by Dana Lee on 8th Apr 2026 in Video Interviews

In this episode of A Coffee With... Alex Lamaro-McCrindle, digital lead at Miroma Founders Network, joins ExchangeWire's head of content, John Still, over a black coffee to discuss how AI is reshaping the agency landscape.

Alex worked across market mix modelling and digital media buying before moving into smaller agency environments. Tune in as he and John chat agency consolidation and differentiation, the impact of the "new tech", and adopting a challenger mindset.

Alex will be joining ExchangeWire as a monthly columnist, focusing on the challenger mindset and the evolving small-agency landscape. Keep a lookout for his first column this week on the importance of confidence in an unpredictable world.

The Agency Landscape

The agency landscape is seeing ongoing consolidation among large holdcos, potentially pointing to fewer mega-groups. This creates opportunities for smaller agencies to thrive through sharp differentiation and agility. Success hinges on choosing a clear specialty and hiring the right talent to deliver it.

At the same time, platforms like Google and Meta are expanding their services into areas traditionally owned by agencies. However, their inherent bias toward their own ad spend reinforces the enduring value of independent, trusted advisory relationships.

The agency’s role is to build confidence in brand investment while maintaining performance rigour, helping clients shift from short-term efficiency to long-term scale. Sustaining client confidence and trust reduces displacement risk and underscores the importance of independent strategy in a platform-dominated ecosystem.

"New Tech" Adoption

Alex prefers the umbrella term “new tech” over “AI,” noting that emerging tools have materially expanded capabilities in creative, audience planning, and scalable measurement. This technology democratises sophisticated services for smaller agencies and clients.

Clients, often challenger brands, are tech-centric and deploy new tools for non-core functions like lead generation and CRM nurturing. With tools like ChatGPT informing buyers, inquiries arrive more advanced and specific. Agencies must adapt by preparing to handle more informed questions, ensuring their websites and sales processes address pre-sale queries and support faster, more confident decisions.

The Challenger Mindset

Curiosity, flexibility, and resilience enable rapid test-and-learn. Partnering with challenger clients benefits from a shared mentality. These clients seek partners, not just suppliers, to navigate fast-changing priorities. Structured testing, instead of relying on assumptions, builds client confidence and aligns with their appetite for experimentation to validate ideas quickly.

In the current landscape, building multidisciplinarity and business-level fluency is key. Small-agency roles require rapid upskilling beyond media buying and analytics into areas like websites, brand identity, SEO, and analytics access/implementation. This helps build a foundation to discuss not only marketing, but also broader business challenges.

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