Earlier this week, we started our Q&A with 4As CEO Justin Thomas-Copland, looking at “big picture” items around the association’s 2027 4As | 4sight 2027 Briefing: The Value Reset report.
We dove into how agencies can speak the language of the C-suite, repositioning themselves to be viewed by clients other than a vendor and how successful agencies can differentiate themselves.
Today, we’re diving into more operational themes, including pricing, AI and talent.
Q: Talk about how agencies can and, in some instances, are transitioning away from billable hours into output/outcome-based pricing? What types of client metrics should agency billing be tied to?
Justin Thomas-Copeland: The billable hour was never a measure of value; it was just a workable proxy. But AI is severing that link right in front of us. Why should solving a complex problem in fewer hours make the solution worth less? We are advising agencies to stop pricing their judgment as if it were simply labor. We’re seeing a necessary shift toward outcome-based pricing, subscriptions and hybrid models. To make this work, as we outline in our Decoding Compensation Models guide, you need shared KPIs, access to the client’s data and real influence over the results.
Q: AI and generative AI are being used for much of the “grunt” and other detailed work that entry-level talent used to do, thereby preventing them from learning the roots of marketing. How should agencies groom and teach new hires to develop those foundational skills so they can grow their careers?
Justin: This is an existential threat to our industry. It is also an opportunity to fundamentally rethink how we develop the next generation of agency leaders.
The entry-level “grunt work” AI is eliminating was actually the apprenticeship that built many of today’s leaders. But the answer isn’t simply to recreate that model. It’s to deliberately design a new one.
Craig Elimeliah, CCO of Code and Theory, asks, “How creatively can you orchestrate creativity, technology, data, experience, business and systems that create value?”
And that is the key.
We can’t just teach junior talent how to use AI. They still need to understand the fundamentals of research, strategy, data and creative craft because without that foundation, how can they challenge what AI produces? Fluency without judgment just creates people who make and scale mistakes faster. Or at best, they scale the sea of sameness.
Agencies need to rethink how talent learns, moving junior people closer to the work that builds judgment: client conversations, strategic decisions, creative critiques and real business challenges. That means more intentional mentorship, earlier exposure to senior thinking and new models of learning that don’t depend on years of repetitive tasks to build expertise.
Our industry contributes 20% to US GDP. This is because it delivers breakthrough ideas and moments which drive brand growth. That critical imperative remains, If, as an industry, we believe that AI tools will recreate this, we are mistaken.
The capabilities we develop in our people today will determine the value agencies can create and command tomorrow. That’s a central challenge we’re raising in our 4As | 4sight 2027 briefing, The Value Reset.
At the 4As, we’re committed to helping agencies navigate that transition, including through partnerships like our recently announced collaboration with the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), focused on cultivating human-centric, AI-fluent leaders who bring craft, taste, critical thinking and judgment to the work.
And we are hosting regional GenJams to bring the creative thinkers into direct proximity with AI tools to show new ways to get to and execute great ideas. The great ideas are what fires the tool.
It’s the amplification of great ideas with AI that we must focus on. Getting to those ideas quicker. Being able to make them to a new scale. But never relying on the tools for breakthrough ideas.
Q: The 4As 2027 Briefing identifies four fault lines driving the industry’s “value gap.” What specific tools and initiatives are the 4As rolling out to help agencies take action and reset that value equation?
Justin: Naming the gap is only the starting point; our mission is to hand agencies the operational tools to close it. We’ve already launched 4As Intelligence, our first agentic research platform, to deliver instant, credible intelligence into agency workflows. It is in friendly beta mode and will be upgraded as we go.
To tackle the value disconnect directly, we are rolling out a comprehensive Value Perception Study to quantify the exact daylight between executive boardroom expectations and agency delivery. Look for that toward the end of the year.
On the commercial front, we are building practical solutions, including deliverable asset pricing frameworks, a pricing diagnostic tool to help agencies identify where they are undercharging for strategic IP and deployable outcome-based contract templates. These are due for release by December to be leveraged in this planning window.
Our GenJam initiative is being scaled across the entire US to help the creative community feel like they have community through learning and fun. The type of environment they love and one that helps them re-find the critical role in our industry.
Add to that strategic industry partnerships like our talent initiative with FIT and our focus is clear: we are delivering the concrete infrastructure agencies need to claim and monetize the full value of their work.
Get all the insights in the 2027 4As | 4sight Briefing: The Value Reset. And, if you liked this article, sign up to receive a daily dose of agency insights and news with the 4As SmartBrief newsletter.