Strong first-quarter results for Havas, propelled by AI investments and expansion in the US market.
Havas Embraces AI Investment, Achieves Growth and Margin Improvement
Havas, the global advertising and marketing group, is continuing to see growth and success with existing clients such as Sanofi and GSK, while also experiencing dynamic new business momentum, particularly in North America.
The company's transformation into an AI-driven organization is a key part of its strategy, as announced by CEO Vincent Bolloré. Havas is investing €400 million in AI through 2027, with the aim of transforming its operations and delivering AI-driven growth via its Converged.AI platform.
Launched about a year ago, Converged.AI is a fully AI-enabled product suite aimed at boosting performance, agility, and client relevance. The platform integrates AI across the entire value chain, including targeting, analytics, planning, content personalization, and creative production.
As Havas enters its second year with the strategy, the focus is on building a human-led ecosystem where AI augments human expertise for faster, adaptive, and client-centric solutions. The AI initiative is a core part of Havas' global transformation, targeting sustained growth and margin improvement.
The investment in AI has already helped accelerate organic revenue growth. In the first half of the year, Havas achieved 2.3% growth, with North America leading at 3.9%. The company is also rolling out new AI tools like Vermeer, an AI video production platform, across markets.
The transformation is not just technological but strategic. Havas' goal is to position itself as a leader in AI adoption within communications, giving it a competitive advantage and improving operational efficiency and client value.
Havas continues to pursue bolt-on acquisitions and partnerships to complement its AI-driven growth strategy. The company's first half-year earnings since becoming an independent, publicly traded company were reported following its spin-off from Vivendi in December 2024.
Key new business wins for Havas include Olive Garden, Azid, and Under Armour. The company also reaffirmed its full-year guidance of organic growth above 2% and an adjusted EBIT margin between 12.5% and 13.5%.
Havas' strong margin trend is due to staff cost management, with a 1.6% increase in staff cost compared to a 2.9% increase in net revenue. The company is also investing in training its workforce to harness AI's full potential, with a goal of training 100% of its workforce in AI.
By 2028, Havas aims to achieve a margin of 14% to 15%. The €400 million AI investment is driving the development and scaling of the Converged.AI operating system, embedding AI deeply across Havas' offices and client services to deliver measurable financial improvements and to establish Havas as a leading AI-powered communications group.
- Havas is investing €400 million in AI through 2027, with the aim of transforming its operations and delivering AI-driven growth via its Converged.AI platform, which integrates AI across the entire value chain, including credit decisions made more efficiently through AI-driven analytics.
- As Havas enters its second year with the strategy, the focus is on building a human-led ecosystem where artificial-intelligence augmented human expertise drives faster, adaptive, and client-centric solutions, thereby fostering sustainable growth and margin improvement.
