DEPT review

Excellent — 5 of 5 on this rubric’s scale, from Poor (1) to Excellent (5). This dimension carries 22% of the total score.

Benchmark — across the 18 other agencies evaluated in this discipline, this dimension runs Excellent 7 · Strong 4 · Adequate 5 · Weak 1 · Poor 1. The typical agency here scores Strong, and none scores higher than this one.

What this dimension measures: Can actually build and ship AI systems, not just advise.

Scores high — In-house engineering, custom agents/workflows, and named implementations score 4-5.

Scores low — 'AI strategy' decks and prompt libraries handed back to the client score 1-2.

What we found — DEPT describes a multidisciplinary AI team of 400+ creatives and engineers building custom models and AI-enabled products. That is the high band above, which is why it scored Excellent.

On the record — “DEPT says its AI practice includes 400+ creatives and engineers who build custom models and integrate AI into creative and product experiences.” deptagency.com ↗

Evidence: verified — checked against a named source you can open; the links under Sources below are where to check it yourself.

Excellent — 5 of 5 on this rubric’s scale, from Poor (1) to Excellent (5). This dimension carries 18% of the total score.

Benchmark — across the 18 other agencies evaluated in this discipline, this dimension runs Excellent 6 · Strong 10 · Adequate 2. The typical agency here scores Strong, and none scores higher than this one.

What this dimension measures: Ties AI work to a countable outcome — pipeline created, hours/cost removed, throughput gained.

Scores high — Concrete before/after numbers score 4-5.

Scores low — 'Efficiency' claimed with no measurement scores 2.

What we found — Amazon Ads documents a DEPT/JBL program that lifted ROAS 123%. That is the high band above, which is why it scored Excellent.

On the record — “Amazon Ads reports that DEPT helped JBL lift ROAS by 123% using Amazon Marketing Cloud.” advertising.amazon.com ↗

pipeline — the dollar value of open, qualified deals sales is working. “Pipeline created” ties marketing to money, where lead counts don’t.

ROAS — return on ad spend: revenue per dollar of advertising. Platform-reported ROAS overstates; independently measured ROAS is the honest version.

Evidence: verified — checked against a named source you can open; the links under Sources below are where to check it yourself.

Excellent — 5 of 5 on this rubric’s scale, from Poor (1) to Excellent (5). This dimension carries 15% of the total score.

Benchmark — across the 18 other agencies evaluated in this discipline, this dimension runs Excellent 9 · Strong 5 · Adequate 4. The typical agency here scores Excellent, and none scores higher than this one.

What this dimension measures: Depth in a real stack (HubSpot, Clay, n8n/Make, Python, LLM/agent frameworks, CRM/data plumbing).

Scores high — Named, verifiable integrations score 4-5.

Scores low — Vague 'we use AI tools' scores 2-3.

What we found — The offer spans models, data science, agents, products, customer experience, automation, and marketing platforms. That is the high band above, which is why it scored Excellent.

CRM — customer relationship management system: the database of record for contacts and deals — HubSpot, Salesforce and kin.

Evidence: verified — checked against a named source you can open; the links under Sources below are where to check it yourself.

Excellent — 5 of 5 on this rubric’s scale, from Poor (1) to Excellent (5). This dimension carries 18% of the total score.

Benchmark — across the 18 other agencies evaluated in this discipline, this dimension runs Excellent 5 · Strong 6 · Adequate 5 · Weak 2. The typical agency here scores Strong, and none scores higher than this one.

What this dimension measures: The anti-slop razor: is there engineering underneath, or is 'AI' branding over ordinary marketing?

Scores high — Demonstrable technical work (code, agents, monitoring, data models) scores 4-5.

Scores low — Buzzword-only positioning is a red flag scoring 1-2.

What we found — Published work shows implementation depth beyond AI-themed messaging. That is the high band above, which is why it scored Excellent.

Evidence: verified — checked against a named source you can open; the links under Sources below are where to check it yourself.

Strong — 4 of 5 on this rubric’s scale, from Poor (1) to Excellent (5). This dimension carries 12% of the total score.

Benchmark — across the 18 other agencies evaluated in this discipline, this dimension runs Excellent 7 · Strong 6 · Adequate 3 · Weak 2. The typical agency here scores Strong, and 7 of them score higher than this one.

What this dimension measures: Named clients and independent proof (G2/Clutch reviews, case studies with specifics).

Scores high — A credible roster with third-party reviews scores 4-5.

Scores low — Self-claims with no findable footprint score 1-2; young shops with thin proof are marked accordingly.

What we found — Enterprise cases include JBL and other global brands, with at least one independently hosted result. That is the high band above, which is why it scored Strong.

Evidence: verified — checked against a named source you can open; the links under Sources below are where to check it yourself.

Excellent — 5 of 5 on this rubric’s scale, from Poor (1) to Excellent (5). This dimension carries 10% of the total score.

Benchmark — across the 18 other agencies evaluated in this discipline, this dimension runs Excellent 7 · Strong 10 · Adequate 1. The typical agency here scores Strong, and none scores higher than this one.

What this dimension measures: Fit to the buyer's motion and stage (RevOps vs content-automation vs outbound; SaaS vs ecom; early vs funded).

Scores low — Named clients matching the buyer score 5; mismatch scores 1-2.

What we found — Best suited to mid-market and enterprise organizations with complex marketing and technology needs.

RevOps — revenue operations: the plumbing that connects marketing, sales and the CRM so revenue can be traced to what caused it.

SaaS — software as a service: subscription software; as a client type it brings recurring revenue and metrics like churn and lifetime value.

Evidence: verified — checked against a named source you can open; the links under Sources below are where to check it yourself.

Weak — 2 of 5 on this rubric’s scale, from Poor (1) to Excellent (5). This dimension carries 5% of the total score.

Benchmark — across the 18 other agencies evaluated in this discipline, this dimension runs Strong 2 · Adequate 7 · Weak 6 · Poor 3. The typical agency here scores Adequate, and 9 of them score higher than this one.

Scores high — Public pricing anchor and month-to-month or short terms score 4-5.

Scores low — Opaque 'contact us' bespoke-only or long lock-ins score 2.

What we found — Public package pricing and minimum terms are not available and the operating scale implies a high commitment. That is what the low band describes, which is why it scored Weak.

Evidence: inferred — our reading of indirect evidence, not a documented fact.

Stronger here: Streamline Agency scores Strong on the same dimension.