AI is changing how quickly agencies can get information.
It can analyze profitability, utilization, write-offs, pricing, staffing, client performance, and margins far faster than before.
That is valuable.
But I think there is a more important question:
If AI helps you get the answer faster, can you make the decision faster?
For years, one legitimate reason for delaying a management decision was that the information simply was not available.
Finance needed another report.
Client profitability had to be reconstructed.
Utilization needed to be calculated.
Three years of job history had to be reviewed.
Management needed more information.
Fair enough.
But what happens when AI compresses that process from weeks into hours?
If management still spends the next six weeks debating what to do, how much time did AI really save the business?
The real value is in the decision
Suppose the analysis shows that one service line produces excellent margins while another consistently struggles.
Now what?
Do you shift resources toward the higher-margin work?
Build a marketing campaign around it?
Increase pricing?
Stop selling work that looks good on the top line but contributes very little profit? Or do you simply discuss the results again next month?
Suppose AI highlights several clients that continually generate large write-offs. Do you increase their rates?
Change the scope?
Change the staffing model?
Introduce change orders?
Renegotiate the relationship?
Or continue reporting the same problem every month?
There is a cost to waiting.
Sometimes it is obvious.
Sometimes it quietly appears through lower margins, excessive payroll, write-offs, lost opportunities, and underpriced work.
Finance people understand this particularly well:
Time has a value.
But there is an important distinction
Sometimes management delays a decision because it is hesitant to act.
But sometimes the issue is more complicated.
AI may get you to the decision point faster, but it may uncover an issue the owner has never faced before.
A major rate increase.
A staffing reduction.
Walking away from a large client.
Eliminating a service line.
Restructuring a department.
Those are not always obvious decisions.
In those situations, the goal is not simply to make a faster decision.
It is to get to the right decision faster.
AI can provide the information.
But experience, context, and judgment still matter.
And this is where I can help
I have spent decades working in finance and accounting in the advertising industry. In my experience, the hard part is rarely producing one more report.
The harder questions are:
What does the information actually mean?
What should change?
What should happen first?
What are the financial consequences of each option?
And how quickly should management act?
If AI is getting you information faster but you need help turning that information into a decision, feel free to reach out to me.
I can help you get to the right decision faster.
Because getting the answer faster is useful.
Doing something intelligent with it is where the money is.
Stay tuned for Part Two: What is the end game for your agency?