{"id":3243,"date":"2026-08-20T06:40:30","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T06:40:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/?p=3243"},"modified":"2026-08-20T06:40:31","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T06:40:31","slug":"ai-efficiency-agency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/ai-efficiency-agency\/","title":{"rendered":"20 to 30% More Efficient with AI: What the Digital Experience Group Actually Measures"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ask an agency leader how AI is changing their business and you&#8217;ll usually get one of two rehearsed answers: breathless optimism or quiet denial. Andreas Schwarz, Co-CEO at the Digital Experience Group, gives you neither.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;AI gets me out of bed in the morning, in a good and in a bad way. On the one hand, it&#8217;s definitely a massive change and a challenge for our business model. But it&#8217;s also an amazing opportunity.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Schwarz leads a group that spans both ends of the digital spectrum: Ergosign, a company focused on user experience, and Small, a classic digital marketing and digital products agency that helps clients put their products in the best light through digital storytelling. That vantage point, with UX craft on one side and marketing production on the other, makes him unusually well placed to say what AI is actually doing to agency work, as opposed to what the hype says it should be doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What follows is his honest accounting: the real efficiency number (it&#8217;s not 10x), the outsourcing work that quietly disappeared, and why the most AI-mature clients are doing something unexpected: putting money back into brand. His perspective lands alongside other voices in this series, from <a href=\"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/geo-vs-seo-claneo-matthaeus-michalik\/\">Claneo&#8217;s Matth\u00e4us Michalik on why GEO is not just SEO<\/a> to <a href=\"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/seo-shift-ai-search\/\">Slopelift&#8217;s shift from SEO to AI search<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Truth About AI Efficiency Gains: 20\u201330%, Not 10x (Agency Co-CEO)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/qZhMSIAF2mo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-the-real-number-is-20-to-30-not-10x\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">The real number is 20 to 30%, not 10x<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The most refreshing thing Schwarz says is also the least dramatic. Asked what efficiency gains AI actually delivers across the services his companies provide, he doesn&#8217;t reach for a moonshot figure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;It really depends on the details, and you always have to double-click into stuff. You see areas where a task takes 20 to 30% of the time it took before. In other areas, it doesn&#8217;t have an effect at all. Overall, in the services we provide, it&#8217;s about 20 to 30%, more or less the average KPI you can read everywhere. Realistically, that&#8217;s also what we see.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two things stand out in that answer. First, the distribution is lumpy: some tasks collapse to a fraction of their former effort, while others are untouched. Second, the headline industry number, the 20 to 30% you see in every consultancy report, matches what a hands-on agency group actually measures. No inflation, no deflation. And Schwarz notes his teams tend to work on the high end of product work, where the easy wins are fewer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Where the gains land is telling. &#8220;With a relatively small team, we can do a lot more. Replicating content, building content: we spend less time on the tedious, repeating jobs and focus more on the exciting part, where we can really make a change and our creative teams can play their strong hand.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-the-work-that-used-to-go-nearshore-now-stays-in-house\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">The work that used to go nearshore now stays in-house<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Buried in the efficiency discussion is a structural shift that should worry outsourcing providers more than agencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;The tasks we would have outsourced into nearshoring, we can now do ourselves with AI. I&#8217;m not saying it&#8217;s black and white, but there are a couple of additional shades of gray in the game.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is the quiet reallocation happening inside agencies right now: the production layer that used to be arbitraged on labor cost is being arbitraged on compute instead. The work doesn&#8217;t leave the building anymore. For clients, the delivery looks the same. For the agency&#8217;s cost structure, and for the nearshore firms that used to catch that work, it&#8217;s a very different picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-ai-mature-companies-are-reinvesting-in-brand\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">AI-mature companies are reinvesting in brand<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Where are clients putting their budgets? Schwarz&#8217;s answer starts predictably and ends with a twist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I would say the majority of clients invest more in products than in brands,&#8221; he says. But that&#8217;s not the whole story. &#8220;There are a couple of them thinking about revamping the brand, and that&#8217;s where you see investment. It&#8217;s repositioning, rethinking.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The twist is who those companies are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Especially companies who have taken the AI change seriously and are a little bit ahead of the curve, there you see reinvestment in brand again. There&#8217;s a clear picture that, yes, you need to differentiate.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Read that back slowly, because it cuts against the intuition that AI-forward companies are the most product-and-performance obsessed. The companies furthest along the AI curve are the ones concluding that when production is cheap and content is abundant, brand becomes the scarce asset. When everyone can build and publish at machine speed, differentiation is the thing machines can&#8217;t commoditize. It&#8217;s the same conclusion Zurich Insurance Germany reached from the demand side: <a href=\"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/zurich-insurance-ai-search-daniel-reeh\/\">brand mentions are the new standard<\/a> in AI search.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What separates those clients from the rest isn&#8217;t industry or size, in Schwarz&#8217;s telling. It&#8217;s maturity. &#8220;They take the data-driven, programmatic, AI-driven path a lot more serious, from the get-go, or have started earlier. It&#8217;s the AI or digital maturity they have.&#8221; Plus, he adds, the individuals: on every client side there are people who are &#8220;more visionary and more adventurous&#8221; in these areas, and they pull their organizations forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-the-accessibility-act-woke-people-up\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Accessibility Act woke people up<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ergosign has always positioned itself as human-centric, so accessibility is not a bolt-on for Schwarz&#8217;s teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Accessibility is playing a really big role in how we present content. Ergosign has always been human-centric. The human part has always been at the forefront of our thinking. The word itself and the offering didn&#8217;t exist ten years ago, but the ideas have always been there.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What changed is the client side, and it took regulation to do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;From the client side, there&#8217;s more focus now. And with the push through the European Accessibility Act, that has really woken up quite a few people.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It&#8217;s a familiar pattern: values-driven agencies advocate for something for years, and a compliance deadline finally converts it into budget. The agencies that treated accessibility as core practice rather than a checkbox are the ones positioned to serve that demand now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-websites-won-t-die-but-they-ll-matter-less\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Websites won&#8217;t die, but they&#8217;ll matter less<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With <a href=\"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/ai-changed-seo\/\">AI assistants increasingly answering questions before anyone clicks through<\/a>, does <a href=\"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/agentic-websites\/\">the website itself have a future<\/a>? Schwarz&#8217;s forecast is measured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;The relevance will be lower in the future, but I don&#8217;t see websites going away completely. As a basic platform to look for products, especially with strong products and strong brands.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Note the qualifier, because it connects back to his brand argument: it&#8217;s <em>strong brands<\/em> whose websites keep their pull. The weaker your brand, the more your website&#8217;s fate depends on <a href=\"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/how-to-get-cited-ai-search\/\">whatever an AI engine decides to cite<\/a>. The stronger your brand, the more people come looking for you deliberately. Which is one more reason the AI-mature companies are reinvesting in exactly that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-the-hardest-problem-isn-t-the-technology\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">The hardest problem isn&#8217;t the technology<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Asked what the biggest challenge is right now, Schwarz doesn&#8217;t name a tool, a model, or a skills gap. He names the business model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;The majority is really how to manage the change to our business model. There are opportunities and there are challenges: how to balance that, make sure we stay relevant in the market, and also find a proper commercial model which creates a win-win situation for us and our customers.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That last part is the unglamorous heart of the agency AI story. When a task that took a day takes an hour, who captures the difference, the agency&#8217;s margin or the client&#8217;s invoice? Every agency is renegotiating that answer right now, client by client. The technology is the easy part. Pricing it is the transformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-key-takeaways\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Key takeaways<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Plan around 20 to 30%, not 10x.<\/strong> Real-world AI efficiency gains across agency services average 20 to 30%, matching the industry benchmark. The gains are lumpy: some tasks collapse to a fraction of their former time, others don&#8217;t move at all.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>AI is eating nearshoring before it eats agencies.<\/strong> Production work that used to be outsourced on labor cost is moving back in-house on compute cost.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Watch what AI-mature companies do with brand.<\/strong> The clients furthest ahead on AI are reinvesting in brand, because when content is abundant, differentiation is the scarce asset.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Digital maturity, not industry, predicts AI adoption.<\/strong> The clients taking the data-driven, programmatic path seriously are the ones with existing digital maturity, plus a visionary individual pushing internally.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Regulation converts values into budgets.<\/strong> Accessibility was always the right thing to do; the European Accessibility Act made it a line item.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Websites will matter less, not disappear<\/strong>, and strong brands are the ones whose websites keep their relevance.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The real transformation is commercial, not technical.<\/strong> The hardest question isn&#8217;t how to use AI. It&#8217;s how to price work in a way that stays a win-win for agency and client.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Want to see where your brand shows up in AI answers, and who&#8217;s getting cited instead of you?<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/\">Track your AI search visibility with OtterlyAI<\/a> across ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Perplexity, Gemini and Copilot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ask an agency leader how AI is changing their business and you&#8217;ll usually get one of two rehearsed answers: breathless optimism or quiet denial. Andreas Schwarz, Co-CEO at the Digital Experience Group, gives you neither. &#8220;AI gets me out of bed in the morning, in a good and in a bad way. On the one [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3247,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_ayudawp_aiss_exclude":false,"_ayudawp_aiss_exclude_summary":false,"_ayudawp_aiss_summary":"Schwarz leads a group that spans both ends of the digital spectrum: Ergosign, a company focused on user experience, and Small, a classic digital marketing and digital products agency that helps clients put their products in the best light through digital storytelling. It's the AI or digital maturity they have.\" Plus, he adds, the individuals: on every client side there are people who are \"more visionary and more adventurous\" in these areas, and they pull their organizations forward. The clients taking the data-driven, programmatic path seriously are the ones with existing digital maturity, plus a visionary individual pushing internally.","_ayudawp_aiss_summary_provider":"extractive","_ayudawp_aiss_summary_hash":"0932de7202391a6033e75edab769ac1e60af821b","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ai-search-experiences","eq-blocks"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.8 (Yoast SEO v28.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>20 to 30% More Efficient with AI: What the Digital Experience Group Actually Measures - AI Search Visibility Blog | Insights and Data | OtterlyAI<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/ai-efficiency-agency\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"20 to 30% More Efficient with AI: What the Digital Experience Group Actually Measures\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ask an agency leader how AI is changing their business and you&#8217;ll usually get one of two rehearsed answers: breathless optimism or quiet denial. Andreas Schwarz, Co-CEO at the Digital Experience Group, gives you neither. &#8220;AI gets me out of bed in the morning, in a good and in a bad way. On the one [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/ai-efficiency-agency\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"AI Search Visibility Blog | Insights and Data | OtterlyAI\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-20T06:40:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-20T06:40:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/andreas-schwarz-digital-experience-group-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Thomas Peham\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Thomas Peham\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/otterly.ai\\\/blog\\\/ai-efficiency-agency\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/otterly.ai\\\/blog\\\/ai-efficiency-agency\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Thomas Peham\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/otterly.ai\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d9f9e885bc84dc136657d8b366c6864c\"},\"headline\":\"20 to 30% More Efficient with AI: What the Digital Experience Group Actually Measures\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-20T06:40:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-20T06:40:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/otterly.ai\\\/blog\\\/ai-efficiency-agency\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1519,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/otterly.ai\\\/blog\\\/ai-efficiency-agency\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/otterly.ai\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/andreas-schwarz-digital-experience-group-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"AI Search Experiences\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2026\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/otterly.ai\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/otterly.ai\\\/blog\\\/ai-efficiency-agency\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/otterly.ai\\\/blog\\\/ai-efficiency-agency\\\/\",\"name\":\"20 to 30% More Efficient with AI: What the Digital Experience Group Actually Measures - AI Search Visibility Blog | Insights and Data | OtterlyAI\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/otterly.ai\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/otterly.ai\\\/blog\\\/ai-efficiency-agency\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/otterly.ai\\\/blog\\\/ai-efficiency-agency\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/otterly.ai\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/andreas-schwarz-digital-experience-group-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-20T06:40:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-20T06:40:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/otterly.ai\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d9f9e885bc84dc136657d8b366c6864c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/otterly.ai\\\/blog\\\/ai-efficiency-agency\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/otterly.ai\\\/blog\\\/ai-efficiency-agency\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/otterly.ai\\\/blog\\\/ai-efficiency-agency\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/otterly.ai\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/andreas-schwarz-digital-experience-group-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/otterly.ai\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/andreas-schwarz-digital-experience-group-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"Andreas Schwarz\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/otterly.ai\\\/blog\\\/ai-efficiency-agency\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/otterly.ai\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"20 to 30% More Efficient with AI: What the Digital Experience Group Actually Measures\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/otterly.ai\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/otterly.ai\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"AI Search Visibility Blog | Insights and Data | OtterlyAI\",\"description\":\"OtterlyAI - Your Partner for AI Search Monitoring, AEO &amp; GEO\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/otterly.ai\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/otterly.ai\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d9f9e885bc84dc136657d8b366c6864c\",\"name\":\"Thomas Peham\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b846598555be6632d4d291f569762665aa08893c497e5712c61a6f6ba2076aee?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b846598555be6632d4d291f569762665aa08893c497e5712c61a6f6ba2076aee?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b846598555be6632d4d291f569762665aa08893c497e5712c61a6f6ba2076aee?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Thomas Peham\"},\"description\":\"About Thomas Peham Thomas Peham is a seasoned marketing executive, SaaS strategist, and product-growth enthusiast with more than a decade of experience building, scaling, and leading high-performing marketing teams. Known for combining analytical thinking with a deep understanding of customer needs, Thomas has helped numerous global SaaS companies accelerate growth, strengthen their brands, and navigate major shifts in digital marketing. With a strong background in content marketing, product-led growth, SEO, and demand generation, Thomas specializes in crafting marketing strategies that drive both short-term impact and long-term value. He has led initiatives across the entire marketing spectrum\u2014from positioning and messaging to go-to-market strategy, customer acquisition, and lifecycle marketing. His leadership approach is rooted in clarity, collaboration, and continuous learning. Thomas is especially passionate about the intersection of product and marketing. He believes great marketing starts with a deep understanding of the product and its users. As a result, he is known for bridging teams, eliminating silos, and enabling cohesive, customer-centric execution across product, marketing, and sales. Beyond his executive work, Thomas regularly shares insights on: SaaS marketing strategy Leadership and team development Product-led growth and user engagement The impact of AI on modern marketing Sustainable, scalable growth frameworks As a writer and contributor, his style focuses on practical advice, real-world examples, and clear takeaways that help others grow their skills and careers in marketing and technology. When he\u2019s not working with teams or writing about SaaS, Thomas enjoys exploring Austria\u2019s outdoors, mentoring young marketers, and staying curious about the rapidly evolving world of AI, digital platforms, and product innovation.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/otterly.ai\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/thomaspeham\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/otterly.ai\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/tomp\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<meta property=\"og:video\" content=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/qZhMSIAF2mo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:video:type\" content=\"text\/html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:video:duration\" content=\"404\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:video:width\" content=\"480\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:video:height\" content=\"270\" \/>\n<meta property=\"ya:ovs:adult\" content=\"false\" \/>\n<meta property=\"ya:ovs:upload_date\" content=\"2026-08-20T06:40:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"ya:ovs:allow_embed\" content=\"true\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"20 to 30% More Efficient with AI: What the Digital Experience Group Actually Measures - AI Search Visibility Blog | Insights and Data | OtterlyAI","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/ai-efficiency-agency\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"20 to 30% More Efficient with AI: What the Digital Experience Group Actually Measures","og_description":"Ask an agency leader how AI is changing their business and you&#8217;ll usually get one of two rehearsed answers: breathless optimism or quiet denial. Andreas Schwarz, Co-CEO at the Digital Experience Group, gives you neither. &#8220;AI gets me out of bed in the morning, in a good and in a bad way. On the one [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/ai-efficiency-agency\/","og_site_name":"AI Search Visibility Blog | Insights and Data | OtterlyAI","article_published_time":"2026-08-20T06:40:30+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-20T06:40:31+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/andreas-schwarz-digital-experience-group-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Thomas Peham","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Thomas Peham","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/ai-efficiency-agency\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/ai-efficiency-agency\/"},"author":{"name":"Thomas Peham","@id":"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d9f9e885bc84dc136657d8b366c6864c"},"headline":"20 to 30% More Efficient with AI: What the Digital Experience Group Actually Measures","datePublished":"2026-08-20T06:40:30+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-20T06:40:31+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/ai-efficiency-agency\/"},"wordCount":1519,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/ai-efficiency-agency\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/andreas-schwarz-digital-experience-group-scaled.jpg","articleSection":["AI Search Experiences"],"inLanguage":"en-US","copyrightYear":"2026","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/ai-efficiency-agency\/","url":"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/ai-efficiency-agency\/","name":"20 to 30% More Efficient with AI: What the Digital Experience Group Actually Measures - AI Search Visibility Blog | Insights and Data | OtterlyAI","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/ai-efficiency-agency\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/ai-efficiency-agency\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/andreas-schwarz-digital-experience-group-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2026-08-20T06:40:30+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-20T06:40:31+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d9f9e885bc84dc136657d8b366c6864c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/ai-efficiency-agency\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/ai-efficiency-agency\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/ai-efficiency-agency\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/andreas-schwarz-digital-experience-group-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/andreas-schwarz-digital-experience-group-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707,"caption":"Andreas Schwarz"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/ai-efficiency-agency\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"20 to 30% More Efficient with AI: What the Digital Experience Group Actually Measures"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/","name":"AI Search Visibility Blog | Insights and Data | OtterlyAI","description":"OtterlyAI - Your Partner for AI Search Monitoring, AEO &amp; GEO","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d9f9e885bc84dc136657d8b366c6864c","name":"Thomas Peham","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b846598555be6632d4d291f569762665aa08893c497e5712c61a6f6ba2076aee?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b846598555be6632d4d291f569762665aa08893c497e5712c61a6f6ba2076aee?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b846598555be6632d4d291f569762665aa08893c497e5712c61a6f6ba2076aee?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Thomas Peham"},"description":"About Thomas Peham Thomas Peham is a seasoned marketing executive, SaaS strategist, and product-growth enthusiast with more than a decade of experience building, scaling, and leading high-performing marketing teams. Known for combining analytical thinking with a deep understanding of customer needs, Thomas has helped numerous global SaaS companies accelerate growth, strengthen their brands, and navigate major shifts in digital marketing. With a strong background in content marketing, product-led growth, SEO, and demand generation, Thomas specializes in crafting marketing strategies that drive both short-term impact and long-term value. He has led initiatives across the entire marketing spectrum\u2014from positioning and messaging to go-to-market strategy, customer acquisition, and lifecycle marketing. His leadership approach is rooted in clarity, collaboration, and continuous learning. Thomas is especially passionate about the intersection of product and marketing. He believes great marketing starts with a deep understanding of the product and its users. As a result, he is known for bridging teams, eliminating silos, and enabling cohesive, customer-centric execution across product, marketing, and sales. Beyond his executive work, Thomas regularly shares insights on: SaaS marketing strategy Leadership and team development Product-led growth and user engagement The impact of AI on modern marketing Sustainable, scalable growth frameworks As a writer and contributor, his style focuses on practical advice, real-world examples, and clear takeaways that help others grow their skills and careers in marketing and technology. When he\u2019s not working with teams or writing about SaaS, Thomas enjoys exploring Austria\u2019s outdoors, mentoring young marketers, and staying curious about the rapidly evolving world of AI, digital platforms, and product innovation.","sameAs":["https:\/\/otterly.ai","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/thomaspeham\/"],"url":"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/author\/tomp\/"}]},"og_video":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/qZhMSIAF2mo","og_video_type":"text\/html","og_video_duration":"404","og_video_width":"480","og_video_height":"270","ya_ovs_adult":"false","ya_ovs_upload_date":"2026-08-20T06:40:30+00:00","ya_ovs_allow_embed":"true"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3243"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3243\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3248,"href":"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3243\/revisions\/3248"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/otterly.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}