Pitch Perfect... But Not By AI

For all the talk and the billions being poured into artificial intelligence, the claims that it will upend the business world forever, its impact on new business pitching process so far seems limited.

Pitching is unavoidable, exhausting, yes endlessly exciting. It’s what keeps the industry moving, even if it’s far from perfect. There’s never enough, and what there is tends to come at a premium.

“The pitch process will never go away. We need it for accountability and fairness to everyone involved,” says procurement consultant Tina Fegent.

Yet for all the talk of automation and AI, the stakes and sheer human grind of pitching remain very much intact. The promise of accountability, along with the potential to cut costs by speeding things up and using fewer resources is one of the clearest ways AI could benefit everyone in the process. And with AI still emerging as a tool for marketers, it’s expected to drive even more reviews this year. So why hasn’t it yet revolutionised the search process?

The state of pitching

New business opportunities saw a decline in activity of more than a quarter (28 per cent) recorded just a year ago. But this year a surge is expected, assuming geopolitics doesn’t continue to spook marketers with uncertainty.

Recent reviews highlight this activity including Royal Mail moving to TMW, Nationwide to Mother, Aviva to Saatchi & Saatchi, Jaguar Land Rover landing in WPP, and Nomad Foods going to Havas London.

As observed through the CMO Pulse report, produced by Ingenuity+ which surveys 500 CMOs and marketing directors quarterly, 98 per cent of CMOs plan to review some or all of their marketing within the next year, with 67 per cent planning to definitely review. “We’re seeing consolidation, new entrants, and entirely new types of agencies emerging - from social‑first specialists to tech‑driven models. The landscape is broader and more varied than ever before, giving brands far more choice in how they build their capabilities,” says Ingenuity Group CEO Chris Kemp.

Social media, brand advertising, and digital marketing are most likely to be reviewed, with social media taking center stage for the first time. Kemp adds that brands are also reassessing in-house capabilities, meaning they need a clear and efficient way to understand the agency market without getting overwhelmed.

Sectors that the intermediary AAR expects to see the most activity will be across retail and FMCG, as margin pressure intensifies and media effectiveness is scrutinised. Financial services and fintech, will be driven by competition and regulatory change. Technology, B2B and SaaS will see an uptick driven by performance clarity and funnel integration. And travel, leisure and automotive, will see some activity as demand patterns settle post‑volatility.

From margin squeezes to regulatory change, agencies will continue to face complex sector pressures. Winning a pitch still depends on demonstrating value – but in this evolving landscape, will it be AI or human judgment that ultimately decides?

AI’s Emerging Role in Pitching

With the emergence of agents and their potential role in the ad buying process - AI-powered agents buying media from other AI-powered agents - maybe it’s only a matter of time matter of time before these systems also play a role in selecting business suppliers.

Even now, AI is already influencing the pitch process. It can quickly analyse brands, categories, competitors, and consumer behaviour, helping agencies develop briefs at speed. It can tailor presentation decks, draft case studies, and even generate rehearsal Q&As in seconds - making preparation faster, sharper, and more data-driven.

Nick Louisson, ISBA’s director of agency services, says brands like L’Oreal are already using AI to support procurement to create and analyse briefs and assess suppliers. However, he notes, this approach is still far from widespread.

“AI has been impacting some of the tech behind the scenes for how they [clients] look at things, but not in ways that an agency, or that a marketer, would see or feel, in terms of procurement and how that translates into the real world,” he adds.

But for all that, in a world where AI is quickly replacing many administration roles, the hiring of agencies remains a decidedly human affair.

“It’s hard not to use AI in everything we do. We like to think of it as Augmented Intelligence - a tool to handle the calculations, but not the conclusions,” explains Chris Kemp. At Mad//Meets, his team uses AI to streamline briefing for brands and agencies. “We interview the brands ourselves but use AI to compile the resulting briefs. It’s simple, effective, and a huge time saver. Many teams are using the technology in similar ways.”

Yet Kemp emphasizes that human skills remain essential. Shortlisting agencies relies on deep market knowledge and the ability to spot subtle nuances that can make one agency stand out. “One of our superpowers is the deep knowledge and love we have of the market,” he adds.

Tina Fegent notes that AI comes up in nearly every client conversation, but more in the context of campaign development than agency selection. She observes that major networks are now adopting a consultancy approach, competing with firms such as McKinsey, Deloitte, and Accenture in providing advertising solutions. “AI is driving new conversations about output models and remuneration. Marketers and procurement need to understand that changes in value and payment must come from their side too,” Fegent explains.

Payment models are evolving, though traditional retainers remain dominant. According to Rebecca Nunneley, partner at the AAR, experimentation is growing, with outcome-linked incentives, modular pricing, and hybrid retainers with performance overlays beginning to emerge.

“At the same time, expectations on agencies to prove value have intensified. Value is being defined less by awards or activity levels and more by commercial contribution, effectiveness, efficiency gains and organisational impact. Procurement are asking how AI will impact cost now and in the coming years. There isn’t necessarily one single right answer, but having an answer is something agencies should prepare for,” she says.

AI as a differentiator

And while AI is now a baseline expectation, it doesn’t, on its own, set an agency apart, Nunneley goes on to add. “Marketers are far more interested in how agencies use AI responsibly, effectively and pragmatically… The strongest agencies position AI as an enabler of better thinking and talent leverage, not a replacement for creativity or judgement.”

Deciding who wins a pitch remains firmly in the hands of company executives, supported by their intermediaries. Frances Ralston-Good, founder and CEO of Avelin Partners, says it’s understandable that executives have high expectations of AI’s capabilities. But she cautions that most organisations have yet to establish the necessary foundations - process clarity, data quality, integration, and enablement – in order to make the technology truly useful.

“That’s why ‘capability ownership’ is replacing ‘in-housing’ as the real strategic question,” Ralston-Good adds.

Across the market, there’s growing agreement that the differentiator is no longer access to AI itself, but how agencies apply it as a service. With every major holding company now developing its own internal AI-powered tools, the focus has shifted to identifying genuinely distinctive and commercially meaningful use cases.

Some groups are experimenting with new models. WPP, for example, has given brands direct access to WPP Open, enabling them to plan and create campaigns independently—an approach designed to strengthen client relationships and, in some cases, reduce the need for a formal review process.

An expansion of choice

Following consolidation across agency networks and cost-cutting measures aimed at protecting shareholder returns, the shake-up has resulted in a wave of interesting new independent start-ups (and more expected to emerge in 2026). At the same time, the rise of the fractional marketer, working across multiple businesses on a part-time basis, reflects the reduction in permanent CMO roles and a broader reshaping of senior marketing leadership.

As a result, both the decision-making landscape and the agency talent pool are evolving. While this expansion creates greater choice for brands, it also introduces additional complexity into the selection process.

New ventures such as Ace of Hearts and Unchartered, alongside other founder-led businesses built by award-winning talent, are contributing to a broader and increasingly competitive UK agency market.

“With the indie uprising, brands may be tempted to explore beyond the obvious,” observes Nicky Bullard who recently set up her consultancy Lighthouse.  “They are more likely to be brands who are less network encumbered and more challenger mind-set, who want to test the new-wave-waters via projects.  If this comes to pass, we can look forward to some cracking work from some cracking agencies for some cracking brands.”

Bullard describes technology, while important, as “a commodity” that should not trump imagination. Even so, she recognises that some brands will favour it, driven largely by financial considerations.

On the cusp of change

With more reviews on the horizon and AI embedding itself deeper into the marketing ecosystem, the pitch process is changing, but perhaps not in the way many predicted. Automation is removing friction. It is speeding up briefs, sharpening analysis and trimming timelines.

What it is not doing is replacing judgement, according to industry consensus.

As the agency landscape expands and fragments, the real challenge for brands is no longer access to information, but making informed, confident choices. AI can inform decisions, but it cannot build trust, read a room or assess chemistry. Those remain human skills.

The future of pitching will not be defined by who has the smartest AI tool, but by who uses it most intelligently. The winners will be those who combine technological capability with experience, instinct and accountability. After all, that is still what partnerships are built on.