The New Management Challenge: Can You Conduct?
By late 2025, the smartest marketers won't just be using AI tools - you'll be working alongside AI agents that understand their business, their clients, and their goals.
But that future isn't handed to us. It's built, step by step, starting now.
It's going to feel like orchestrating a bunch of assistants, each with their own specialization. Some will do the same small task, never getting bored. Others will be different for each client, remembering instructions every single time.
Terrifying or exciting? That's up to you.
But orchestrating a few, or a few dozen of these agents is going to require new ways of managing and thinking.
Taking AI Seriously
Be "more strategic and creative" they say. Nice words, but bloody hard when you're drowning in reports and optimizations!
Now it's tangible. When automation handles the data processing, when AI helps surface insights, you can focus on what computers aren't as good at: understanding client businesses, making people feel heard & building strong relationships.
The reality: More and more agencies are actively hiring (and paying extra for) people who understand both digital marketing AND AI. They know they don't have these skills in-house. They know they need them. And they know their competition is already moving.
This Isn't Just About Tools
It's about transforming how your team works.
When I ran WebSavvy, every team member got a $5k annual learning fund - 80% for professional development, 20% for learning anything they wanted. If you did a course, you had to run a lunch & learn to teach what you discovered. Sometimes the best insights come from unexpected places.
That kind of investment in thinking differently matters more than ever.
This is on you.
Whether you own an agency, lead a marketing team, or want to advance your career - the opportunity is the same.
The soft skills to orchestrate AI tools and human talent, to articulate exactly what you want (not just the task, but the outcome), to build trust and your 'AI intuition' - these are becoming the most valuable skills in our industry.
Your Path Forward
The agencies that pull ahead in 2025 are:
- •Moving beyond basic AI tools to understand where AI truly adds value
- •Using automation to turn data into useful information (scripts FTW!)
- •Building frameworks for evaluating AI outputs
- •Most importantly, thinking bigger about what's possible
This future is closer than you think. You still have time to get ahead of what's coming.
Start small, but start now.
Pick one repetitive task that's eating your time. Automate it. Then use that time for the next one.