WPP Launches Hex to Address the AI Skills Gap in Marketing

WPP has announced the launch of HEX, a studio built for an era of AI-led marketing. 

The studio is made up of approximately 50 creative technologists, who come from backgrounds outside of advertising – such as architecture, gaming, fine art and robotics. 

HEX sits within the content production and innovation teams of WPP Production, which was launched in January, when WPP Production absorbed the Hogarth brand to bring its creative producers into a single global platform and drive innovation.

With a specialism in generative and agentic AI, gaming, immersive experience and robotics, the studio will function as a creative production studio, R&D lab and a consultancy. 

According to WPP, HEX is already delivering work for the company’s global client base. 

“Creative technology sits at the intersection of imagination and craft,” says Richard Glasson, CEO of WPP Production. “WPP Production has supported this extraordinary programme from the very beginning because we believe deeply in constantly finding new ways to make the best work. 

“That commitment is rooted in one of our core values: nurturing the next generation of talent and giving them unparalleled opportunities to create culture-shifting work through emerging technologies and the power of their own creativity.”

Building out AI advertising

WPP says that HEX’s experts have already created AI campaigns, AI assets and TV ads for various brands. This includes using AI coaching and real-time motion capture to translate data into personalised dirt patterns at SXSW 2025 for Unilever’s Dirt is Good campaign and run AI workshops for Fortune 500 executives. 

HEX is working closely with technology partners such as Adobe, Google and NVIDIA to test out emerging tech and explore its real world applications – embedding teams of HEX experts directly with clients for months at a time to evaluate challenges, build custom solutions and train internal teams to use AI workflows independently.

“HEX Studio's ability to rapidly embrace emerging technologies and act as true agents of change makes them an exceptional fit for this collaboration,” says Tom Payne, Senior Director of Customer Strategy and Success for EMEA and JAPAC at Adobe “Our team at Adobe looks forward to harnessing that energy to accelerate AI adoption and deliver meaningful, scalable impact for our customers.”

Closing the AI talent gap

According to WPP, part of the aim of HEX is to help close the AI talent gap. 

Research from DataCamp reveals that, while 88% of leaders see data and AI literacy to be as important as writing, less than half provide basic training. 

HEX, WPP says, has been built with the belief that creative talent is needed to operationalise AI and drive business growth, 

“The era of AI demands a fundamental shift in our creative mindset and how we approach problem-solving,” says Elav Horwitz, Chief Innovation Officer, of WPP and Executive Sponsor of HEX. “This isn't just about closing a skills gap; it's about building the workforce for the new economy. 

“By training the next generation of talent and embedding these forward-deployed experts with our clients, we're reshaping how we think, create and deliver truly innovative solutions for brands.”

WPP built up a talent pipeline for HEX from WPP’s Creative Tech Apprenticeship, a nine month long programme the company launched in 2022. The programme aims to train at least 1,000 people by 2022, and focuses on recruiting from outside traditional advertising and engineering backgrounds while offering a curriculum focused on creative problem-solving and new technologies.

“We believe the future of beauty is inseparable from the future of technology,” says Lex Bradshaw-Zanger, CDMO of L’Oréal SAPMENA Zone. “Having partnered with WPP from the early stages of the program to help train the Creative Tech Apprentices, watching these emerging talents learn to navigate real client challenges and apply generative AI with both ambition and elegance as they deploy into HEX, has been genuinely inspiring. 

“It reflects the kind of deep, forward-thinking partnership L'Oréal and WPP have built together.”