Marketing agencies are replacing manual influencer scouting with AI agent systems that autonomously screen millions of creator profiles, match them to campaign specs, and rank candidates for brand deals. Digiday reports that the shift is accelerating across both holding companies and independents, with Dentsu, Creo, and Later all running AI-driven creator discovery tools in production.
Dentsu’s CATS System
Dentsu has been running an AI agent system called “Creator & Trends Studio” (CATS) since January 2026. Built around an API deal with Meta, CATS suggests creators based on subject matter, audience profile, and whether they’re participating in a given social media trend. Shenda Loughnane, global brand president at Dentsu X, told Digiday the goal is to turn a brand’s ability to “tap into culture” via influencers into a repeatable, data-driven system.
The results are measurable. For skincare brand Elizabeth Arden, Dentsu’s AI-led creator approach produced a 14.3% increase in unaided ad recall and a 41% rise in sales conversions from partnership ads, according to Digiday.
Dentsu X formally launched the broader framework as “The Creator Catalyst” on March 23, a playbook that positions CATS at the center of AI-led discovery, trend modeling, and creator selection across its global client roster. Dentsu’s own research, cited in the playbook, shows influencer-led content captures up to 73% more attention than brand-led ads.
Scale Numbers from Walmart and Creo
The volume of creators being managed has grown beyond what human teams can handle. Walmart now deploys “hundreds of thousands” of creators per campaign, according to Sarah Henry, the retailer’s VP and head of content, influencer, and commerce, speaking at the ANA’s 2026 Media Conference. Walmart selects creators based on engagement metrics rather than follower count.
Kevin Blazaitis, president at agency Creo, told Digiday that AI tools have enabled his firm to work with 30-40% more influencers per campaign on average. Creo’s Discovery Agent handles initial screening, and Blazaitis argued the tool could reduce political and racial biases in the discovery process.
A $528 Billion Market Going Algorithmic
The creator economy is projected to reach $528 billion globally by 2030, according to data cited in Dentsu’s Creator Catalyst playbook. At the same time, WARC reports that 60% of marketers struggle to identify creators who genuinely fit their brand.
Independent agency Later has been using AI for creator discovery for six months. Its system matches campaign briefs to candidate influencers and models potential content performance based on historical engagement data. CEO Scott Sutton told Digiday the tool gives brands “a much richer picture” and higher confidence in campaign ROAS.
Startup Devotion, which emerged from stealth in March with $4 million in seed funding, deploys thousands of AI agents to comb through creator data across platforms. Co-founder Cami Téllez (previously founder of Parade) told Vogue the company helps brands scale from working with 20-30 creators per month to 500-1,000.
What Stays Human
The agencies running these tools maintain that human judgment remains essential for top-tier talent. Later’s Sutton drew a clear line: campaigns involving “quasi-celebrity figures or household names” still require manual, white-glove casting. For the growing army of nano- and micro-influencers, AI handles the pipeline.
“I don’t view this as a replacement for humans,” Creo’s Blazaitis told Digiday. “It’s giving them a better starting point.”
The pattern tracks with automation adoption in other industries: autonomous agents take over high-volume, repeatable screening, while humans focus on the high-stakes, relationship-intensive tier. For the creator economy, that means the vast majority of influencer casting decisions will soon be made by algorithms, with human judgment reserved for the most expensive partnerships.