---
title: Are You Still Paying Pre-AI Hours for Post-AI Work?
description: AI has changed how long marketing work takes. Learn why agency scopes, hourly rates, and workflows should evolve to reflect the post-AI reality.
image: https://roiaccelerate.com/hubfs/pexels-pixabay-36717.jpg
---
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# Are You Still Paying Pre-AI Hours for Post-AI Work?
by [ROI Accelerate](https://roiaccelerate.com/blog/author/roi-accelerate)
Sep 11, 2026, 2:17:58 PM
# AI Has Changed the Baseline for Marketing Work
Artificial intelligence has changed more than how marketers create content. It has changed how long many professional tasks take. Research, first drafts, summaries, reporting preparation, and other repetitive work can often be completed faster when AI is used responsibly.
## The Productivity Shift Is Already Measurable
In a study of 453 professionals, MIT researchers found that participants using ChatGPT completed selected writing tasks [**40% faster**](https://news.mit.edu/2023/study-finds-chatgpt-boosts-worker-productivity-writing-0714)¹ while producing work rated [**18% higher in quality**](https://news.mit.edu/2023/study-finds-chatgpt-boosts-worker-productivity-writing-0714).¹ The researchers cautioned that these were contained writing tasks, not every kind of professional work.
An NBER study of **5,179 customer-support agents** also found that an AI assistant increased productivity by [**14% on average**](https://www.nber.org/papers/w33795).²
## Your Scope May Still Be Pre-AI
Many agency scopes and planning templates were built around how long tasks historically took. The issue is not that those estimates were wrong; it is that they can remain unchanged after the workflow improves.
A one-hour task may now take 40 minutes. Two steps may happen together. Some repetitive work may be automated or removed. Across recurring tasks, those differences add up.
## Buying AI Is Not the Same as Updating the Process
A field experiment involving [**7,137 knowledge workers across 66 firms**](https://www.nber.org/papers/w33795)³ found that employees using an integrated generative-AI tool spent about [**two fewer hours per week on email**](https://www.nber.org/papers/w33795).³ Researchers also found that simply providing AI did not transform every part of employees’ work.
That distinction matters. Agencies need to update the playbook—not just add AI to an old one.
## When AI Saves Time, Who Benefits?
AI should not make expertise less valuable. Experienced marketers are still needed to validate outputs, interpret data, understand client context, and make strategic decisions. The opportunity is to spend less expert time on repetitive execution and more where judgment matters.
At ROI Accelerate, we bill based on the actual time spent doing the work. If a responsible AI-assisted workflow turns a one-hour task into a 30-minute task, we do not believe the client should keep paying for the old hour simply because that was the historical estimate.
AI has changed the baseline. The question is whether your agency’s workflows, scopes, and billing assumptions have changed with it.
### Sources
¹ Noy, Shakked, and Whitney Zhang. [**“Experimental Evidence on the Productivity Effects of Generative Artificial Intelligence.”**](https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adh2586) *Science*, 2023.
² Brynjolfsson, Erik, Danielle Li, and Lindsey R. Raymond. [**“Generative AI at Work.”**](https://www.nber.org/papers/w31161) National Bureau of Economic Research, Working Paper 31161.
³ Dillon, Eleanor W., Sonia Jaffe, Nicole Immorlica, and Christopher T. Stanton. [**“Shifting Work Patterns with Generative AI.”**](https://www.nber.org/papers/w33795)National Bureau of Economic Research, Working Paper 33795.
**Tags:**
[AI in Marketing,](https://roiaccelerate.com/blog/tag/ai-in-marketing) [AI & Automation,](https://roiaccelerate.com/blog/tag/ai-automation) [Agency Marketing,](https://roiaccelerate.com/blog/tag/agency-marketing) [Marketing Efficiency](https://roiaccelerate.com/blog/tag/marketing-efficiency)
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