The indie agency era: the shift toward talent-first, tech-enabled creative work
As independent studios move toward more flexible, collaborative, tech-enabled structures, TOML’s model offers one example of how an open, adaptive, talent-first approach can take shape in practice.
As big networks merge and chase scale, independent studios are taking a different path, moving faster, staying closer to culture, and producing work that feels more intentional. Many are founded by senior talent leaving holding companies in search of autonomy and healthier ways of working. The shift is clear: independents now account for most industry turnover, and seven of Ad Age’s top ten agencies in 2025 are indie. Studios like Mother, Uncommon, and Anomaly show how independent thinking can shape culture and win major accounts, from Mother’s ‘FCK’ apology for KFC to Uncommon’s 500-version ‘A British Original’ for British Airways.
Indie agencies are rising because the industry has moved toward agility, collaboration, and tight-knit creative teams. Clients want partners who can move quickly, think freely, and respond to culture without layers of hierarchy. In response, many indies or collectives, including TOML Collective, are leading the way by choosing independence over acquisition and building flexible, talent-led models that prioritize creativity over bureaucracy and collaboration over rigid structures.
What’s really driving the change
Independent creatives and small agencies increasingly share talent, credit, and even revenue to get work made together, while leaders work to reduce burnout by building cultures where time, care, and fulfillment matter more than long hours. People want to make work that resonates, not just produce for the sake of output. Technology is accelerating this shift. New tools have democratized production, making high-quality creative work accessible to far more people.
Rick Rubin, reflecting on how creativity is changing in the age of AI tools, suggests that the creator’s role is shifting. Instead of writing every line, the work becomes about setting the tone, defining the vibe, and letting the system respond. It’s a useful way to understand how these indie agencies operate. Leadership becomes less about control and more about direction, and teams shift from executing tasks to shaping the atmosphere, intention, and feel of the work. When people vibe together, ideas go deeper, insights sharpen, and collaboration becomes co-creation. This is the mindset driving the new creative model: collaborative, healthier, purposeful, and supported by tools that free people to focus on the part of the work only humans can do.
The rise of new agency models
For decades, agencies prioritized scale, using big teams and structured roles to deliver predictable output. Indie agencies have flipped this script by giving clients direct access to the people who shape the work and through building more flexible partnerships. This shift has accelerated what many call the indie agency era, and TOML is one example within this wider movement, shaped by the same push toward talent-first, intentional ways of working.
Inside the TOML agency model
TOML operates on a simple philosophy: culture over hierarchy. The focus is on trust, creative freedom, and removing unnecessary layers, creating a healthy environment built on balance and respect for craft. The agency combines an in-house team with curated talents from their large pool of talent they represent and collaborate with. People are chosen for fit, perspective, and passion rather than job titles. This approach encourages collaboration over ego and gives every team member a sense of ownership. It also creates space for curiosity and growth, allowing individuals to take risks, ask for help, and shape the work more directly.
TOML works within an ecosystem of long-term partners built on mutual trust, shared autonomy, and creative alignment. Wins are shared, challenges are solved together, and relationships operate more like creative alliances than traditional vendor–client setups. This model gives projects direct access to senior creatives and a wider range of expertise, helping brands simplify complex ideas and elevate their storytelling. The collective brings together people from a wide range of cultures and disciplines. With an in-house team of around 10, a curated 25-strong team of ‘members’ who work project-based with TOML, and a wider pool of more than 50 creatives worldwide, they form curated groups that bring fresh thinking to each brief. This network has supported projects for organizations such as UBS, ETH Zürich, McKinsey & Company, Salesforce, Harry Potter, and Siebert Financial, and has led to partnerships with studios including Unit9, Red Bull Media House, Waste Creative, and IDEO.
“We never set out to become the biggest,” says founder Virtyt Pula. “We wanted to build something different, a collective approach where talent comes first, creativity is respected, and collaboration isn’t restricted by borders.”
TOML’s remote-first model predates the pandemic, but COVID highlighted the strength of this structure. While many agencies struggled to adapt to distributed work, TOML’s setup allowed projects to continue almost seamlessly. Its role as an embedded partner on global campaigns shows how smaller, talent-led collectives can operate with the clarity, agility, and craft that larger agencies often lack.
The age of automation
AI is reshaping how we create, acting as a collaborator rather than a replacement. It expands ideas while the purpose of creativity stays the same: to tell meaningful stories and solve problems in original ways. Indie agencies adapt quickly because they have fewer layers and more room to experiment, allowing them to integrate new tools faster and use them to amplify talent. TOML works in this way, bringing AI specialists together with filmmakers, writers, and designers to open new creative possibilities. Its flexible model shows how AI can strengthen the work by giving teams more space to think, refine, and bring clarity to complex ideas. The collective continues building its AI production arm, developing workflows that boost efficiency while protecting the quality of the craft.
The future of creative work is moving toward nimble, culture-led studios that can adapt, experiment, and embrace new tools without losing their human core. Indie agencies are not a trend. They are a blueprint for the creative agencies of the future.
Originally published on the Drum.
Written by Debora Deva
Debbie is a writer, art director, and multidisciplinary creative at TOML Collective. With a background in advertising, she brings fresh perspectives to the journal — aiming to educate, question, and spark new ideas.
Get in touch with debora@tomlcollective.com