WPP has launched Agent Hub on its AI marketing platform WPP Open.
Agent Hub is an internal app store where users can select AI agents, powered by WPP's decades of data, capabilities, and best practices, to assist and perform tasks.
WPP employees and customers can now create bespoke AI agents on WPP Open for tasks ranging from simple to complex, with tens of thousands of AI agents created last year. Agent Hub acts as an app store with approximately 150 ready-made agents available to all users. This includes four more advanced “super agents.”
Chief Technology Officer Stefan Pretorius told Campaign that Agent Hub is “the best thing about WPP” that can be accessed at any time.
Pretorius explained that “super agents” are moving “from something that performs tasks to almost an agent-like product.” Initial agents include The Brand Analytics Agent, The Behavioral Science Agent, The Analogy Agent, and Creative Brain.
Behavioral Science Agents was born out of Ogilvy's behavioral practice, run by Ogilvy Vice Chairman Rory Sutherland. “This is effectively Rory's brain in Agents,” Pretorius said.
The Analogy Agent originates from VML's strategy team and is based on analogy thinking, finding parallel situations in different industries and fostering cross-disciplinary thinking to solve client challenges.
Pretorius said the philosophy was to “make agency expertise available to the entire business across WPP for the first time in a democratic way”, rather than forcing agencies into silos.
He further added: “Culturally, this is very much a Cindy Rose place. [chief executive] takes over WPP, a business we have been trying to take over for a long time…seeing the diversity and uniqueness of our different brands as a strength, not a weakness. ”
Some agents are given a “verified” status. This means that the agent does what it is supposed to do. The problem with agents is that they use deterministic technology. The validation process is performed through WPP's Satalia.
“This is about human brilliance amplified by AI,” Pretorius said. “Every agent in our hub is human-driven and encodes the insight, judgment and expertise our employees have accumulated over decades of solving real client problems. We're powering the best of WPP to ensure every strategy is built on a foundation of our collective knowledge.”
All employees and clients with access to WPP Open can use the agent.
WPP Chief Innovation Officer Elaf Horwitz added, “Our approach to AI is an open canvas, not a black box. WPP Open's Agent Hub is a way to harness the creative energy of our employees, curate the best ideas, and make them available to everyone. It's democratized innovation.”
Last October, WPP launched Open Pro, led by Matt McNeaney, to help marketers create campaigns without an agency.
This article first appeared on Campaign UK.
