For the past year, digital and creative agencies have braced for a client squeeze. The thinking goes: artificial intelligence cuts production time in half, so clients will demand lower rates. The reality, according to fresh data from a survey of 181 agencies, tells a different story.
Productive, the agency-management platform co-founded by Tomislav Car, surveyed agencies across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific in 2025. The finding that stands out: 73% of agencies have never been asked by clients to cut prices despite adopting AI tools. Among the 27% who did face discount requests, only 13% actually lowered their rates.
The numbers challenge a dominant narrative in professional services. If AI was truly commoditizing the work, the logic suggests, we’d see rapid price compression. Instead, the majority of agencies are holding firm on what they charge.
Efficiency gains without price cuts
The survey found that 65% of responding agencies report revenue growth, with most attributing gains to efficiency. What they’re doing with that efficiency matters. Among agencies that saw AI improve revenue, 27% held prices while improving margins; 31% kept pricing flat with small operational changes; 29% remained undecided on pricing strategy. None of this points to a race to the bottom.
Agencies that managed to turn AI efficiency into revenue are more likely to hold or raise prices. Those still figuring out how to monetize AI gains are more likely to be discounting or uncertain. The pattern suggests that agencies with clear value positioning, ones that frame AI as enabling better work rather than faster delivery, are insulated from price pressure.
The European dominance in the survey, 58.7% of respondents, means the findings skew toward mature markets where agencies tend to have more pricing power. North American agencies made up 14.7% of respondents, and Asia-Pacific 19.6%. The sample weighted heavily toward executives, which could mean smaller agencies and mid-market shops are underrepresented.
Why clients aren’t pushing back (yet)
The gap between expected and actual discount requests is telling. Only 27% of agencies got price-cut demands, but 47% said they’d anticipated such requests. That mismatch hints at a slower adoption curve on the client side. Clients may not yet fully grasp how much AI accelerates agency workflows, or they may value the quality gains enough to accept stable pricing.
Of the 73% who haven’t faced discount pressure, 47% still expect it down the road. That uncertainty hangs over the industry, a sense that the repricing moment is delayed, not prevented.
Value-based positioning as defense
The agencies best positioned financially are the ones treating AI as a quality multiplier, not a cost-reducer. By repositioning their pitch around capability, speed without compromise, and access to premium talent, agencies maintain their strategic position. It’s a shift from selling hours to selling outcomes, a thesis that AI actually enables, since the technology removes routine work and lets humans focus on strategy and craft.
Productive’s survey suggests this repositioning is already working in practice. The data points to an industry in early transition, where the initial AI moment hasn’t destroyed the pricing power of well-positioned firms. Whether that equilibrium holds as client sophistication around AI grows remains an open question.
