 percent of agencies plan to create new jobs or roles through AI; only 13 percent plan to cut jobs.

AI doesn't reduce costs—it just shifts them

One of the white paper’s central arguments challenges a widely held belief: that automation inevitably leads to lower costs. While AI can indeed make individual work steps faster and more cost-effective, At the same time, however, new cost drivers emerge: licenses, models, tokens, and computing power—as well as infrastructure, technical integration, governance, and quality assurance—become significant economic factors. The crucial question for companies and agencies, therefore, is not where AI saves costs—but rather where costs are shifting, what new dependencies are emerging, and how budgets will need to be allocated in the future.

The GWA AI White Paper 2026 is available for download at: http://gwa.de/ki-paper