Could AI end web agencies as we know them? I asked the CEO of Duda (www.techradar.com)

At Duda’s customer summit, CEO Itai Sadan outlined how the platform is embedding AI across the site-building lifecycle — from copy generation, SEO optimization and client content collection to workflow automation — and revealed that roughly 50% of Duda-built sites already use AI. Duda is shipping a native conversational Copilot inside its Editor, supports external assistants (e.g., Claude) via its management/API surfaces, and is investing in AI discoverability features like LLMs.txt and schema optimization. The company positions itself as a white‑label, agency-focused host for more than a million active sites, doubling down on deep platform integration rather than competing with new AI interfaces. The significance for AI/ML practitioners and web agencies is twofold: automation is commoditizing many entry‑level production tasks, but it also raises demand for higher-value services — strategy, digital reputation, AI-enabled marketing and content engineered for LLM-driven discovery (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity). Technically, that means agencies should master LLM prompt/content alignment, schema/structured data, API/assistant integrations, and platform-specific tooling to influence model recommendations. Duda’s stance is pragmatic: AI amplifies throughput and efficiency, but human creativity, strategic outcomes and platform scalability remain the primary sources of agency differentiation and pricing power.