- Publicis will invest over $300 million in an AI platform called CoreAI over 3 years.
- CoreAI provides all employees access to consumer data and ad assets to accelerate work.
- Publicis acquired data and tech capabilities enabling its AI push, but billing models may need to adapt.
French advertising leader Publicis Groupe unveiled an ambitious plan this week to invest 300 million euros (around $327 million) into a new artificial intelligence platform called CoreAI over the next three years.
The move represents a massive push into AI amid a time of reckoning for the ad industry. Executives hope the technology will give Publicis an edge against competitors as digital transformation accelerates.
Their “CoreAI”
Through CoreAI, all Publicis employees will soon have access to an unprecedented trove of consumer data, ad campaign information, and proprietary creative assets.
The system runs on natural language processing to parse commands and can rapidly perform tasks that once took weeks, such as developing media plans or personalizing thousands of ads. According to management, work cycles previously requiring person weeks may soon operate in seconds.
M&A enabled progress in AI
The multi-billion dollar acquisitions of data platform Epsilon and digital agency Sapient enabled the development of CoreAI, fortifying Publicis with IT talent and first-party data assets most agency groups lack.
Publicis also comes from a position of momentum, citing 6.3% organic growth in 2022 to claim industry leadership for the fourth consecutive year.
Yet questions remain around AI’s impact on jobs and client billing. The company maintains that AI will “supercharge people, not replace them,” as talented creatives interact with it as a tool rather than a threat. Executives also hinted at further shifts from hourly-based fees towards performance-based compensation models.
Clients may still push for better value. Either way, by committing nearly a third of a billion dollars, Publicis has resolutely plunged into an AI-driven future.
