Spark AI report: agency leaders are failing on AI governance – while their teams forge ahead without them
Whilst 84% are using AI in agencies, 52% of that activity remains completely ungoverned.
LONDON, 14 April 2026: Agency teams are adopting AI confidently and independently – but leadership isn’t keeping pace. That’s the central finding of AI in Agencies: From Activity to Advantage, published today by Spark AI, the UK-based AI transformation consultancy.
Now in its fourth edition, the six-monthly benchmarking report found that over half of AI activity in agencies remains completely ungoverned – and that the creative and competitive gains AI offers are not being captured at an organisational level.
The report draws on data from over 70 agencies, measured against Spark AI’s Maturity Model™ – which tracks AI capability across people, process, data, tools, and strategy. It reveals a consistent pattern: individually, agency staff have moved beyond experimentation to actively embedding AI in their workflows. But organisationally, most agencies haven’t kept up.
Strategy, governance, commercial positioning, and training remain stuck at the earliest stage of maturity – creating a widening gap between what teams are doing with AI and what their organisations are set up to support. The consequences run in both directions: without governance, agencies are exposed to risk around IP, data, and client confidentiality. Without strategy, they’re leaving measurable gains in efficiency, creative capacity, and competitive positioning on the table.
Key findings from the fourth edition of this bi-annual report include:
52% of AI activity in agencies is entirely ungoverned. As individual capability grows, so does awareness of what’s at stake – interest in IP and data risk management has surged 50% in six months. The workforce already knows it needs guardrails. Leadership hasn’t provided them.
Confidence gap: 83% of staff report themselves as being capable AI users, but only 15% are doing the things expected of AI fluency required today. The business value of AI sits beyond that plateau, and most agencies have no structure in place to help their people reach it.
Productivity paradox: 89% of staff are recovering time with AI, some up to 10 hours a week. That time is being reabsorbed into greater volume rather than reinvested into deeper capability or strategic thinking. Agencies are subsidising busyness instead of building capacity, and recovered AI hours remain the biggest untapped asset in the business.
The Commercial Model Shift: AI use in content generation jumped from 20% to 47% in six months. Agencies that haven’t rethought their commercial models are already being undercut by those that have.
“AI is already changing the way creative work gets done. But without a clear strategy, tools multiply, quality varies, risk builds, and effort doesn’t lead to impact. Agency leaders have a real opportunity to define and strengthen their organisation’s AI strategy right now”, said Emma Wharton Love, Co-Founder and CEO of Spark AI.
“I work with several agency boards, and the ambition around AI is genuinely there. What this report highlights is that ambition alone isn’t enough – agencies need the frameworks and governance to match the pace their teams are already setting. Crucially, this report doesn’t stop at diagnosis. The 90-day plan and use cases give boards a clear structure for where to focus and what to do next.” said Brian Mansfield, Non-Exec Director & board advisor to UK-based creative agencies.
The Spark Report – AI in Agencies: From Activity to Advantage is available to download here (link will be live from 14th April)
To contact Spark AI email: asta@wearespark.ai
About Spark AI
Spark AI is a UK-based consultancy helping agencies and creative teams build organisation-wide AI capability. Founded by two of BIMA’s 100 most influential people in digital and tech, Spark works across people, process, and systems to ensure training and operational transformation stick long after the honeymoon period is over. Trusted by 70+ agencies and in-house brand teams from global networks to independents, we build the engine that changes what your organisation is capable of. Spark co-founder Jules Love is the author of the #1 Amazon bestseller Shift – AI in Agencies and teaches how to build an AI strategy at Oxford University’s AI for Business executive diploma.
For further information or to download the report, visit https://www.wearespark.ai
