Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the advertising industry by speeding up content creation, data analysis, media buying, and campaign optimization. However, one critical area still stuck in the past is how advertisers pay their agencies.
Despite AI’s ability to automate and accelerate nearly every facet of an advertising campaign, financial transactions between advertisers and agencies often proceed under legacy systems. These outdated processes can take months, resulting in delays and cash flow challenges for agencies that must front production and operational costs.
Industry experts note that this mismatch between technical progress and financial operations creates inefficiencies. While AI tools enable campaigns to be conceptualized, launched, and adjusted in real time, the payment cycles follow rigid, traditional timelines—often net 60 or even net 90 payment terms.
Agency leaders argue that this lag does not reflect the pace or value of the work delivered. “AI is helping us deliver results faster than ever, but we’re still being paid months later,” one agency executive stated. The disconnect places strain particularly on smaller or independent agencies, which may lack the financial reserves to absorb extended payment delays.
The payment issue also points to broader systemic challenges in the advertising industry, including procurement protocols, contract norms, and the use of outdated finance technologies. While some advertisers have started to explore faster payment models, such efforts remain the exception rather than the rule.
As AI continues to redefine the speed and scope of creative and media processes, stakeholders across the advertising ecosystem are beginning to call for equally innovative solutions on the financial front. Digitizing and modernizing payment workflows could help align compensation timelines with AI-powered productivity, ensuring that agencies are fairly and promptly rewarded for their accelerated output.
Until then, agencies are finding themselves stuck in a paradox: delivering work at AI speed, but getting paid at a manual pace.
Source: https:// – Courtesy of the original publisher.
