Leaving the Mad Men behind - how WPP's agentic platform play is shaping a new market pitch for an AI-enabled ad age

Here’s an interesting - and for some, no doubt, alarming - stat: in 2025, YouTube pulled in $40.4 billion in advertising revenue in 2025, according to estimates from media research firm MoffettNathanson. That’s more than Disney, NBCUniversal, Paramount, and Warner Bros Discovery combined - total, $37.8 billion.

YouTube also took 12.5% of total US television viewing in January, outperforming the combined streaming viewership of the other four legacy media companies. AI is playing a significant role here as creators of YouTube content tap into new tools that slash financial and production hurdles.

It’s this sort of sectoral behavior shift that has prompted a radical shake-up in how UK advertising powerhouse WPP operates in order to maintain its position in the market, as incoming CEO Cindy Rose Quackenbush alluded to back in November last year. Coming in from the tech sector - she was most recently COO for Global ...