What's New in Creative AI May 2026: Why your team is faster but your agency isn't

What's New in Creative AI May 2026: Why your team is faster but your agency isn't

Spark AI is a consultancy helping agencies and creative teams build organisation-wide AI capability. Together, we'll build the engine that changes not just how your team works – but what your organisation is capable of.Jules and Emma dig into three findings from the Spring 2026 Spark Report: why agencies are saving time with AI but not seeing the benefit, the governance gap that's leaving teams exposed, and the growing distance between how confident people feel about AI and how capable they actually are. Plus a Spark team update and what Jules and Emma have been building. Resources mentioned: The Spring 2026 Spark Report – AI in Agencies: From Activity to Advantage: https://www.wearespark.ai/the-spark-report-ai-in-agencies-benchmark [https://www.wearespark.ai/the-spark-report-ai-in-agencies-benchmark] Matthew's article in The Independent: https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/generative-ai-creativity-governance-economy-content-renaissance-b2957183.html [https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/generative-ai-creativity-governance-economy-content-renaissance-b2957183.html] Spark Sessions – Chris Murphy, Tuncarp: https://www.wearespark.ai/spark-sessions-creative-ai-operating-system-with-tuncarp [https://www.wearespark.ai/spark-sessions-creative-ai-operating-system-with-tuncarp]  [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n12RJ_AG2FU&pp=0gcJCR0AztywvtLA] Book in to meet us in Cannes – https://www.wearespark.ai/cannes-2026 [https://www.wearespark.ai/cannes-2026] Harness AI across your organisation – and deliver more for your clients, protect your margins and create opportunities that simply didn't exist before.https://www.wearespark.ai/ [https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbkZBMFROeHE4MTNXTTdhbWlHcnVCc2l3dWxpQXxBQ3Jtc0tsM2tKVldteC0taDZGTWlYUWZHSnU1RGFLYlRIZXVfZnBVRnRIUU43Yy01TlM3SXVyR2VEanNIVDdRYnNwNGRnRS11NGdOektBbjZTbUd4dl95Nm9wdWZENnRJanNQRERLd3pXa2RYMVVyT0ZqUzN3bw&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wearespark.ai%2F&v=eZ_O1sBoGjw]

What's New in Creative AI April 2026: Why your agency's AI activity isn't turning into advantage

We've dedicated this entire episode to The Spark Report. Our fourth bi-annual benchmark on AI in agencies is out now. 70+ agencies, combined that with qualitative research and interviews, and this edition – AI in Agencies: From Activity to Advantage – is about the gap between doing AI and building something lasting from it. Jules and Emma go through all six key findings: where recovered time is actually going, why Shadow AI has become a governance issue, what the 83% vs 15% confidence gap really means, and why the biggest divide in AI adoption now sits inside a single agency rather than between them. Practical, research-backed, and direct. 📊 Download The Spark Report [ https://www.wearespark.ai/the-spark-report-ai-in-agencies-benchmark] 📘 Grab our book Shift – AI for Agencies [https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1781339511/⁠] 🧠 Subscribe to Spark Intelligence [https://www.wearespark.ai/spark-intelligence-ai-newsletter-for-creative-industries⁠]

What's New in Creative AI April 2026: Why your agency's AI activity isn't turning into advantage

We've dedicated this entire episode to The Spark Report.Our fourth bi-annual benchmark on AI in agencies is out now. We surveyed 70+ agencies, combined that with qualitative research and interviews, and this edition – AI in Agencies: From Activity to Advantage – is about the gap between doing AI and building something lasting from it.Jules and Emma go through all six key findings: where recovered time is actually going, why Shadow AI has become a governance issue, what the 83% vs 15% confidence gap really means, and why the biggest divide in AI adoption now sits inside a single agency rather than between them.Practical, research-backed, and direct.📊 Download The Spark Report: https://www.wearespark.ai/the-spark-report-ai-in-agencies-benchmark📘 Grab our book Shift – AI for Agencies: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1781339511/🧠 Subscribe to Spark Intelligence: https://www.wearespark.ai/spark-intelligence-ai-newsletter-for-creative-industries

What's New in Creative AI: Are you 'good' at AI, or just busy with it?

In this episode of What's New in Creative AI, Jules and Emma, co founders of Spark AI connect three threads: new research on what AI fluency actually looks like and how to measure it, hard data on where AI creates real commercial value for agencies (and where it doesn't), and a growing burnout problem that nobody's addressing properly. Plus updates on what's happening at Spark AI. What we cover: 1. The 11-Point Fluency Check: How to measure if your team is actually skilled or just frequent users. 2. The Valuation Hit: Why only 1 in 4 agencies have updated their contracts - and how that’s giving acquirers a negotiation lever to lower your multiple. 3. The Exhaustion Paradox: Why AI is saving time but leaving teams more tired than ever (The "workslop" cycle).All the links we refer to in the pod: Spark AI news and servicesAI Accelerator:https://www.wearespark.ai/ai-acceleratorBook: Shift – AI for Agencies:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Shift-Agencies-adoption-operating-transformation/dp/1915483161Subscribe to the Spark Intelligence Newsletter:https://spark-intelligence.beehiiv.com/subscribeFuture of Skills & Hiring Report:https://www.wearespark.ai/future-of-skills-hiring-ai-agenciesJules LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juleslove/Emma LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmawhartonlove/Section 1: AI FluencyAnthropic’s AI Fluency Index Research:https://www.anthropic.com/news/ai-fluency-indexEthan Mollick’s One Useful Thing:https://www.oneusefulthing.org/Section 2: AI & agency commercials and performanceWebinar: AI Strategy, Profit, and M&A with Rory Spence:https://www.wearespark.ai/ai-strategy-agencies-2026-profit-m-aThe Wow Company:https://www.thewowcompany.com/Section 3: AI BurnoutHBR: AI Doesn't Reduce Work – It Intensifies It:https://hbr.org/2026/02/ai-doesnt-reduce-work-it-intensifies-it

What's new in Creative AI—Grow your Creative Business and Career

🚨 We're back! And there's a lot to catch up on. In the latest episode of What’s New in Creative AI, we dig into the biggest shifts shaping the future of marketing, content and creative work - and share some major Spark AI news. 👇 🎙️ In this episode, we cover: * The launch of our book Shift AI for Agencies - now an Amazon #1 bestseller * Why the cost of AI content is collapsing (and what that means for creative value) * The “infinite content” problem - and 4 things that will stay scarce * How brand experiences are evolving * What happens when content, code and labour all become basically free * What WPP Open Pro and Figma’s Weevy deal tell us about the new agency landscape * 3 mega-shifts in media, including agentic buying and AI-powered browsers * Claude Skills, Synthesia video agents, and Copilot’s latest upgrades If you lead a creative team or agency, this is your quick, clear and critical update on what matters now in AI - and what’s coming next. 📕 Grab the book: [https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1781339511/] 🧠 Join our newsletter: [https://www.wearespark.ai/spark-intelligence-ai-newsletter-for-creative-industries]