The AI agency: from technical service provider to strategic partner

1. The birth of a new model

In recent years, companies have multiplied experiments with artificial intelligence. However, according to Gartner, more than 80% of AI projects never reach the industrialization stage. The reason? An absence of coordination between technology, strategy and business adoption.

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It is in this context that a new player is emerging: The IA agency. Unlike an IT services company that charges for real estate or a consulting firm that stays at the level of strategy, an AI agency combines technical expertise, business understanding and applied creativity. It is positioned as a hybrid between consulting firm, digital agency and R&D laboratory, with a mission: transform AI into an operational lever, and not only into a technological demonstration.

2. The illusion of technology alone

Many organizations fall into the trap of believing that the success of an AI project depends solely on the model or platform used. In reality, performance is based on three pillars:

• The data : quality, reliability, harmonization.
• Business alignment : solve a real operational problem, not create a “showcase POC”.
• Organizational integration : adoption by teams, change management, ROI measurement.

Example: a retail company has invested several hundred thousand euros in a recommendation engine. Technically efficient, the project failed because product data was poorly categorized and marketing teams never adopted the tool. Conversely, an industrial SME started with patient work to make its logistics data reliable before integrating a module for predicting disruptions: immediate adoption and measurable ROI in six months.

A successful AI agency therefore does not only sell algorithms, but a transformation framework, integrating strategy, execution and adoption.

3. AI as an “invisible service”

The value of an AI agency is not in creating flashy tools, but in Making AI invisible and useful. AI must blend into existing processes to increase decision-making without burdening daily life.

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A good AI project is not measured by the number of lines of code, but by the ease of use: The best AIs are the ones that the user forgets to use because they are integrated seamlessly (automated reports, anomalies detected beforehand, predictive scenarios integrated into dashboards).

4. Towards the role of “Chief AI Partner”

In the long term, the AI agency can become for its customers a Chief AI Partner :

• She guides the AI maturity of the organization (moving from POC to industrialization).
• She is building a data heritage usable and enriched over time.
• She brings a long term vision, avoiding excessive dependence on a single technology supplier.
• She becomes a strategic sparring partner for management, in the same way as an external CFO or CMO.

5. The future: AI agencies vs. consulting firms?

The battle that lies ahead is that of strategic credibility.

• Les large cabinets have legitimacy with COMEXs, but struggle to execute quickly.
• Les AI agencies are agile and operational, but must prove their ability to support global transformations.

Three possible scenarios by 2030:

1. Hybridization : agencies are becoming mixed structures, offering strategic advice, a data factory and proprietary AI products at the same time.
2. Consolidation : firms are buying up AI agencies to make up for their technological gap.
3. Internalization : companies are creating their own “AI factories”, forcing agencies and firms to reposition themselves in niches of added value.

6. A framework for managers

Before choosing an AI agency, a manager should ask himself 4 key questions:

1. What is our data maturity level? (do we have a reliable base?)
2. What business processes really need to be augmented by AI?
3. What is our horizon? (quick wins vs. 5-year strategy)
4. Are we looking for a technical performer or a strategic partner?

This simple framework avoids giving in to the sirens of innovation “for innovation” and refocuses the decision on business value.

Conclusion: a new strategic link

The AI agency is not a passing fad. It represents a new link in the value chain of organizations, just like the advertising agencies that shaped communication in the television age.

In a world where Businesses will not lack AI models, but partners able to orchestrate their use, the AI agency is establishing itself as a strategic player in AI governance.

So the real question is not “Do we need an AI agency?”, but “which AI agency will become our trusted partner for the next 10 years?”