PepsiCo has opened a global review of its marketing agency partnerships as the food and beverage giant accelerates its shift towards an AI-first operating model.
The review has attracted major advertising networks and management consultancies, with PepsiCo looking beyond traditional creative and communications expertise to partners capable of combining marketing, technology, data and business strategy.
The move signals a significant change in what the company expects from its marketing partners. Brandspur Brand News reports that the review comes as global advertisers increasingly seek agency capabilities that can connect creative work with artificial intelligence, analytics, automation and measurable commercial results.
PepsiCo has been pursuing a broader ambition to become an “agentic AI-first” enterprise, embedding artificial intelligence across business functions rather than limiting its use to isolated experiments. Marketing is expected to be an important part of that transformation.
The company has already established part of the technology infrastructure needed for the shift through a multi-year partnership with Google Cloud. The collaboration is intended to introduce Gemini-powered capabilities across areas including analytics, employee productivity and go-to-market operations.
For the marketing industry, the review highlights how the traditional division between advertising agencies and technology consultancies is becoming less distinct. Brands increasingly need partners that can bring together creative development, media, consumer data and AI-enabled systems.
The implications are particularly significant for global agency networks competing for large multinational accounts. Creative reputation remains important, but agencies may increasingly have to demonstrate how their technology capabilities can personalise communications, optimise media investment, automate repetitive processes and generate useful insights from large volumes of data.
PepsiCo’s review also reflects the changing expectations around artificial intelligence in marketing. Rather than using AI simply to produce content, businesses are exploring how the technology can influence planning, decision-making and execution across the marketing cycle.
The company has not publicly disclosed the full commercial details of the review, leaving the precise scope of the assignment unclear. However, its direction is consistent with PepsiCo’s wider technology strategy and its effort to make data and intelligent automation part of everyday business operations.
For agencies and consultancies, winning a role in that ecosystem could require a broader proposition than conventional campaign delivery. The successful partners are likely to need the ability to combine creative thinking with data infrastructure, AI capabilities and a clear understanding of business performance.
PepsiCo’s latest move therefore adds to the pressure on marketing services companies to rethink their role as artificial intelligence reshapes how major brands understand consumers, develop campaigns and measure results.
