Why Now?

AI is accelerating changes already underway in how agencies work, what clients expect and where agencies can create value. At the same time, pressure for efficiency is increasing and new agency capabilities are emerging. The challenge isn't unique to advertising.

Across professional services, consulting, legal and accounting firms are also rethinking how expertise is priced as technology changes the relationship between time, cost and value. There is no single replacement model emerging—instead, firms are experimenting with a broader mix of pricing approaches.

What we're seeing beyond advertising:
Consulting: 2026 research from Stanford's Digital Economy Lab finds that AI is disrupting traditional consulting fee structures and points toward greater use of hybrid and asset-based pricing, depending on how observable inputs and outcomes are.
Tax & accounting: Firms are experimenting with subscriptions and bundled offerings alongside hourly and fixed fees. Subscription pricing increased from 3% to 11% of client arrangements in Thomson Reuters' 2025 study, while fixed fees represented 37%.
Legal: Law firms are similarly exploring alternative and hybrid fee arrangements as AI puts additional pressure on the economics of the billable hour.

If efficiency becomes the primary measure of AI's value, the commercial conversation risks focusing on what AI allows agencies to do for less rather than what new or greater value agencies can create with AI.

The answer isn't simply to charge clients for AI. It's to determine when AI enables differentiated expertise, capabilities, IP or offerings that should be valued and priced differently.

Reference:

• Stanford digital economy lab
• Thomson Reuters:
  Tax Pricing Survey 2025, How AI is continuing to change the business of law,
• ILTACON 2025: Pricing the future — AI’s impact on the billable hour