I personally believe there's never been a better time to be in marketing. You could even say that AI will usher in the golden age of modern marketing.
So says Cindy Rose, former Microsoft Chief Operating Officer, as she settles into her new role as CEO at media giant WPP at a time when she declares her new industry to be at a point of “critical inflection” - and yes, it’s AI she’s talking about, of course:
The era of AI is here, and it's moving faster than any technology we've ever seen before. AI is fundamentally reshaping the industry and transforming how we work, how we serve our clients and how we innovate. AI is re-inventing every aspect of the marketing workflow from market research to brief writing to creative ideation, synthetic testing, content production, audience insights, media planning, campaign activation, measurement and real-time optimization, all fueled by advanced AI-powered data models.
Rose brings a long career in the tech sector to bear in this new position:
I've spent more than three decades leading through technology disruption and finding the path to growth, and I've seen firsthand how quickly AI can re-shape entire industries and the rewards for those who seize first-mover advantage. WPP has built differentiated data and AI capabilities that we've been investing in for the past several years. We're in a strong position to lead the market and support our clients as they transform their marketing functions for the era of AI.
That’s not an easy ask, she notes:
The feedback I get from clients, most of my large clients, is that they are navigating through a rapidly evolving technology landscape and a lot of complexity. The reality is you can't just drop AI into your environment to modernize your marketing function and just expect magic to happen, right? And you can't just apply AI to old processes either. You have to re-imagine them. You have to train your people. You have to embed new behaviors in your organization in order to realize the benefits of AI. Large multi-nationals are going to need the help and support of trusted partners to navigate this environment and learn how to innovate with AI. It's not always obvious.
WPP because...
So what are WPP’s AI credentials here? It has WPP Open, its agentic marketing platform that it pitches as delivering next-generation modern marketing services clients. At the core of the platform is Open Intelligence, WPP’s large marketing model, which connects client brand data to data from across the group network and from over 350 partners, through what Rose characterizes as “a privacy-first approach enabled by AI”. She says:
This approach delivers better business outcomes for our clients with more precision and impact than ever before and frees up humans to spend more time doing what humans do best, building culturally-relevant brands that consumers love.
She expands:
It is not a point solution. WPP Open is a single end-to-end AI-powered platform that transforms the entire marketing process for our clients...Because it's a single platform powered by a common data model, we can offer clients an opportunity to really optimize their entire marketing investment across creative production and media.
Into the mix comes Infosum, acquired by WPP earlier this year as a next-generation data collaboration platform to enable clients to generate deep insights to smoother marketing and communications without sharing first-party customer data. This, says Rose, gives them the opportunity to protect the privacy of their customers. And there’s more:
Just [last month], we launched WPP Open Pro, a new addition of our WPP Open AI platform that empowers brands to plan, create and publish their marketing campaigns with more control than ever before. This is a strategic move to expand our addressable market and serve the long tail of smaller companies and emerging brands who may not be in the market for the sort of full service offer that we typically provide to large multinational clients. With WPP Open Pro, clients can choose to self-serve for some aspects of the marketing workflow and then complement this with a range of managed services from WPP. We can tailor a customized approach for these brands and grow as they grow.
Apart from strategic acquisitions to flesh out AI capabilities, expect to see more tech partnerships coming up, she advises:
Technology partnerships are critical to our future success and a clear source of competitive advantage. I will personally be leaning into these relationships to ensure we're maximizing our opportunity. For example, earlier this month, we announced a new expanded agreement with Google, an incredibly strategic and groundbreaking partnership that provides us with preferred access to Google's advanced AI models and tools, resources to co-innovate customized AI solutions for our clients and enhanced AI skilling for our people. These new solutions are used and validated first within Google's own marketing operations.
Google will not be the last such partnership, she adds:
Google is clearly a key strategic partner, not the only strategic partner. We integrate multiple large language models and tool sets into our platform, Google being one of them. We also have relationships with Anthropic, with OpenAI and with others, and that will continue to be the case. So we will continue to invest in our own platform in addition to partnering closely and constructively with key partners like Google and with others.
Room to improve
But while she declares that “I wouldn't be here right now if I didn't believe that we have what it takes to win”, she admits that there is work to be done:
Fundamentally, I believe WPP has been moving in the right direction, but we just haven't gone far enough or fast enough in adapting to the evolving needs of our clients. I've now met with most of our largest clients, and they were generous with their feedback, most of it incredibly positive. But some of our clients indicated that there was more we could do to generate value and to be a better partner to them. Clients are telling us that they want our offer to be simpler, more integrated, powered by media, data and AI, efficiently priced and designed to deliver growth and business outcomes.
She adds:
We’ve made over the years, great investments in AI and technology. We've simplified our structure. We've nurtured fantastic talent. We just haven't gone, or we’ve missed the opportunity to go, as far and as fast as we could have and should have, and that's what we're going to do immediately to improve our execution.
My take
A major player in media; now a would-be major player in AI. It’s clearly all to play for. How Rose proceeds in this new challenge will be interesting to track over the coming months and years.
November 4, 2025
