Will AI Replace Production Companies? What Creative Agencies Need to Know

By Driss Sekkat, CEO of All Access Media

Earlier this week, I was talking with a friend who also runs a production company. During our conversation, he asked me a question I suspect many people in our industry are thinking about:

Should we be worried about AI eventually taking over the work we do?

My answer was yes and no.

There is a part of the production business that AI is going to absorb, and probably faster than most people expect. But there is another part of the business that is becoming more valuable because of it.

The real question for anyone running a content or creative agency is simple: Which side of that line is your business on?

The Production Work AI Is About to Replace

Meta is already showing us where this is headed.

Its image-generation technology is being integrated into Advantage+, and the company says more than 8 million advertisers are already using its creative tools.

Think about the work that traditionally fills production calendars: 15-second cuts, short-form reels, multiple versions of the same advertisement with different messaging, or explainers assembled from stock footage.

Much of that work is becoming automated.

If a brand currently pays a production company to produce 50 variations of the same advertisement, it is worth asking how much longer that service will justify its current price.

Soon, creating those variations could be as simple as clicking a button inside an advertising platform.

That doesn’t mean creative production disappears. It means the economics of certain production services are fundamentally changing.

And agencies that rely on delivering a high volume of relatively interchangeable assets need to recognize that shift now.

What AI Can’t Replicate

At All Access Media, we’ve launched and developed OTT networks, digital channels, and original programming. Through that experience, one thing has become clear: The success of a media property has never been determined by how much content it produces.

It’s determined by whether people have a reason to come back.

Sometimes that means a live program delivering information audiences trust at a specific hour. Sometimes it’s a personality viewers have built a relationship with. Other times, it’s exclusive access to a story, an event, or a conversation that nobody else can offer.

Those are the things that create lasting value.

AI can generate another video. It cannot manufacture the trust an audience has built with a host over years of watching them. It cannot replicate a genuine relationship or create exclusive access to something happening in the real world.

That distinction matters more than ever.

As content becomes easier and cheaper to produce, having something people actually want to watch becomes the competitive advantage.

The Value Is Moving From Production to Judgment

For years, brands hired production companies to make things.

The deliverable was the product: a commercial, a social video, a campaign, or a package of digital assets.

But when producing content becomes faster, cheaper, and more accessible, the value proposition has to evolve.

The most important question is no longer how efficiently an agency can produce 30 videos.

It’s whether those 30 videos should exist in the first place.

Which ideas are worth investing in? Which stories deserve an audience’s attention? What talent should a brand build around? What type of programming can create a relationship that extends beyond a single campaign?

And perhaps most importantly, which ideas should never make it into production?

That level of editorial and strategic judgment is where I believe creative agencies have an opportunity to become more valuable.

The deliverable changes, but the work becomes more interesting.

Three Things Creative Agencies Should Be Doing Now

At All Access Media, we’re approaching this shift with three priorities.

1. Create something people genuinely care about.

Volume alone is no longer a strategy. Agencies and brands need to develop programming, personalities, and experiences that give audiences a compelling reason to return. The goal should be to build something meaningful, not simply add more content to an already crowded feed.

2. Separate high-volume creative from the programming you own.

These are becoming two very different businesses. High-volume creative production is increasingly being automated, putting pressure on margins. Original programming, audience relationships, and owned intellectual property offer a different kind of long-term value.

Agencies need to understand where they are investing their resources and what those investments are actually building.

3. Get comfortable deciding what not to produce.

Too many creative briefs begin with a list of deliverables. Ten videos. Twenty social cuts. Fifty variations.

I believe the better conversation starts with identifying the three ideas that have the greatest potential to move the business forward.

Produce those exceptionally well. Use technology where it makes sense. And be willing to walk away from the rest.

The Next Chapter of Creative Production

I don’t see AI as the end of the production business.

I see it as the beginning of a different one.

The agencies that succeed won’t necessarily be the ones producing the most content or adopting every new AI tool the fastest. They’ll be the ones that understand what makes their work valuable when content itself is no longer scarce.

For us at All Access Media, that means continuing to invest in original programming, meaningful audience relationships, strong talent, and the kind of access that makes people pay attention.

We’re embracing the technology while staying focused on what technology alone cannot deliver.

Because for all the disruption ahead, I believe this is one of the most interesting moments our industry has experienced in years.

The future isn’t about who can make the most content. It’s about who can make something worth watching.

Driss Sekkat is the CEO of All Access Media, a media and production company focused on original programming, content strategy, and building audience-driven media brands.

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