The president of the holdco’s self-serve AI offering, Open Pro, tells marketers that artificial intelligence should be embraced as a creative ally, not feared as a machine that will replace or overshadow human talent.
The president of WPP Open Pro, Matt McNeany, has told marketers that artificial intelligence should be embraced as a creative ally – not feared as a machine that will replace or drown out human talent.
Speaking on a panel alongside brand and technology leaders, McNeany challenged the idea that AI will flood the internet with “slop,” as some critics claim. “I want to challenge the assumption that AI is just going to produce a load of slop. It misses the fact that humans will be there and we judge it. AI is a catalyst for creativity.”
The session, which featured a mix of optimism and caution, explored how marketers can responsibly integrate AI into creative processes without sacrificing authenticity. While some panelists expressed concern about over-automation and data bias, McNeany argued that AI’s potential lies in partnership – enabling human imagination to scale.
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“You just can’t outsource all of your work to AI,” he said. “It is a partner you should be working with. It’s an incredibly effective tool at overcoming constraints – whether that’s a lack of information, resources or time. But it only works when people guide it.”
McNeany described how WPP Open Pro uses AI to simulate the essence of a brand before any campaign goes live. His teams model tone of voice, imagery and composition so that content “looks and feels like the brand.” But human judgment remains central to the process. “It’s reliant on the person to go, ‘Yes, that is who we are.’ That’s an authentic representation of us.”
He acknowledged that AI is reshaping every part of marketing, from creative ideation and audience analysis to performance optimization. Yet, he cautioned, while automation can speed up workflows, it cannot replace the nuanced understanding that comes from human experience. “The importance of brand goes up in an AI world, not down. Differentiation and original thought will define who wins.”
McNeany also called AI an engine for economic opportunity, not job loss. “As marketers, that’s a load of opportunities for us – to do better work, to build our brands, to get closer to our customers, to tell better stories. It doesn’t take away. It brings more.”
He acknowledged that the industry’s next challenge is to use AI responsibly and transparently, particularly as generative content saturates feeds and brand safety concerns mount. But he remained bullish on the creative upside. “Now there is no reason why we can’t make stuff. There’s a whole other dimension of creativity we can bring out.”
As the debate around automation continues, McNeany’s message was clear: technology can only take marketing so far. The creative frontier, he argued, will still belong to the people bold enough to lead it.
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WPP plc is a British multinational communications, advertising, public relations, technology, and commerce holding company headquartered in London, England. It was...