Rapid technological change is a visible backdrop in how agencies describe their current environment. Agency Core research provides insight into how agency leaders perceive and respond to this change, not as a single issue, but as one factor among many shaping agency operations, confidence, and decision making. This blog surfaces reported patterns from the research to show how technology appears in agency perspectives without evaluating tools or outcomes.

When agency leaders are asked to identify their most significant challenges, technology related concerns are present but not dominant. Research shows that agencies consistently rank other pressures as more severe.

• Technology Compared To Other Reported Challenges

  In the 2025 research, only 21 percent of agency leaders identify the impact of AI on agency relevance as a severe challenge. By comparison, challenges related to maintaining a strong pipeline, pricing appropriately, staffing sustainability, and client retention are reported at much higher levels. This positioning suggests that technology is not viewed as the most immediate threat by most agencies.

• Consistency Across The Industry

  This pattern holds across agency sizes, specialties, and service mixes. While technology is widely discussed in the industry, its reported severity remains lower than many operational and market driven concerns.

Although technology is not ranked as the top challenge, Agency Core research shows that it is closely tied to questions of long term relevance for some agency leaders.

• Concern About AI And Relevance

  A subset of agencies express concern that emerging technologies may affect how clients perceive agency value. These concerns appear most strongly in segments already experiencing pressure around differentiation, pricing, and pipeline stability.

• Segment Level Differences

  Attitudinal segments reveal variation in how agencies interpret technological change. Some leaders view technology as one of several forces reshaping the industry, while others report feeling uncertain about how technology may alter their role over time.

Agency Core research suggests that many agencies experience technological change as an ongoing condition rather than a single disruptive event. Technology appears alongside other forces shaping agency decisions, rather than standing apart as an isolated concern.

• Technology In The Context Of Market And Economic Forces

  Agency leaders frequently reference technology in combination with competitive pressure, economic uncertainty, and shifting client expectations. In this context, technology is reported as one factor influencing agency operations, not the sole driver of change.

• Indirect Influence On Agency Operations

  Rather than pointing to specific tools or platforms, agencies often describe technology in terms of its indirect effects. These include changes in how clients evaluate value, how work is delivered, and how agencies justify pricing and scope, without attributing outcomes directly to technology itself.

Research highlights meaningful variation in how agencies describe their responses to technological change. These differences align closely with broader leadership mindsets and operational conditions.

• Differences By Attitudinal Segment

  Some agency segments report feeling more pressure to adjust processes or offerings in response to technology driven shifts. Others describe a more measured response, viewing technology as part of a longer term evolution rather than an urgent disruption.

• Areas Of Alignment And Divergence

  While agencies vary in their level of concern, there is alignment around the idea that technology alone does not define success or failure. Divergence appears in how closely technology is linked to fears about relevance, competition, and differentiation.

Agency Core research consistently surfaces uncertainty as a defining feature of the current environment. Technological change contributes to this uncertainty without fully explaining it.

• Expectations Of Continued Change

  Many agency leaders believe the role of agencies will change over time, with technology cited as one contributing factor among others. This expectation reflects anticipation rather than prediction, and varies across agency segments.

• Operational Adjustments Without Clear Attribution

  A large share of agencies report making operational or process changes in response to market forces. These adjustments are not consistently attributed to technology alone, suggesting that adaptation is shaped by a combination of pressures rather than a single cause.

Taken together, Agency Core research shows that agencies experience rapid technological change as part of a broader landscape of shifting expectations and uncertainty. Technology is present, but rarely isolated, in how agencies describe their challenges and adaptations.

Longitudinal and segment level data reveal variation in concern, interpretation, and response. Rather than a unified narrative, the research surfaces multiple ways agencies perceive and adapt to technological change, reflecting the diversity of agency realities rather than a single path forward.