Borders on the intelligence layer: the sovereign stack (Four Futures Series)

More from Media Intelligence All episodes →

1. 

   21 Aug 2026 · 33 min

   The Long Middle: AI’s age of perpetual competition (Four Futures Series)

   What if the AI revolution succeeds at almost everything—but no single corporate monopoly, government, or master agent actually wins? In this episode of the WPP Media Intelligence podcast, hosts Kate Scott-Dawkins and Sam Weston explore "The Long Middle"—a potential 2035 scenario where AI capabilities grow exponentially, but market competition remains open, messy, and contested. Rather than consolidating into a corporate monopoly ( The Closed Loop ), individual agent dominance ( Agent Commons ), or state control ( The Sovereign Stack ), this future features continuous friction, fragmented…

2. 

   E92 · 7 Aug 2026 · 44 min

   The agent commons: user AI & markets of one (Four Futures Series)

   What if the future of AI isn't controlled by a few massive tech platforms, but by you? In Episode 2 of our four-part mini-series exploring plausible futures for 2035, Kate Scott-Dawkins and Sam Weston flip the board to unpack The Agent Commons —a fully distributed, user-directed vision of the future. In this world, consumers own their own AI agents, manage their data inside private household "data bunkers," and send their software into the market to negotiate, compare products, and make purchases on their behalf. Key topics discussed How personal AI gatekeepers alter the buyer journey. The 6…

3. 

   E91 · 31 Jul 2026 · 45 min

   The closed loop: power, AI, & brand survival (Four Futures Series)

   In the first installment of a four-part summer miniseries, hosts Kate Scott-Dawkins and Sam Weston pressure-test one of four plausible — and deliberately contrasting — futures for AI, advertising, and power by 2035. The scenario under the microscope: The Closed Loop , a world where a handful of vertically integrated platform ecosystems, not governments or open markets, come to govern everyday commercial life. The overarching story: convenience becomes a form of private governance, AI agents become the primary interface between brands and consumers, and marketing itself evolves into an…

4. 

   E90 · 1 Jul 2026 · 22 min

   How AI is supercharging a 1.3 trillion ad market (feat. Spotify at Cannes Lions)

   The numbers are in — and they're bigger than anyone expected. WPP Media's President of Global Business Intelligence, Kate Scott-Dawkins , breaks down the This Year Next Year 2026 Global Midyear Forecast , and the headline says it all: global advertising revenue is now projected to grow 8.9% to $1.3 trillion by year's end — a significant upward revision from December's 7.1% forecast. So what's driving the surge? In short: AI . An investment cycle of historic scale is proving remarkably resilient in the face of armed conflict in the Middle East, elevated oil prices, and deepening geopolitical…

5. 

   E89 · 18 Jun 2026 · 34 min

   The rush: what the AI boom means for advertising in 2026 (This Year Next Year)

   The numbers tell one story. The forces behind them tell a far more interesting one. In this mid-year edition of This Year Next Year, Kate Scott-Dawkins unpacks a forecast that has been significantly upgraded since December — not in spite of geopolitical turbulence, but in some ways because of it. From the AI investment cycle reshaping advertiser behaviour across every category, to a new advertising channel that could scale faster than anything the industry has ever seen, to the uncomfortable questions about what ad-funded platforms owe the people they serve — this is the episode that sets…

6. 

   E88 · 2 May 2026 · 35 min

   Big tech earnings defy the macro — and AI is why

   In one of the most consequential earnings weeks of 2026, hosts Kate Scott-Dawkins and Jeff Foster break down results from Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Apple, Reddit, Roku, Comcast, Rogers, Televisa Univision, and Spotify. The overarching story: digital advertising is not just healthy — it's accelerating, decoupling from broader macroeconomic pressures, and being fundamentally reshaped by AI. Meanwhile, sports continues to dominate the traditional TV conversation, and the Fed's most divided rate decision in decades signals turbulence ahead. Key Topics Discussed Record digital ad growth…