IPG Mediabrands CEO Shelley Smit loves how no day is quite the same in the media industry.

“The challenges we’re solving for today are considerably different than those three to five years ago,” she says, with privacy laws, Bill C-18 and other regulatory concerns coming into play. So how does the agency keep up?

Data and technology are a big part of UM’s USP. “We have a huge data stack, but it’s not just about the size, it’s about knowing how to harness its power, and use it in different ways to solve business challenges.”

Just like data, AI, according to Smit, will be game- changing, but it won’t be a full solve. “If you don’t have the understanding of the marketplace, the ability to break down a client’s challenges, the insights and the ability to bring all that together,” then it won’t be of value to anyone.

As an agency under the IPG Mediabrands umbrella, UM is privy to many tools and technologies, but so too are many other agency players out there. The difference, Smit says, is in how UM harnesses it all.

“We look at it two ways,” says Erica Kokiw, EVP of digital at UM. “Internally, it’s about how we are going to leverage AI to accelerate our already-strong foundational