IPA DG Paul Bainsfair asks what kind of industry we want to build with AI

Says Bainsfair: “The questions facing our industry are no longer whether AI will change advertising or how quickly. That much is already happening. Instead, the more pressing questions are about what kind of industry we want to build with it. This is why in our September edition we have deliberately moved the conversation beyond experimentation and efficiency gains to explore the bigger strategic challenges and opportunities that AI presents for the whole industry – from pricing for AI, to its effect on talent, to IP, and more.”

Highlights include:

1. What it takes to prepare the next generation of talent for careers increasingly shaped by AI.
2. Why agencies are rethinking their commercial models in an AI-enabled world.
3. How cultural barriers can hold back AI adoption and how creating an inclusive environment will unlock greater organisational value.
4. How agencies and brands can maintain distinctiveness when access to the same technologies has become almost universal.
5. The growing importance of responsible and ethical AI adoption, particularly around intellectual property, transparency and creative rights.
6. How AI is reshaping client relationships, collaboration and decision-making.

According to Bainsfair, what emerges throughout these discussions is a consistent theme: “Competitive advantage will not come from AI alone. Many of the debates explored in these articles remind us that the industry's most enduring strengths remain firmly intact: distinctive thinking, building trusted relationships, strategic insight and creative ambition. They continue to matter, perhaps now more than ever.”