DOWNLOAD YOUR COPY

The Future of Skills and Hiring
in the Age of AI

149 UK agency leaders reveal how AI is reshaping talent, skills, and leadership in creative agencies.

A black and white image of a motorcycle with a rider wearing a helmet and riding gear.
A logo with a large pink asterisk followed by the word 'SPOOK' in dark teal letters.
A group of diverse women engaging in a discussion at a professional event or conference, with some women holding tablets, in a bright, modern conference room.

In this report you'll discover:

  • The 4 stages of AI maturity - and where UK agencies actually sit

  • The paradox of the most AI confident leaders citing least AI capability in their organisations

  • The different hiring and AI skills strategies of independent, network and in-house agencies

  • Hiring vs upskilling: what's actually working

  • The commercial gap: why only 17% can sell AI services confidently

  • Why operations is the next AI frontier

  • How the 7% who are innovating differ from everyone else

Download your copy:

A large black and white asterisk symbol with thick arms on a black background.

By providing your email address you are happy to receive our helpful news from us and our research partner The Industry Club.

A black and white photo of a woman with blonde hair holding a laptop and smiling at a young girl with long dark hair, sitting in a classroom or conference room with other people in the background.
Table of contents page from a document, listing sections and page numbers, including Forward, Executive summary, AI confidence, Skill gaps, Unrealistic expectations, Training, Building AI capability, AI expertise, AI's impact, Key takeaways, Appendix
An infographic page with purple background discussing AI confidence, skills, and adoption stages; includes percentages and a quote about AI capabilities.
Page from a report titled 'Skill Gaps in Applying and Selling AI', featuring a list of AI skills with percentage bars, and a quote discussing concerns about AI skills in the industry.
AI Skills & Hiring in Agencies - sample what's inside
Page of a report or article discussing AI skills, hiring, and agency performance, titled 'Insight' and featuring key takeaways about AI capability, talent, and leadership.

We surveyed 149 UK agency leaders with The Industry Club to understand the real challenges of AI adoption.

The findings reveal a confidence-capability gap. As one CEO told us:

"Currently AI is used to differing degrees and capabilities on an individual basis, but we need to move to an agency-wide model with clear training, guardrails and consistent usage."

In this report you'll discover:

  • The 4 stages of AI maturity - and where UK agencies actually sit

  • Why confident leaders often have the least structured AI option

  • Hiring vs upskilling: what's actually working

  • The commercial gap: why only 17% can sell AI services confidently

  • Why operations is the next AI frontier

  • How the 7% who are innovating differ from everyone else

When you download, we will also send you Chapter One of Shift - AI for Agencies (#1 bestseller) - introducing the Spark AI Maturity Model in more detail.

We found that:

  • 63% feel confident about AI adoption, but only 37% still use AI sporadically

  • 65% of agency leaders are hiring for aptitude over technical expertise

  • 53% of agency leaders are building capability through upskilling

  • Only 17% are confident in selling AI services

Diagram explaining the process of photosynthesis, showing sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide molecules, with arrows pointing to oxygen and glucose production.

A clear path from AI experimentation to strategic advantage

We take agencies through every stage of AI maturity, one step at a time. Take the free Spark AI Maturity Score™ to see where you start.

Stage 1

Experimentation

AI Foundations

Hands-on training that gets your whole team to a shared baseline.

Half day from
£5,000+VAT

Stage 2

Adoption

AI Accelerator

Ten weeks of role-specific learning on real client work.

10 weeks from
£5,000+VAT per stream of 10
£25,000+VAT across your business

Stage 3

Optimisation

Agent Build Sprint

Two days to redesign one workflow and build the agents that run it.

AI Tool Building

Agents, knowledge systems and tools built around how your agency works.

Commercial Model Sprint

Four weeks to move your pricing towards the value of the work.

Pricing from
£10,000+VAT

Stage 4

Transformation

Spark Frontier

Ongoing support that keeps your AI programme moving.

Long-term partnership
From £2,000+VAT per month

One partner from Stage 1 to Stage 4