The holding company launches a Gen Z-led studio to fill advertising's AI skills gap with people who didn't come up through traditional agency ranks.
WPP, one of the world's largest advertising holding companies, is testing a new operating model: staffing an entire creative studio with Gen Z employees whose backgrounds lie outside traditional advertising.
The studio, called Hex, exists primarily to solve what the industry has been calling the AI skills gap. According to Marketing Dive, Hex is made up mostly of Gen Zers with non-advertising backgrounds, a deliberate bet that fresh talent from outside the industry brings AI capabilities that traditional agency pipelines haven't produced.
This move is a public signal from a
If your agency or internal team can't answer these clearly, they're likely in the same position WPP identified: smart at advertising, but not native to AI.
WPP's bet on Gen Z outsiders also suggests you should stop waiting for the 'perfect marketing hire' with 15 years of agency experience. If you're building marketing operations, consider recruiting data engineers, ML practitioners, or software developers who understand AI infrastructure and can learn marketing, rather than marketing leaders trying to retrofit AI skills.
For now, the takeaway is simple: if your agency or team is still structured around traditional advertising talent, you're one generation behind where the industry is moving.
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Sources
The Lab is original analysis by WebKing. We summarize and interpret developments from the sources above for industrial, commercial, and small business owners. Figures are reported as published by their sources.
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