Not surprisingly much of the talk at the Cannes Festival of Creativity this week has been about generative AI and automation. 

In recent weeks most of the major holding companies have made announcements about partnerships designed to improve efficiencies in most aspects of what they do via new technology developed by companies like Nvidia, Adobe, Microsoft, Google and Amazon.  

And many believe that AI and related technologies will radically transform the agency business quickly. 

How will all the change effect Adland jobs?  

According to a new report from Forrester AI will displace 7.5% of US agency jobs (33,000 positions) by 2030, although the effects will vary by job function. “Creative problem-solving skillsets grow as process-driven tasks shrink.” By the same year, the report predicts, nearly one- third of ad agency jobs will be “at risk” from automation. 

The combination of automation with AI increases the velocity and speed of production, the report notes, quoting Media.Monks’ Michael Balarezo as saying, “We see these tools as a superpower.”  

The agency, part of S4 Capital has run tests that show AI accelerates coding, copywriting, photography, and design.  

Per the report, Forrester believes job losses from generative AI over the next two years will be modest “until intellectual property rights, copyright, plagiarism, model refresh rates, bias, ethics, and accuracy questions are resolved.”  

By 2030, agency jobs most at risk from generative AI include clerical, secretarial and administrative roles (28% of job losses), sales and connected roles (22% of job losses), and market research and connected roles (18% of job losses).  

The share of agency jobs in management, public relations, creative roles, market research, software (including web and digital interface designers) and data science are expected to grow.  

Globally, digital marketing and strategy specialists will see more than 20% headcount growth in the next five years.  

Forrester also shared some U.S. Bureau of Labor stats that predict that manager jobs in marketing, fundraising, and public relations will grow faster than the US job market and predicts double digit growth to 2030 for market research and marketing specialists, computer and information system managers, editors, and art directors.