Key points
- At Digiday's Media Buying Summit in Newport Beach, agency attendees said AI-written briefs from clients are longer, less focused and blur lines between media, creative and PR work.
- Attendees also reported AI-generated slides and emails from clients and agency executives, with one describing a client brief of 18 pages that was half undoable.
- Some agencies now write briefs for clients or use living briefs with follow-up meetings to get ahead of unclear requests.
- Speakers described two agency paths: full automation to cut people and costs, or AI used to make existing experts more efficient.
Why it matters for marketers: Poor AI-assisted briefs and unreviewed AI output waste agency hours and client budget, so teams need clearer intake, human review and training before scaling AI use.
Agency attendees at Digiday's fall Media Buying Summit in Newport Beach, Calif., said the rush to adopt AI is creating friction with clients and inside their own shops. In two townhall sessions held under Chatham House rules, participants described briefs that have grown long and disjointed, with unclear marketing and business goals.
One attendee said an AI-assisted brief ran 18 pages, and the client plainly did not know what was in it, since agency staff found half of it was not doable. Others said bloated briefs mix up the responsibilities of media, creative and PR teams. Participants also noted AI-generated slides in meetings and said the habit extends to senior people at both clients and agencies.
For marketers, the lesson is that more words do not make a better brief. Agencies are testing fixes: one described living briefs, where clients answer questions first and then meet with the agency to walk through them. Another said its team simply writes the brief for the client. One attendee urged agency leaders to train staff to call clients rather than trade long emails.
The sessions also touched on strategy. One speaker framed the choice as full automation to cut people and costs, versus using AI to make existing experts more efficient, and argued the second path is the stronger one. Another warned that without training, a bot could spend $10 million in a DSP instead of $10,000.
Watch how agencies formalize intake and review. Clients who want better work may need to treat the brief as a human-owned document, and check any AI output before sending it.
Sources
This brief is our own summary. Read the full reporting at the source.
