Arthur Sadoun: 'We have to put AI to work on real solutions to increase clients' market share'

In the latest installment of the interview series featuring advertising's network business leaders discussing the impact of AI, Publicis Groupe's chief executive, Arthur Sadoun, outlines why the company's $10bn investment has helped it to lead the pack.

He also reveals what he is hearing from clients around their ambitions to integrate AI within their organisations and what it means to his employees in their roles.

Creative Salon: How has AI already accelerated impact in your business? Any standout examples? Where are you seeing the biggest gains — speed, scale, quality?

Arthur Sadoun: Over the past decade, we’ve been investing over $10bn in data, AI, and technology, particularly through Sapient and Epsilon. 

Today, very simply, those investments mean we can leverage AI to bring together massive datasets to power our Connected Identity offering with precision and scale that was not previously possible. Thanks to our unique data foundation with Epsilon, and the AI applications we have built with CoreAI, we can connect our world-leading capabilities across media, commerce, creative, production, and technology to profoundly transform our clients’ marketing and business models.

As for the impact on our business, since we first put AI at the core of our operations in 2017 with our platform Marcel, we’ve increased our workforce by over 30 per cent to become a 110,000 strong organisation. 

CS: As AI takes on more of the heavy lifting, where do you see it starting to lead — beyond just support? Media planning? Strategy? Creative?

AS: We see early traction in reporting and modeling, but real transformation is still developing. If AI is going to truly build a better tomorrow for businesses and brands, we have to put it to work on real solutions capable of increasing clients' market share and reducing costs. Most clients want to embed AI into their core operations, not just test it, and we're helping them build custom platforms around their data, goals, and workflows. 

CS: In an AI-driven landscape, where core capabilities are increasingly commoditized, what will truly differentiate one agency from another?

AS: The differentiator is simple: AI is nothing without data. 

With Epsilon and now Lotame, we have the richest, most accurate identity assets in the industry: 91 per cent of US adults connected across paid, owned, earned, and shared media ecosystems. No one else has this combination of scale, technology, and talent -- including 25,000 engineers dedicated to building the future of AI. It’s what makes us the only true Category of One in our industry.

CS: What new roles or functions has AI prompted in your organisation? What future roles do you anticipate emerging?

AS: AI’s role is to augment, not simply replace. It’s helping elevate our people and their craft. For example, we’re seeing how it is transforming strategy by making data science more accessible and creating more hybrid qualitative/quantitative strategist roles enabled by AI and the ability to query into different places.  These are roles that didn’t exist even 18 months ago and now they’re central to how we deliver value.

Heading into the summer frenzy that is the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, the leaders of the world's largest advertising agency networks take on Creative Salon's questions around the biggest industry trend of the moment, the impact of AI. Stay up to date with Cannes Lions via the dedicated online section.