The real challenge for CMOs isn't finding better agency partners. It's orchestrating the system they sit inside.
The agency model is collapsing. The good news for CMOs is that it isn't their problem.
The bad news is that they have something much bigger to worry about: the system those agencies sit inside.
A recent industry report laid bare what many marketing leaders have been feeling for some time. AI is compressing the cost of production work, 82% of brands now run in-house teams, and procurement is shifting from buying hours to buying outcomes. Agencies are caught in a difficult middle ground - unable to charge what they once did, unable to adapt fast enough.
Piscari's Agency Reset 2026 report is worth reading even if you're not an agency leader, because it describes one half of a much bigger shift.
The real change isn't happening inside agencies. It's happening inside marketing operations.
Most CMOs now manage a patchwork of in-house teams, agencies, freelancers, platforms and AI tools. Each part of the marketing machine is optimising for its own specific role and objective.
But nobody is orchestrating the whole thing.
And that's where work gets stuck. Handoffs break. Cycle times bloat. Smart people spend half their energy navigating workarounds instead of doing the work that matters. And every time a partner changes shape - or disappears entirely - the cracks widen.
This isn't fixed by switching agencies, bringing more work in-house, or buying another platform. It's fixed by redesigning how work actually flows across people, process and technology.
If your marketing operation is feeling bogged down, you can't afford to wait for the agencies to sort themselves out. Redesigning the operating model now creates cleaner handoffs, shorter cycles and a system that works regardless of who's plugged into it.
If that sounds sensible but you're unsure where to start, speak to us about the Drag Diagnostic - a free, 60-minute conversation about where friction is costing you the most and what to tackle first.