Entry level roles at advertising agencies, once the realm of repetitive hack work, are evolving with more responsibility as AI takes over repetitive administration tasks.
Recruiters say AI has not entirely replaced the value of staffing these positions, but has instead transformed them, expanding the scope of roles to off-set the automation of tasks.
“Over the past 12 months, only a handful of job ads had job titles mentioning AI or related terms (ie, artificial intelligence, machine learning, generative AI, etc,” said Justin Randles, director at Mercury Talent.
“So we are yet to see a material impact of AI on the workplace in media companies, but it's happening.
“I think the media industry has no choice but to embrace AI and look for cost-savings, which sadly means fewer jobs. But I haven't come across any examples where someone has been made redundant because their tasks can be completed by ChatGPT, not yet anyway.”
There is potential for junior roles to move beyond their traditional prospects to include leadership opportunities and diversify required skill sets, according to Dene Gambotto, managing director at iknowwho.
“At the junior level, AI is automating admin but not replacing opportunity. Agencies still need juniors who bring creativity and can confidently use tech tools. At iknowwho, we see entry roles evolving — the value now lies in potential to grow into strategists and storytellers rather than pure administrators.”
Cofounder and director at nosundayblues, Mikhaila Warburton says juniors need to make tech-savviness their personal brand to survive a changing capacity for entry level roles.
“Larger agencies with structured graduate programs are the ones doing the most hiring in this space but only at certain intake times of the year. Smaller shops, however, don’t have the bandwidth to train people without prior experience,” said Warburton.
According to research by The Association for Data-Driven Advertising and Marketing (ADMA) ,75% of marketers use AI weekly, however, only 29% have received training on these technologies.
This exposes a critical gap in the workplace and an opportunity for junior staff to upskill and position themselves to lead.
“Don’t fear AI, or tell yourself "I'll never get in!" use this as your edge. Become the AI-savvy junior, the one who knows the tools inside out, who can bring fresh energy and social edge to a team, let that become your brand and get visible. That’s your in,” said Warburton.
Simon Hadfield, founder at Prime Movers, highlighted the importance of maintaining human touch points during AI transformation, to ensure work exceeds the benchmark of what AI can do and delivers on client expectations.
“It will remove some of the more menial tasks,” said Hadfield.
“However, our industry is always going to need, in my view, human input, relationships and a personal touch.
“But yes, there’s no question AI will probably take-away I’m guessing here 20, 25% of some of the more junior roles, or at least streamline them, maybe not remove them entirely, but allow people to do other things.
“And we have to be careful, so it doesn’t become formulaic, and then clients get annoyed because they’re getting the same old, same old rolled out to them.
“You know, often need a human filter over the top of it to ensure it’s what the client is expecting.”
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