Publicis Groupe plans to use artificial intelligence (AI) to reduce manual and repetitive tasks by 25%, while continuing to invest in its workforce, CEO Arthur Sadoun said during the advertising group’s third-quarter 2026 earnings call.
The group, which had 114,079 employees at the end of 2025, is taking a different approach from competitors such as WPP, Omnicom and Dentsu, which have announced significant workforce reductions.
“Deploying agents to automate manual and repetitive tasks, we have an objective of reducing them by an estimated 25% to deliver efficiencies and allow our people to focus on higher value work,” Sadoun said.
Publicis is also expanding the use of AI tools across its workforce through its partnership with Microsoft. Sadoun said the company was “making our talent AI fluent, equipping and training more than 90% of our 114,000 employees with AI productivity tools”.
The group has increased its workforce from 77,767 employees at the end of 2017 to 114,079 at the end of 2025, growing alongside its investments in AI, data and technology.
“While our competitors are reducing head count and scaling back investments, we are pursuing a polar opposite strategy,” Sadoun said.
He added that clients “don’t expect us to reorganize, to let people go”, arguing that agencies should focus on developing talent and capabilities rather than relying on job cuts to improve efficiency.
Sadoun said Publicis’s strategy was built on “the quality of our data and our people”, which “will not be disrupted by AI”. He also attributed the group’s client retention rate, which he described as “close to 100%”, to its continued investment in talent and capabilities.
More than 30% of Publicis employees are data and technology specialists, according to Sadoun.
The strategy contrasts with workforce reductions across other major advertising groups. WPP’s headcount fell by more than 10,000 between the end of 2024 and June 2026, while Omnicom has moved to cut more than 4,000 roles following its acquisition of IPG. IPG had itself reduced its workforce by approximately 3,200 employees during the first nine months of 2025.
Dentsu reported in August 2026 that it had completed around 3,000 of the approximately 3,400 workforce reductions planned for its international business.
Publicis has not linked its target of reducing manual tasks by 25% to a specific employment target. The impact of its AI investments on future hiring and workforce levels therefore remains to be seen.
