Believe It or Not Ep. 2: Will humans still touch media plans within five years?
About this episode
Omar Oakes and Hamish Nicklin debate the future of media planning and the role of AI in the industry.
In a new mini-series, former Media Leader editor-in-chief Omar Oakes is joined by former Dentsu International CEO, now AI strategist Hamish Nicklin to argue over the nuances of AI development and its use in the creative industries. In episode two, the duo debate for and against the prompt: “No human will touch a media plan within five years.” Taking the “for” side of the argument is Nicklin, while Oakes represents the “against” side, posing sceptical questions. The topic is inspired from comments made by Brian Lesser , the CEO of WPP Media, to staff in March 2025, in which he indicated that, within the next four or five years, there will “probably” be plans that “leave the building” that no planner ever saw. Some staff, particularly planners, took that to mean their jobs could be at risk. UK CEO Kate Rowlinson later insisted to The Media Leader that Lesser “certainly didn’t say [media] plans wouldn’t be overseen by humans”. Is it possible for media planning to be fully automated? What would that mean for agencies? Nicklin and Oakes discuss. Highlights: 00:46: Recent developments in AI: Novels written by AI, using ChatGPT to treat a dog's cancer 6:38: Why AI…
More episodes of The Media Leader Podcast
- What next after the social media addiction trial? With ScrollAware's Jess Butcher
- What does it mean to create 'thumb-stopping' content? With LadBible's LA Ronayne
- Believe It or Not Ep. 1: Will AI replace most white collar jobs?
- Introducing Believe It or Not, a mini-series about AI in media hosted by Omar Oakes and Hamish Nicklin
- Why cut-through, not scale, will be the real trick to this year's World Cup - with The Guardian's James Fleetham and Marcus Christenson
- What UM has learned from a year of Full Colour Media — with Susan Kingston-Brown
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Media Leader Podcast podcast page.