If AI can execute in seconds what agencies once billed for in hours, what should clients pay for next?
Filmed live at Advertising Week 2026 at MCM Studios in New York City, this episode of Signal & Noise features Adam Woods, Global Chief Product Officer, and Amy Crowther, CEO, Americas, at Incubeta.
They join hosts Rio Longacre and Brett House for a candid conversation about the future of agencies, the economics of AI, and what it takes to connect technology, talent, and data around better business outcomes.
Building an agency operating system means more than assembling a collection of tools. Adam and Amy discuss how agencies can bring creative, media, measurement, and client-owned intelligence into a more connected way of working—and why changing how people work is just as important as changing the technology.
From creative production and data infrastructure to client relationships and pricing, this conversation gets into the practical decisions behind agency transformation.
In this episode:
• Beyond billable hours: How AI challenges staffing-based fees and traditional service models, and why the real opportunity is in how agencies reinvest efficiency gains.
• Connecting creative and media: Why clients still struggle with the gap between creative ideas and media execution, and how shared performance data can give teams a stronger starting point.
• Creative intelligence in practice: How understanding which assets work—and why—can inform production, testing, and optimization, rather than leaving creative teams waiting for feedback.
• Client-owned data and intelligence: Why brands should build on their own knowledge, how fragmented tools create disconnected data, and what agencies can do to help clients retain control.
• Measuring business impact: Moving beyond click-through rates, cheap impressions, and platform-reported success to questions about profitable growth, customer acquisition costs, and incremental contribution.
• Bringing brand and performance together: Why short-term results need to be understood alongside long-term brand investment, and how agencies can help CMOs make a stronger case to CFOs.
• Making transformation practical: Why the starting point may be as simple as getting a brand’s creative assets consistent, proving value, and building momentum from there.
• Rethinking the value exchange: When to challenge an RFP, why trust matters, and how outcome-based pricing can work when costs, incentives, and shared goals are realistically aligned.
Adam brings a product and technology perspective to building connected capabilities. Amy grounds the discussion in the realities of leading teams, educating clients, and turning those capabilities into work that makes a difference.
Together, they make the case for an agency relationship built around informed decisions, shared accountability, and measurable value. AI expands what is possible; the harder work is deciding what to build, how to deploy it, and which problems are worth solving.
Watch or listen, then tell us: What should the agency of the future be accountable for—and how should clients pay for it?
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