The next era belongs to AI: Sir Martin Sorrell predicts algorithmic media buying and flattened organizations
On concerns that AI could diminish creativity, Sir Martin Sorrell, Founder and Executive Chairman of S4 Capital/Monks was unequivocal, “No, it enhances it. Strategic and creative thinking remain vital, but now we add data-driven insight and technology to execute faster and better.”
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As an investor and builder, Sir Martin Sorrell, Founder and Executive Chairman, S4Capital/Monks is placing his strongest bets on how artificial intelligence will transform marketing, media, and technology over the next five years. “Over the next five years, I’m betting strongly on five areas where I believe AI will completely reshape the industry,” Sorrell told Storyboard18.
The first, he says, is visualization and copywriting, where generative tools are already collapsing timelines and cutting costs in creative production. The second is personalization at scale — “what I often describe as a Netflix model on steroids” — where first-party data can be harnessed to deliver highly individualized content and experiences. The third is media planning and buying, which he expects to become entirely algorithmic, replacing the manual work of thousands of planners in the same way portfolio allocation in the investment industry has shifted to algorithms.
Alongside these, Sorrell sees AI driving radical efficiency improvements, citing staggering results already emerging in India from projects that have streamlined operations far beyond what traditional methods could achieve. Finally, he believes one of the most transformative shifts will be the democratization of knowledge within organizations, with AI collapsing silos and making information widely accessible. “AI has the ability to collapse silos and make information widely accessible, much like how Jensen Huang at NVIDIA manages 51 direct reports by relying on clear KPIs rather than layers of bureaucracy,” he explained.
According to Sorrell, the areas showing the most traction right now are visualization, personalization, and algorithmic media planning, but together these five bets capture the direction in which the entire industry is heading.
On concerns that AI could diminish creativity, he was unequivocal: “No, it enhances it. Strategic and creative thinking remain vital, but now we add data-driven insight and technology to execute faster and better.”
He also pointed to client economics, noting that many advertisers today spend more than 10% of media costs on creative — higher than when agencies were historically paid 15% for both creative and media combined. “With AI, that ratio should fall significantly, especially in a world of slower growth, higher costs, and scarcer opportunities,” he said.
