An article from

Dive Brief:

• Ad-holding group WPP unveiled a new studio, Hex, that is designed to help the ad network address the growing skills gap in artificial intelligence, according to news shared with Marketing Dive. 
• Hex operates within WPP’s revamped production arm and has about 50 creative technologists sourced from WPP’s Creative Tech Apprenticeship program who fall into the Gen Z age range. The shop offers creative production, research and development and consultative services, with specializations in AI, gaming and robotics.    
• WPP partners Adobe, Google and Nvidia will support Hex’s work in exploring new technology applications. WPP wants to position itself on the leading edge of AI as it tries to keep pace with competitors and reignite growth.   

Dive Insight:

Hex builds on WPP’s Creative Tech Apprenticeship, a nine-month paid program introduced in 2022 as a way for the ad-holding group to rethink its talent pipeline. The program recruits from outside of traditional advertising and engineering schools, with a curriculum focused on creative approaches to problem-solving and fast technology adoption — two skill sets that have become more valuable to advertisers in the AI era. 

Hex’s services include more conventional functions, such as using generative AI to make assets for TV advertising, as well as building interactive games, designing sensory physical experiences and running AI workshops for executives. Hex’s roster will embed within clients for monthslong periods to assess problems, design custom solutions and train internal teams on using AI workflows. Along with leveraging its creative technologists, the studio will collaborate with WPP partners that can provide additional technology horsepower, such as Google, Nvidia and Adobe. 

“We understand Gen Z because we are Gen Z,” reads an about page on Hex’s website. “This enables us to authentically connect our clients to this demographic through digitally native storytelling using platforms integral to our lives.”

WPP underscored the dissonance between how enterprises talk about AI versus the amount they are willing to invest in leveling up their workforces. Eighty-eight percent of company leaders believe AI and data literacy is a fundamental skill on par with writing, but less than half of those surveyed offer basic training on these fronts, according to a recent DataCamp report conducted in partnership with YouGov. Other agency leaders have pointed to the gap between stratospheric AI hype and tangible returns on investment.

WPP at the start of the year consolidated its production capabilities under one umbrella, part of a larger strategy that has seen the group anchor its business around four core service areas. The Elevate28 turnaround plan also prioritizes the WPP Open operating system and AI know-how, including through the hire of WPP’s first chief technology officer.

The effort has shown some promising early results, but the road back to growth will be difficult for the Ogilvy owner. Like-for-like revenue less pass-through costs declined 6.7% year over year to 2.3 billion pounds in Q1, with losses expected to continue through the year’s first half.