As the new year gets underway, early signals suggest another period of rapid change for advertising and ad tech, shaped by advances in AI, tighter regulation, and continued scrutiny of platform power. IAB Tech Lab set the tone with the release of its Agentic Roadmap, outlining how AI-driven buying and selling could scale across digital advertising without destabilising existing market structures.
In this episode, our managing editor Allison Schiff interviews Paul Longo, Microsoft's GM of AI in ads. They discuss the ways AI will transform advertising, from the use of AI technology to create advertising, which Microsoft is doing, to how advertising will become part of agentic AI experiences. (As a writer myself, I also enjoyed hearing him talk about experimenting with AI in some of his work as a screenwriter.)
While much of the world is wringing its hands over how AI might replace people, one startup wants to prove that the real opportunity lies in bringing the two together. Launched earlier this year, Kartel is a creative marketplace that helps brands and agencies create campaigns by matching them with freelance artists who specialize in AI. That vision is already playing out for Laser Eye Center, a Los Angeles-based company specializing in Lasik that started experimenting with Kartel to generate creative for broadcast television.
The global economy is undergoing a profound transformation, with one topic dominating executive suites and boardroom discussions: artificial intelligence (AI). AI is no longer a distant concept; it's fundamentally changing how companies innovate, engage with customers and protect their bottom line. For today's leaders, this means approaching every critical business decision with a mindset that considers how AI can deliver a competitive advantage.
On AI, he says it's not a replacement for creativity, but a tool for those who know how to use it. "AI won't replace creatives but creatives who don't know how to use it as a tool will probably get replaced by those who do. It should be another string to a creative's bow, much like Photoshop." For Roberts, originality is still the point, and no amount of automation can change that.
As Alex Kantrowitz of Big Technology likes to say, what often gets lost in these debates is the nuance - so let's parse the rhetoric from reality. At the extremes, two scenarios could play out: Firstly, in a world where AI agents facilitate critical moments of truth for consumers making decisions about brands, products, and services - and immediately execute transactions - advertising becomes obsolete.
Long-time ad tech exec Jeffrey Hirsch, a veteran of PubMatic, AudienceScience and ValueClick, has seen the ad tech industry evolve from its early ad network days to today's increasingly AI-powered programmatic ecosystem. Now, as the newly appointed CEO of QuantumPath, he wants to use his experience in the trenches to help media buyers automate complex workflows and better streamline campaign management. Hirsch officially took the reins at QuantumPath on Tuesday after serving as a strategic advisor since June.
It's rolled out, usually by senior ad execs, as a reminder that the responsibility for new business cannot, and must not, lie solely at the door of the small department that bears its name. Instead, it must be divided across an agency, with everyone feeling a degree of personal accountability for its delivery. In our industry, we are, as another well-worn phrase goes, 'all in the business of new business'.
Scott Jacqmein, a 52-year-old actor in Dallas, fields one or two texts a week from acquaintances and friends who are pretty sure they have seen him pitching a peculiar variety of businesses on TikTok.
Newton Research, co-founded in 2023, secured $9 million in Series A funding to enhance advertising analytics using specialized AI agents for media planning and measurement.
The primary objective is to connect creative deliverables with real-time performance metrics. While traditional KPIs like impressions, clicks, and conversions remain essential, they don't capture the whole picture.
Yes, AI can optimize for clicks. But it cannot build brands. And what Meta is quietly building is not a brand engine. It's a revenue machine optimizing attention flows to maximize yield. Its yield. Not yours.
Digital advertisers have transitioned from generic tools within DSPs toward customized strategies, emphasizing measurable outcomes and the importance of tailored approaches to each brand's unique needs.
Reviving an impossible vibe: Slice & BarkleyOKRP To relaunch the iconic 80s and 90s soda Slice, BarkleyOKRP didn't just create an ad; they resurrected a cultural moment. They used Gemini to identify surprising cultural trends and build a world around them, manifesting as a fictional (but very real) analog radio station, 106.3 The Fizz in LA.
"Meta claims its AI tools can cut ad creation costs by up to 50%. At the same time, early tests show results doubling in some cases due to better targeting."
