As AI puts pressure on the business model, agencies are scrambling to find new, sustainable ways to charge for their services. Horizon Media is attempting to move away from billable hours entirely in favor of performance-based contracts—a shift that is still in its early stages.
To make it happen, the independent media agency has brought on agency vet Bhavana Smith as chief operating officer, with a mandate to shift the business toward compensation built not around staffing accounts, but delivering business results.
Supporting Smith are three senior leaders—Katie Comerford, Katy Ferguson, and Cherie Hankin Calingasan—who have been elevated into new roles as president of Horizon Commerce and client transformation, president of Horizon Middle East, and president of Horizon Next, respectively.
