As AI reshapes the advertising landscape, 2026 is projected to be a significant year for adtech. From connected TV’s evolution to the rise of agentic optimisation, industry leaders predict a shift from AI experimentation to true integration. The focus is moving beyond access and automation toward making a real impact on outcomes, as more leverage AI for data strategies and creativity.
Julie Selman, SVP, Head of EMEA, Magnite
“2025 saw connected TV (CTV) evolve at an unprecedented speed, moving beyond its roots as a brand-building tool to become a measurable, performance-driven channel. AI has encouraged this shift by enabling smarter inventory curation, automated optimisation and dynamic creative that ensures every impression delivers more value.
“For advertisers, the opportunity lies in pairing CTV’s premium, engaged environments with data-driven insights to reach audiences more effectively and measure outcomes with greater precision. As consumer viewing habits continue to shift, it’s clear that CTV has become the connective tissue between storytelling and performance.”
“Strategic partnerships and collaborations across the industry are helping to build the infrastructure that allows advertisers to fully harness AI’s potential in CTV. It’s these types of unions that will be essential for creating transparency, efficiency and scale across a fragmented landscape”
“Next year is set to be another stellar year for CTV. And with major sporting moments such as the Winter Olympics and FIFA World Cup coming up, live sports streaming will play a central role in uniting audiences, offering brands the chance to connect in real time and at scale.”
Esme Robinson, Director of Platform Solutions, Epsilon
“After years of uncertainty, could 2026 be the year when advertising’s famous blind spot is closed? Marketing has come a long way since then with digital channels promising greater clarity, more metrics and smarter insights. But in reality, blind spots remain. Across Europe, brands and retailers with loyalty schemes struggle to connect online engagement to what happens in-store. 
While digital investments may be driving real-world results, where’s the proof?”
“Identity is the missing link. Having a richer understanding of the person behind the data – what they’re buying, what they value, and what influences them today – means retailers can connect the dots. Transactional first-party data is essential to achieving an understanding of shopper identity, with purchasing behaviour from online and in-store linked with real individuals.”
“When marketers connect identity, first-party data, and increasingly AI, the so-called “wasted half” becomes measurable and accountable.”
Tom Curry, UK Managing Director, Yahoo
“As we’ve moved on from an AI that solves general problems moderately well, to a world of agentic AI where specialised agents carry out specific tasks very effectively, the next stage will be in interoperability across the advertising ecosystem. By introducing the right agent protocols we can facilitate the conversations between these different AI agents and with humans to work more effectively – much like setting roles and responsibilities within a department or team. Standardisation of how agents interact gives clarity and simplicity which can conduct an orchestra of agents to produce a symphony of productivity.”
“Some of the greatest and earliest benefits of AI have been to improve the speed at which campaigns can be optimised in-flight using the latest feedback data from audiences. In an agentic world, AIs work in tandem to complete tasks and review each other’s work, meaning that accuracy and speed are no longer mutually exclusive – they’re inherently linked. There is also the benefit that AI agents can work in parallel to process even greater quantities of data than ever before, and channel their insights up the funnel to derive the best outcomes for brands.”
“Where the industry is heading next is explainability. Marketers will want to see the rationale behind each optimisation – avoiding the so-called “blackbox effect” of AI. The transparency is essential for trust and for enabling teams to actively shape AI driven campaigns not just react to them. ”
Rob Blake, Managing Director – EMEA, Channel Factory
“AI has already moved from novelty to infrastructure. The hype – defined by ‘revolutionary’ technologies and experimentation – is starting to give way to meaningful integration across workflows.”
“While AI will continue to automate and accelerate, achieving emotional resonance with audiences will still rely on human intelligence. Artificial intelligence won’t replace its human counterpart; it’ll just free it up, allowing marketers to focus on creativity, judgment, and cultural context.”
“And as energy consumption and data ethics take centre stage, conscious AI adoption will become a mark of responsible growth. The question won’t be “What can AI do?” but “What should it do?” Brands that deploy AI to improve both outcomes and operations, achieving smarter decisions, faster performance, and smaller footprints, will see sustained growth. In other words: AI that works for humans, not instead of them.”
Mark Barry, SVP of Sales & Managing Director, EMEA, HubSpot
“We’ve seen it with every major technological shift: a surge of excitement, bold claims of overnight change, and then the inevitable backlash as hype races ahead of reality and headlines warn of a ‘bubble bursting.’ But this is simply the natural rhythm of the innovation cycle, not a death sentence for AI.”
“We’re currently moving from asking what AI can do to how it fits – into workflows, customer experiences, and everyday decisions. That’s where transformation really takes hold. If businesses hit the brakes now out of fear, they risk missing the real progress that comes after the dust settles.”
“The ones who come out ahead will recognise that short-term volatility is part of long-term progress. AI’s integration into industry is only just beginning, and those who remain committed to strategic investment will be best placed to lead as the technology matures. Hype fades, expectations reset, and value emerges.”
Mike Shaw, Director, EMEA Sales, Roku
“We are in a continued evolution of advertising, and the pace of change has only increased in the past year. 2025 marked the point where the promise of connected TV really started to manifest and became a core part of the media mix.”
“The continued use of data silos means there’s still notable fragmentation across linear, streaming and digital video. That is changing though, and we’re likely to see some of the barriers break down, giving brands greater visibility of the total advertising landscape they can tap into.”
“Looking ahead to 2026, I expect the story to shift from ‘access’ to ‘action’. CTV will evolve into a true commerce engine – a space where entertainment, discovery and transaction happen seamlessly. As brands integrate their first-party data we’ll see more personalised, measurable campaigns that link exposure to outcome in real time. The biggest screen in the home will become more than a brand awareness engine; it will drive response by connecting creative storytelling directly to consumer behaviour.”
