In January Publicis unveiled plans to spend 300 million euros over the next three years in a bid to transform from a platform company to what it calls an “intelligent system company” with a proprietary “CoreAI” backbone integrated throughout all operations at the company.    

That said, agencies within the Groupe are developing complementary generative artificial intelligence tools and services focusing on specific functions.  

Digitas for example recently unveiled its own Gen AI operating system and tool suite that the agency says is activation focused, helping clients deliver marketing outcomes and assist in AI-powered brand experiences directed at consumers. 

The effort was led by Adam Buhler, Digitas’ head of technology and Chief Operating Officer Adam Birkenhead. 

According to Birkenhead, the agency’s system is not integrated into Publicis Groupe’s CoreAI, noting that the two systems are designed to solve different sets of challenges. “Digitas AI is leveraged by internal Digitas staff,” he said. “It is specifically designed to focus on the client activation side of solutions.” 

A core part of the offering is what the agency calls an “agent management system” that enables users to manage AI agents that are empowered to create custom experiences. One such “conversational” agent has been dubbed “It Girl,” which can aggregate insights on the latest social platform trends and share updated strategies for optimizing marketing approaches on various platforms.  

The parent company’s CoreAI, adds Birkenhead, “is leveraged by all internal Publicis Groupe employees and is an investment to make Publicis Groupe people better, faster and work more effectively.” 

Digitas AI is fully operational, and the agency is now in the process of demonstrating it to dozens of current and prospective clients. “We have over 15 agents live that our teams use daily,” says Birkenhead.  

The agents are built with identity data and are used to represent key demographics to pressure test ideas and messaging. “You can create an agent, give it a specific tone, voice and topics, and control aspects like temperature settings, and embed additional content, like product information,” says Birkenhead.  

While Digitas AI is activation focused, he adds, like the CoreAI system being developed at Publicis Groupe, it will usher in an era of “smarter, faster and more creative solutions for our clients.”