WPP launches Hex, the frontier studio built for the era of AI
WPP has launched Hex, the company’s frontier studio built for the era of AI, and operates at the intersection of innovation, imagination and craft.
WPP has launched Hex, the company’s frontier studio built for the era of AI. The talent for Hex is sourced from WPP’s Creative Tech Apprenticeship programme (Source@ WPP WPP
It comprises approximately 50 creative technologists from diverse backgrounds such as architecture, gaming, fine art and robotics.
Sitting within WPP Production’s content production and innovation teams, Hex functions simultaneously as a creative production studio, R&D lab and consultancy.
The studio specialises in generative and agentic AI, gaming, immersive experiences and robotics, and is already delivering innovative work for WPP’s global client roster.
These forward-deployed experts have created AI campaigns, AI assets and TV ads for various brands.
They combined AI coaching with real-time motion capture, recording each participant's movements as they played football and translating the data into personalised dirt patterns at SXSW 2025 for Unilever's Dirt Is Good.
They’ve helped reimagine Britain’s national rail clock by developing a hardware prototype, and they also run AI workshops for Fortune 500 executives, a unique inversion from how agencies have typically used creative talents.
The AI talent gap
Hex's approach provides a direct solution to one of the economy's most significant challenges: the AI talent gap.
Recent findings from DataCamp revealed that while 88% of leaders recognise data and AI literacy to be as fundamental as writing, less than half provide basic training.
Meanwhile, a 2026 Deloitte report showed that only 25% of companies successfully move AI pilots to production, without the parallel investment in people capabilities.
The studio is built on the philosophy that cutting-edge AI models alone don't drive business growth; the real value comes from creative talent that can operationalise the technology.
Working with partners
The studio works closely with technology partners like Adobe, Google and NVIDIA to test emerging tech and explore real-world applications, embedding teams of forward-deployed experts from Hex directly with clients for months at a time to evaluate challenges, build custom solutions and train internal teams to use AI workflows independently.
Creative technology
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.”
Embrace emerging technologies
Tom Payne, senior director of customer strategy and success for EMEA and JAPAC at Adobe, emphasises Hex Studio's ability to rapidly embrace emerging technologies and act as true agents of change makes them an exceptional fit for this collaboration.
“Our team at Adobe looks forward to harnessing that energy to accelerate AI adoption and deliver meaningful, scalable impact for our customers.”
Talent source
The talent for Hex is sourced from WPP’s Creative Tech Apprenticeship (CTA), a nine-month paid programme founded by WPP in 2022.
With a goal of training at least 1,000 people by 2030, the programme addresses the industry’s AI skills gap by recruiting from outside traditional ad schools and engineering programmes, and by focusing its curriculum on creative problem-solving and rapid learning of new technologies.
Lex Bradshaw-Zanger, CDMO, L’Oréal SAPMENA Zone, says they believe the future of beauty is inseparable from the future of technology.
“Having partnered with WPP from the early stages of the programme 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.”
Workforce for the new economy
Elav Horwitz, chief innovation officer, WPP; executive sponsor of Hex, says, “The era of AI demands a fundamental shift in our creative mindset and how we approach problem-solving.
“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.”