The digital transformation has significantly altered how media agencies collect, analyze, and utilize user data. AI-driven data collection provides new opportunities for efficiency and improved marketing strategies but also presents challenges concerning ethics, privacy, and organizational changes. This study explores how AI impacts data collection processes within media agencies and the opportunities and obstacles that arise with AI implementation.

Through a thematic analysis of qualitative interviews with industry experts, five key themes were identified: efficiency through AI, improved audience targeting, ethical and legal barriers, impact on organizational structures, and future potential. The findings indicate that AI enables faster and more accurate analysis of large datasets, leading to more effective decision-making and a better understanding of customer behavior. However, uncertainty remains regarding AI’s influence on job roles and skill requirements, as some tasks may be automated while new AI-related competencies become necessary.

Ethical and legal concerns represent a significant challenge. Privacy protection and transparency in AI-driven analysis are crucial for maintaining customer trust. Companies must establish clear guidelines for data collection and usage to prevent discrimination and bias in AI models.

The conclusion is that AI-driven analysis can contribute to both organizational and competence related changes in media agencies, where work roles develop towards more strategic and creative tasks while new roles emerge. At the same time, ethical challenges arise concerning bias, the use of personal data, and the need for transparency, where clear guidelines and quality controls become essential. The study primarily provides an overview and should be seen as indications rather than established conclusions, which makes more extensive and long-term research necessary to deepen the understanding of how AI-driven analysis affects work roles, competence requirements, and ethical considerations in different types of media agencies.