‘There’ll be fewer jobs in advertising with AI’

Slowing global growth, rising tariffs, and geopolitical tensions are forcing businesses to rethink strategy, even as AI promises “faster, better, cheaper” solutions. Sir Martin Sorrell, who built WPP into the world’s largest advertising group and now leads the digital-first ad firm, S4 Capital, says in an interview that India will play a leading role in reshaping advertising and marketing. At the same time, Sorrell sees AI as profoundly disruptive, enabling companies to do more with fewer people. His advice to CEOs is to stay agile in the face of rapid change, while urging marketers to harness AI to drive speed and efficiency. How do you see the current global business environment?In a geo-political world, it’s becoming harder for companies to operate and for people to work. On top of that, tariffs have made it worse. We’re in a very uncertain environment. Once some of the tariff issues get resolved, it won’t go back to where it was. Tariffs used to be very low. Now they’re 15% or may be more (for certain countries). Combine that with major geopolitical challenges – which I think are fundamental and hard to solve – and growth will inevitably be slower. Global growth will likely stay below 3%, with stubborn inflation and higher interest rates. So, getting growth globally is really difficult. And, companies will have to choose markets much more carefully. So, you have to select the growth, whereas before it was globalisation no fragmentation. We’re moving from globalisation to fragmentation, and fragmentation will only intensify.What does the changed environment mean for business strategy?In a world, which is growing more slowly, you have to be as efficient as possible. So AI, technology, blockchain, becomes more and more significant. CEOs today are focused on two things: How to navigate geographic fragmentation and how to deliver efficiency. So, I think it’s a different world. I think the last 40 or 50 years we’ve been lucky. Where does India fit into this new global order?I remain a raging India bull. India is in a fantastic position. You’ve got a great leader (Prime Minister Modi) who understands the importance of branding and positioning India. It’s a fast-growing economy in a region that will become even more powerful. And two, it has a technological backbone, which will be extremely effective in an AI world, a blockchain and quantum world. Yes, outsourcing jobs are under pressure – TCS layoffs show that. But India can pivot. AI will replace some roles, but India is well-placed to exploit both fragmentation (as a neutral partner in geopolitics) and efficiency (through its tech and talent).What is your view on AI? How disruptive will it be for jobs?It’s a mixed picture, and controversial. For instance, in advertising – in visualisation, copywriting and media buying, AI reduces time, people needed, and costs -so there will be fewer jobs. But, in personalisation at scale, new creative roles will emerge. Sam Altman (OpenAI CEO) says over 85% of advertising jobs could vanish. I don’t think it’s that extreme, but overall, there will be fewer jobs. Look at investment management: Trillions are managed algorithmically, not manually. Advertising will go the same way. Productivity will rise, though. Companies will do more with fewer people.

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How do you see India’s advertising market today?India is among the world’s top 10 ad markets. Ad spend here is about 0.3% of GDP, compared to the global average of around 1% – so it’s underweight. Indian companies underinvest in marketing. As competition intensifies inbound and outbound, Indian companies will have to invest more in marketing and branding, especially when going global. That’s crucial as Indian entrepreneurs are spreading their wings increasingly. What role do you see Indian talent and innovation playing in reshaping the global advertising and marketing landscape?As the world’s most populous country and among the fastest growing economies, inevitably India will play a leading part in reshaping advertising and marketing. It already does with a disproportionate number of CEOs and CMOs of major global corporations.”