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Most marketing organizations do not have a technology shortage.

They have work management tools, DAMs, review platforms, reporting dashboards, automation tools, brand portals, LLMs and more. In-house agency teams and internal marketing operations leaders are surrounded by systems. Yet the work still slows down, decisions still escalate, and creative operations still spend too much time coordinating rather than enabling.

The problem is not the number of tools.

The problem is that the tools were not designed to think, decide or adapt together.

That is why Adaptive Operations requires more than a better workflow. It requires an Agentic Operational Architecture.

What is agentic operational architecture?

Agentic Operational Architecture is the system design that allows Operational AI agents, human teams, data sources, brand intelligence, workflow platforms, creative automation tools and governance rules to work as one coordinated operating model. It is not a single platform. It is not another dashboard. It is the connective architecture that lets marketing work move, adapt and scale with greater intelligence.

Traditional agency operations were built around workflow management. Work entered the system, moved from one stage to the next, and was tracked until completion. That model made sense when work was relatively predictable and decisions could be made at defined points.

Modern marketing does not behave that way.

A request may need to be clarified before it can move. A brief may need to be expanded. A campaign may require different paths based on audience, region, channel or compliance needs. A creative asset may need to be adapted, reviewed, versioned, localized and delivered across multiple platforms. Performance signals may require changes while the work is still live.

Every one of those moments creates an operational decision.

Who should do the work? What information is missing? Which brand rules apply? What level of review is required? Is this request urgent, or simply late? Is capacity available? Should the work be routed to a human, an automation tool, an AI agent or a specialist pod?

In most organizations, these decisions are still being carried manually by people. Project managers, traffic managers, creative leads, marketing managers and operations teams become the connective tissue of the system. They interpret the request, chase missing information, find the right asset, confirm the right approver, route the work, update the status and escalate when something gets stuck.

That is not a scalable model. It is a fragile one.

How agentic operational architecture builds adaptive operations

Agentic Operational Architecture changes the role of the system. Instead of simply documenting work, the system helps govern how work moves.

At the center of this architecture are Operational AI agents. These agents do not exist to generate more content for the sake of content. That is the role most often associated with Generative AI. Operational AI agents serve a different purpose. They help manage the decisions, workflows, guardrails and signals around the work.

A briefing agent can help clarify the request. A project management agent can recommend the next best action. A brand guardian can apply brand rules and standards. A sector guardian can account for regulatory or category-specific requirements. A routing agent can determine whether work should move to a creative automation tool, a human reviewer, an in-house agency pod or another specialist team. A performance agent can surface signals that suggest work should be adjusted.

The change in-house agencies need right now

The power is not in any one agent. The power is in the architecture that allows them to operate together.

This is where many internal marketing operations and creative operations leaders need to shift their thinking. The question is no longer, “Which tool will make us faster?” The better question is, “What decisions need to be made for work to move intelligently, and how should those decisions be supported?”

That shift matters because more content is not the same as more capability.

Generative AI can help teams create copy, images, variants and ideas faster. Used well, that is valuable. But if the operating model is not ready, more content simply creates more review, more routing, more prioritization, more compliance questions and more pressure on agency operations.

Agentic Operational Architecture is what makes scale manageable.

It connects creation to governance. It connects data to decisions. It connects brand intelligence to workflow. It connects automation to human oversight. It connects speed to control.

For in-house agency and creative operations leaders, this creates a different model of performance. Humans are still essential, but they are no longer required to manually carry every decision. Instead, they define the rules, approve the right moments, guide the exceptions and focus their expertise where it creates the most value.

That is the operating model modern internal marketing teams need

Not a linear workflow with AI bolted onto the side. Not a collection of tools hoping someone will stitch them together. Not automation that creates volume without control.

Adaptive Operations requires an architecture where agents, humans, tools and intelligence are designed to work together.

For CMOs and senior operations leaders, the implication is clear. If your teams are still relying on meetings, escalation and manual coordination to keep work moving, your operating model is doing too much by hand. If your in-house agency is producing more but feeling less in control, the issue may not be effort. It may be architecture.

InnerGroup’s InnerAssessment helps identify where friction is showing up across your internal marketing operations, creative operations, agency operations and in-house agency model. It gives leaders a clearer view of where decisions are slowing, where systems are disconnected and where Agentic Operational Architecture could create the greatest impact.

Nothing is standing still nowadays. Forget about the status quo, folks. At the halfway point of 2025, in-house teams are in flux: adapting, reacting, and rethinking. And judging by our latest LinkedIn straw poll, the “one-size-fits-all” model of team management is being replaced by a patchwork of strategies, each shaped by external pressures and internal realities.

Last week, in our #MondayQuestion series, we asked: as we enter the second half of 2025, how are you managing your in-house team to stay effective?

Here’s what you told us.

45% are hiring freelancers/contractors, crossing their fingers and hoping they have robust Wi-Fi and quickly get to grips with the brief. 18% are growing their team with permanent hires; remember those?

It’s a bit of a seesaw: flexibility on one end, commitment on the other. And it doesn’t stop there. While 9% are maintaining staffing levels, another 27% of in-house agencies are reorganising their workforce.

These findings are not exactly a picture of stability. More like a snapshot of creative chaos and agility. These numbers illustrate the diversity of responses as teams attempt to navigate an unpredictable environment. Leaders are being forced to make tough decisions, often on a weekly basis, based on factors beyond their control, such as inflation, interest rates, trade disruptions, and shifting corporate priorities. There is no universal playbook anymore, only smart, situational decision-making.

So what are we seeing?

Freelancers are filling gaps. Like those emergency substitute teachers. Great for bursts of activity without long-term strings attached. For many, it’s about managing bursts of activity without long-term commitment. Sounds smart, until your top contractor vanishes mid-project or your timeline suddenly shrinks.

Teams are being reorganised. This is more than shuffling the deckchairs. Teams are being reorganised for new business goals; others, out of necessity. Think budget cuts, mergers, and restructures. It’s not always smooth, but it’s often necessary.

And very few are hiring full-time. This indicates that the market remains uncertain, even as we approach the end of 2025.

This is where flexibility wins

The shifts we’re seeing point to a larger truth: marketing operations can no longer rely on rigid structures. Success now depends on how quickly teams can flex, scale, and adapt to changing demands, whether by tapping into external expertise or reorganising internal talent.

A benchmark for adaptability

Given the constant pressure on talent, many in-house teams are asking, “How do we really compare? Are we structured for what’s next?”

Tools like InnerAssessment give a valuable lens for this kind of reflection. By benchmarking team performance, capabilities, and operational gaps, leaders can better understand where they excel and where there’s room to evolve. It’s less about fitting a one-size-fits-all model and more about discovering the operational shape that fits your organisation’s reality.

The big takeaway?

There’s no single correct answer in today’s environment. But one thing is clear: standing still is not an option.

Teams that succeed are those willing to experiment with new operating models, build flexible talent strategies, and use insights to make smarter decisions.

In a market that demands agility and transparency, the in-house teams best positioned for success are those who adapt quickly, using data and flexible approaches to stay aligned and ahead. This separates in-house thrivers from the in-house survivors.

This budget season everything is uncertain for marketers as companies across industries are pausing expansion plans, tightening their budgets, reassessing priorities, building scenarios, and making tough decisions about where to invest resources. Many in-house marketing teams find themselves caught in the crosshairs—expected to do more with less while still delivering growth, innovation, and brand excellence.

More than ever, marketing leaders need to approach budgeting not simply as an exercise in cost control, but as a strategic opportunity to build resilience, agility, and scale. An internal agency should see it as a strategic asset that can help navigate uncertain times. When you need to adapt and respond quickly, the talent closest to brand and business leadership creates the greatest competitive advantage.

The question is not whether to streamline in-house teams, but how to do it right.

Here are five key shifts to make:

Prioritize strategic focus over volume.

When budgets shrink, so should your marketing priorities—but that doesn’t mean reducing impact. Instead of spreading the team thin across dozens of campaigns or channels, focus on core initiatives that align with business goals. By investing time to define clear objectives and short-term, measurable KPIs, you will clear the way to pivot quicker as well as provide confidence, and quicker ROAS, in the near term.

Encourage your team to concentrate on high-return projects. Prioritize work that’s focused on direct client relationships, whether that’s improving customer retention, refining the purchase journey, or optimizing your digital presence and owned channels. Focus creative and marketing teams on the channels that can maximize performance and prove ROI. Together they need a clear plan with short-, medium-, and long-term targets – so they can regularly assess progress and make necessary adjustments together.

This shift from “do everything” to “do what matters most” can improve morale and performance while keeping marketing tightly integrated with company strategy.

Let data be your best friend.

Data holds the key to aligning core audiences and trimming excess. It also reveals the relative value of external and internal resources. Assess external agencies’ core strengths and determine the cost value to your organization for delivering those strengths. Then, anything that is not deemed essential or specialized should be considered for bringing internally.

You’d be surprised how much internal content runs on autopilot, in part because long cycle times inhibit analyzing and adapting continuously. It’s critical to invest in the data to determine which content is working best with your most valuable prospects. Double down on the top-performing topics and formats. Refine the content calendar and revisit audience segmentation to target highest-impact opportunities.

Build resilience in your team.

Economic slowdowns are prime opportunities for professional development. Instead of hiring externally to fill skill gaps, look within. Encourage team members to learn new tools, platforms, or techniques that align with evolving needs—such as SEO, automation, analytics, or content strategy. That way, they become generalists with specialty skills. They can cover all the basic needs, while flex staff covers anything they can’t handle.

Let your team identify any tasks to throw off to lower-cost offshore resources. The more they can concentrate on their core strengths and not mundane tasks, the stronger your marketing will be.

Encourage experimentation.

Long-term planning is risky in a volatile market. Instead, empower your marketing team to shorten planning cycles and develop flexible budgets with real-time performance tracking. That way you’re set up to adjust tactics quickly based on what’s working—or not.

Agile teams make space for experimentation with continuous check-ins. They test creative approaches, refine messaging based on customer behavior, and adapt campaign strategies as market conditions evolve. Their responsiveness can be a critical differentiator when consumer needs shift suddenly.

During challenging times, finger-pointing becomes more prevalent in any organization. To counter this, encourage more feedback. Get as close to your customers as possible – whether directly or via sales leads – and listen to what they are saying and suggesting.

Don’t forget culture.

Clear, honest communication counters the fear that uncertainty foments. It lets people prepare for their families and builds trust between all team members. And it short-circuits rumor, which kills culture.

Double the amount of team check-ins. Send end of week emails that celebrate the small victories and everyone who made them possible. Confront the underperformers weighing the team down immediately; they change or leave.

Celebrating wins big and small helps make internal marketing a key voice at the leadership table. So does creating feedback loops with such complementary teams as sales, product, and customer service.

Running an in-house agency (IHA) right now means balancing speed, capacity, and cost without compromising your team. And it’s getting more complex.

The growing squeeze on internal teams

IHAs and marketing teams are often the first to feel pressure in economic downturns. So, in our recent poll, we asked marketing leaders: Which operational pressure is most likely to impact you in the next three months?

Here’s what you told us:

50% are concerned about headcount reduction

29% flagged variable partner costs

14% are under pressure to prove efficacy

7% are seeing tech investments postponed

When cuts threaten capability

The signal is clear: internal teams are again being asked to do more with less. And for the 50% bracing for headcount reductions, the question is: how do you protect brand excellence without sacrificing capability?

Marketing is viewed as a discretionary expense, making it a first target for cost-cutting. There’s a short-term mindset at play. Organizations prioritize immediate savings over long-term brand-building. This is despite clear evidence that maintaining marketing investment during downturns helps capture market share.

Too often, we see a knee-jerk reaction: cutting roles, leaning into lower-cost offshore, or over-relying on AI to fill gaps. But that thinking is short-term. There’s a better way to scale.

There’s a better way…

The smarter approach isn’t replacement—it’s reinforcement. Models like InnerStudio are designed to build around internal teams, not substitute them.

AI isn’t there to reduce headcount—it removes inefficiencies. Offshore support shouldn’t mean losing control—it should increase your team’s capacity. The goal isn’t to shrink your team—it’s to keep it focused on the creative work.

Optimize don’t undermine

At InnerGroup, offshore content production and AI take the pressure off IHAs and marketing departments. InnerStudio is a fully embedded, AI-powered offshore content model that keeps your core team focused on what matters: strategy, creativity, and brand building. Everything else, like versioning, resizes, localization, and repeatable production tasks, gets handled by an offshore studio, running on Mediaferry AI, our proprietary workflow tech. Mediaferry AI eliminates workflow inefficiencies, automating repetitive tasks while keeping creative control in the hands of in-house teams.

Build capacity, not compromise

Unlike traditional outsourcing, InnerStudio enhances internal capabilities rather than replacing them. As we always say, technology is a tool, but it cannot replace experience.

Optimize without undermining

Marketing teams already know that responsiveness matters. But staying agile isn’t just about reacting fast – it’s about being adaptive. It’s about making smart and coordinated moves in the face of shifting demands.

That’s why we asked in our recent #MondayQuestion:

What is the biggest challenge your team faces in maintaining agile marketing cycles?

The intent behind agile marketing is clear: move fast, test, learn, repeat.

In my 15 years working at global brand agencies, I’ve often seen that the reality inside many marketing teams is much more complex. Agility breaks down when strategy isn’t aligned, communication lacks clarity, and the system around the team isn’t built to flex.

Let’s analyze what you told us.

Changing priorities (36%) It’s easy to blame bad planning for what feels like endless changes, but in reality shifting focus is good planning. It’s about completing an objective, resetting the strategy based on data, and adjusting content and timelines.

Too often, marketers are in a state of triage, responding to leadership asks, channel pivots, and campaign needs without a clear north star. Agility without direction causes chaos. What’s missing? Strategic cohesion.

Team miscommunication (29%) Agile teams thrive on tight loops of communication. But unclear handoffs, and overloaded workflows create silos. Agility only works when everyone from brand to ops, to creative is working off the same playbook. Taking five minutes to explain the cause for the shift will avoid misinterpretation and team frustration. Remember, miscommunication isn’t just a process issue, it’s a performance blocker.

Economic uncertainty (21%) Budget pressure turns every choice into a cost-benefit calculation. What gets deprioritized? Long-term thinking. Brand-building. Experimentation. But agility without the breathing room for creative thinking becomes purely tactical. Great marketing requires the freedom to test, not just produce.

Inefficient workflows (14%) Surprisingly the lowest concern – but in my experience, it’s often the hidden cause of the others. Clunky processes slow teams down, no matter how strong the strategy. That’s where smart operating design and tools like Mediaferry AI, our proprietary workflow automation platform, can help.

So what works?

Agility is about more than process—it’s about culture, clarity, and system design. That’s where the challenge lies for in-house teams.

At InnerGroup, we’ve seen that agility improves not only when teams get faster, but when the system around them is smarter, and built to deliver results. And that is our focus.

Our Inner8™ framework helps in-house leaders assess and improve the eight elements essential to healthy marketing operations – from cross-functional alignment to workflow design, creative capacity, and strategic influence

InnerGroup’s advisory practice helps with:

Designing modern operating models that flex with the business

Building strategic clarity into creative production

Integrating tools like Mediaferry AI to reduce execution drag

The future of in-house marketing is not only agile – it’s adaptive, strategic, and outcome-focused. If your team is struggling to stay agile in the face of shifting priorities or siloed collaboration, it’s not the people or lack of effort. It’s a signal that the system needs a health audit.

become fluid, fast, and continuously evolving. Operations, in many organizations, remain fixed, rigid, and designed for a world that no longer exists. The result is a constant sense of urgency, backlog, and rework. Teams feel rushed not because they lack discipline, but because the structure underneath them is misaligned with reality.

If it feels like you are building the airplane while flying it – and that is not a metaphor. It is the lived experience of modern marketing teams trying to deliver dynamic work through static operating models.

Marketing today is not episodic. It does not move cleanly from planning to execution to optimization. It moves all at once. Channels shift mid-campaign. Content requirements multiply overnight. Technology changes faster than processes can be updated. Customer expectations reset continuously. Yet many organizations still expect marketing operations to behave as if stability is the norm.

That mismatch creates friction everywhere.

Work arrives faster than it can be meaningfully prioritized. Decision rights blur under pressure. Governance becomes reactive instead of enabling. Teams compensate with speed and effort, relying on experience and heroics to keep things moving. Over time, that improvisation becomes the operating model. This sentiment is underscored by our 2025 InnerIndex findings, where over one third of respondents described their operational strategy as ‘Everything, Everywhere, All At Once’.

This is why so many marketing organizations feel perpetually behind even when they are producing more than ever. The problem is not volume. It is design.

For years, marketing operations were built on assumptions of predictability. Annual plans, fixed workflows, linear handoffs, and stable channels made sense when change was incremental. Today, change is constant. Every other part of marketing has evolved to reflect that reality. Strategy has become more adaptive. Creative has become more modular. Media has become more dynamic. Technology has become more integrated. Operations, in many cases, have not kept pace.

When operational standards fail to evolve alongside the work, they quietly become a constraint. They slow decision-making, obscure accountability, and create unnecessary friction in delivery. Teams feel the impact first, long before leaders see it in metrics.

This is where a more fluid approach to marketing operations strategy becomes essential.

Adaptive marketing operations are not about abandoning structure. They are about designing structures that can adapt. They assume variability rather than stability and focus on flow rather than rigid compliance. They are built to flex as requirements change without breaking governance, quality, or control.

In a fluid operating model, the organization does not try to pause execution in order to improve how it works. It improves how it works while execution continues. The plane stays in the air, but it is engineered to be modified safely mid-flight.

When operations are designed this way, urgency stops being the default. Teams regain clarity. Decisions happen faster because ownership is clear. Capacity is managed intentionally rather than absorbed reactively. Progress becomes more predictable, even as the work itself continues to evolve.

If your team feels constantly rushed and always behind, that is not surprising. It is what happens when the structural and operational support for marketing is out of step with the demands of the work.

The answer is not pushing harder. It is stepping back.

Taking a holistic view of your operating model allows you to see where the system supports momentum and where it quietly works against it. How work enters the organization. How it is prioritized. How decisions are made when everything is moving. How success is measured beyond activity alone.

If the airplane is already in the air, the first move is not redesigning it blindly mid-flight. It is understanding where it is holding and where it is under strain.

An operational assessment provides that perspective. It offers an objective, high-level view of where your operating model aligns with the reality of modern marketing and where it does not. Not to slow things down, but to make sure the organization can keep flying with control, clarity, and intent.

That is how marketing teams move from survival mode to sustainable momentum.