Brands Are Hiring Influencer Agencies for AI Strategy — Not for Campaigns

I came across a data point recently that stopped me in my tracks.

CreatorIQ and Sapio Research ran a large-scale study in 2025 — 1,723 people across 9 countries, including 747 brands, 676 agencies, and 300 creators.

One survey question asked: What's the biggest change you've seen in your clients this past year?

Guess what the number-one answer was.

Cranking out content faster? Nope.

Higher ROI? Not that either.

Brands asking their agencies: Can you teach me how to use AI?

48% of influencer marketing agencies said their clients now most want strategic guidance on AI, automation, and new platforms. That topped "cranking out content faster" (40%) and edged out "tracking ROI" (40%).

You read that right.

Brands aren't walking into influencer agencies just to say "help me run a campaign" anymore. They want to know: How do I actually use AI in a way that moves the needle?

Why Does This Matter?

Because brands went around in a giant circle and realized what they lack most isn't tools.

Tools are everywhere. ChatGPT, Midjourney, every flavor of automation platform — you can pick up the basics over a weekend. But where brands get stuck is knowing where to apply these tools, how far to push them, and how to weave them into existing creator collaborations.

Put simply: everyone's got a hammer. What's missing is knowing where to swing it.

And influencer agencies? They live and breathe content, traffic, and creative production every single day. They sit closest to AI-powered content creation by default. So brands come knocking.

The "strategy consulting" business is shifting to agencies.

But Watch What Consumers Are Doing

Here's the twist: brands are scrambling to master AI while consumers are pulling back.

Billion Dollar Boy and Censuswide released a report in November 2025. Among U.S. and U.K. consumers, those who see AI as a "negative disruptor" of the creator economy jumped from 18% in November 2023 to 32%.

It hasn't quite doubled, but that's a steep climb.

Think about it — one in three people now feels AI is making content worse.

And here's a number that hits even harder. Sprout Social reported in September 2025 that 52% of consumers worry brands publish AI-generated content without disclosing it.

Over half.

So What Should Brands Do?

The contradiction is staring us in the face.

On one side: brands are itching to deploy AI, the sooner the better.

On the other: consumers are growing warier by the day. No transparency, no trust.

Agencies are caught dead in the middle.

They have to know how to use AI — and how to use it without alienating the audience. They even need to help brands decide: When do you slap an "AI-generated" label on something? When do you keep AI behind the curtain as a pure efficiency tool?

This isn't about shipping one piece of content. It's a full-blown strategy problem.

Will the Trend Hold?

My read: absolutely.

The reason is straightforward. Brand anxiety around AI won't fade — it'll deepen. Consumer skepticism is climbing in lockstep.

And that middle layer of demand — helping brands use AI correctly, use it well, and use it in a way people actually trust — will only get more substantial.

Whoever cracks that middle layer goes from "order-taking execution shop" to "the advisor brands can't operate without."

And it's not just agencies. In-house marketing teams, creators themselves — everyone needs to sort out where they stand.

Plenty of people can do AI. Someone who can use AI and still earn people's trust? That's rare.