‘The General Purpose Agency Is Doomed’

This week, in episode 250, we’re joined by special guest Alan Pentz, who recently stepped back from his government-contracting business to start the Owner Institute, which draws on lessons he learned the hard way to help business owners scale their businesses. In his new role, Alan has immersed himself in the world of generative AI, and he’s come to some intriguing conclusions, one of which is that AI will eliminate most B-to-B agencies—marketing agencies, public relations agencies, professional services firms. Why is that? Because, Alan says, businesses will no longer be willing to pay agencies retainers of $5,000 or $10,000 a month once they realize they can get similar or even superior work from an AI chatbot. “In general,” Alan says, “most technology waves end up with a few big winners, and most people are just roadkill.” To explore the theory that agencies are likely to be roadkill, we invited Jaci Russo, owner of a marketing agency, and Sarah Segal, owner of a public relations agency, to have a conversation with Alan. Spoiler alert: There were no tears, no threats, and no insults.