AI is not about tools – it is about organisation

Florian Haller, CEO of the Serviceplan Group, on the development of the "House of AI", the market square Sokosumi and the question of why speed only matters if brand identity and quality can keep pace. An interview by Petra Schwegler from the Blog the Munich Media Days.

Serviceplan is launching Sokosumi Since 2025, we have been using ‘pay-per-use AI agents’ for workflows. This reduces production costs. How do you measure internally whether the budget savings actually translate into cash savings for the customer?

AI agents now take on many repetitive tasks – such as research, data preparation or parts of the production process – and this naturally saves time.

However, a much greater opportunity lies in strategically enhancing what clients can expect from agencies when AI is used. In this case, differentiation comes not from price, but from better insights, better creative work, better activation and better curation of AI-generated content.

With Sokosumi, you are building an AI agent marketplace where third-party providers can also list their agents. Is this still an agency business – or is the Serviceplan Group on its way to becoming a tech company that also offers platform services?

As an agency group, we always keep our clients’ needs in mind. With the marketplace, we have created a service that enables companies to utilise specialised AI agents, much like digital freelancers.

Sokosumi complements and links together our usual agency services: Agentic Services enable interaction and thus act as the unifying thread across all our AI applications and services.

The new Creative partnership with Luma AI brings AI-generated video content into the Serviceplan world. When AI generates content that is played back immediately – how do you ensure that brand identity and quality do not fall by the wayside?

AI speeds up production, but it does not replace brand management. That is why we do not integrate artificial intelligence in isolation, but rather into our professional workflows – from strategy through to creation and delivery. Our teams continue to define the tone, narrative and brand guidelines. The AI then supports us in implementation and scaling.

With partners such as Luma AI, we are establishing precisely these controlled processes to ensure that speed does not come at the expense of quality or brand identity.

Yours, Session as part of the MTM SPECIALS AI & MEDIA asks how AI can create business models that generate new revenue streams. Her group relies on data-driven ad delivery to maximise viewer value. But particularly in the case of mass-reach media – TV, audio, display – advertisers still primarily pay for impressions. When and how will this fundamental principle be superseded by AI-based targeting?

The change will happen gradually. Reach will remain important, but AI is shifting the focus from mere contacts to the actual value of a viewer or user. If we can analyse content, context and user behaviour in real time, advertising will increasingly be assessed on the basis of its impact – that is, engagement, conversion or brand impact. AI makes this measurement possible on a large scale for the first time. 

Serviceplan uses Sokosumi internally and has brought Luma AI on board as a technology partner. What was the most surprising lesson you learnt during your own transformation – and what would you do differently now?

The key takeaway was that AI is less about tools and more about organisation. The technology often develops faster than companies – and by that I mean us as an agency, but also our clients – can adapt to it culturally.

With our House of AI, we have therefore built a holistic ecosystem whose magic lies precisely in the interaction and interconnection of the individual tools.

"House of AI" – what exactly does this mean?

The “House of AI” is the digital twin of our Houses of Communication. Here, AI services can be utilised to the exact extent required to meet our clients’ individual needs most effectively.

Depending on requirements, we deploy AI throughout the entire value chain: using our Global Data Platform, which underpins every decision, through Insight.AI for gaining an understanding of target audiences, Creative.AI for brainstorming, design and scaling, as well as Activate.AI for media distribution and budget optimisation. All seamlessly connected via Agentic.AI, our “Agency of Agents”, which connects people with agents, agents with agents, and clients with results.

The House of AI is a holistic operating system for our teams and our customers that is transforming the way we think, design and work – and it’s really great fun to be part of its ongoing development.

The Media Network Bavaria, is an initiative promoting Bavaria as a media hub. Through its events and projects, it brings together the Bavarian media sector to address the trends and challenges of digital transformation. It fosters networking both within the individual media segments (such as audio, film or the press) and across sector boundaries (for example, with the automotive industry, the medical sector or the scientific community). MedienNetzwerk Bayern is part of the Media.Bavaria GmbH.

To the Original text (Media Network Bavaria)