If AI Can Do the Work Faster, What Should Agencies Be Selling? With Eric Weidner | Ep #871

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If AI can now write, design, and build faster than your team, what does a profitable agency actually sell next? Most agency owners have experienced a weird mix of excitement and anxiety about AI. On the surface, it feels like everything is changing overnight, including websites, content, search, development, and even how clients perceive value. Underneath that panic, though, there’s a calmer truth: the fundamentals of running a great agency haven’t changed at all. The tools have.

Today’s featured guest talks candidly about where AI actually helps agencies, where it’s wildly overhyped, and why agency owners who focus on systems, relationships, and leverage will win while everyone else burns out chasing shiny tools.

Eric Weidner is the founder of Workbox, a digital agency specializing in websites and custom applications for pharmaceutical companies and pharma marketing agencies. With a background that stretches back to the early days of the web, Eric has built, rebuilt, and adapted his agency multiple times, and today he’s deep in the practical application of AI for real agency work, not just demos and hype.

In this episode, we’ll discuss:

• How agencies are positioned to win with AI.

• Avoid creating client disappointment with incorrect use of AI.

• The brutal reality for agencies that rely on “set it and forget it” marketing.

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Sponsors and Resources

E2M Solutions: Today's episode of the Smart Agency Masterclass is sponsored by E2M Solutions, a web design, and development agency that has provided white-label services for the past 10 years to agencies all over the world. Check out e2msolutions.com/smartagency and get 10% off for the first three months of service.

The Road to Becoming a Long-Term Agency Operator

Eric fell into web development in the mid-90s while working as a secretary administrator at a law firm in San Francisco. Exposure to early tech including computer networks, WordPerfect, XML, and eventually HTML turned into freelance work. That freelance work led to clients and eventually an agency.

His story mirrors how most agencies actually begin, with skill, opportunity, and momentum. The problem is that what gets you started is rarely what helps you scale. Eric’s longevity comes from his willingness to evolve without abandoning the fundamentals that keep agencies profitable.

And that’s the trap many agency owners fall into today: assuming AI is a complete reset instead of a force multiplier for the right business model.

Why AI Feels Like a Career Defining Moment for Agencies

When ChatGPT first came out, Eric didn’t treat it like a novelty. He went all in because, for the first time in years, the intellectual challenge of building and running an agency felt exciting again.

For a lot of seasoned agency owners, the business had become… static. Same services. Same delivery challenges. Same team bottlenecks. AI cracked that open. Suddenly, there were new problems to solve, new efficiencies to unlock, and new ways to multiply output without multiplying headcount.

Ai introduced a chance to rethink how work gets done, how fast ideas move, and how agencies create leverage, not just more work.

Eric has no blind optimism when it comes to AI. It isn’t magic, and it’s not ready to replace strategic thinking. But it is a force multiplier for agencies that understand systems.

That’s the opportunity most agencies are missing.

Instead of asking, “How do we sell AI to clients?” the smarter question is:

“How do we use AI to reduce friction, speed up delivery, and improve results—then package that advantage?”

Agencies that do this become faster, leaner, and more profitable. Agencies that don’t end up stuck in fulfillment, competing on price, and drowning in tools they don’t fully understand.

AI Is Powerful But It Still Needs a Human Brain

AI tools can feel like a superpower, especially if you’ve never loved certain parts of your job. Writing, development, ideation, and prototyping are faster than ever.

But there’s a catch.

AI works best at the first pass. Ask it to build a landing page, mock up a system, or outline functionality, and it shines. Ask it to make nuanced, detailed changes across a complex system, and it starts to fall apart. In a  sense, AI is like a drunk intern—brilliant on the first assignment, frustrating when you ask for revisions.

For agency owners, this matters because selling AI as a silver bullet is a fast way to create client disappointment. The agencies that win will be the ones who understand where AI increases leverage and where human judgment still matters.

Websites, Search, and the Shift Nobody’s Talking About

One of the most important things to understand if you’re building a website nowadays is that we’re not building websites just for humans anymore.

As AI-driven search becomes more dominant, users don’t always need to click through to a site to get answers. That changes how content, SEO, and authority work. Eric points to GEO—Generative Engine Optimization—as the next evolution of SEO, where freshness, clarity, and structured authority matter more than volume.

This creates a brutal reality for agencies that rely on “set it and forget it” marketing. To stay visible, brands must publish consistently. Content often needs to be less than 90 days old to stay relevant in AI-driven systems.

For agency owners already stuck in fulfillment, this is a warning sign. More services, more content, more tools without better systems just equals faster burnout.

Content Alone Isn’t Enough. Your Voice Builds Trust

With AI flooding the internet with content, differentiation matters more—not less. People don’t just consume content, they build relationships with voices they trust.

That’s why podcasts, communities, and consistent thought leadership outperform random marketing tactics. When people hear you think out loud for years, trust compounds. In an AI-saturated world, that human connection becomes the advantage.

Or as Jason puts it: when agency owners say they need more leads, the answer is often boring but effective. Build a platform. Build trust. Stay visible.

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