In this episode of The MadTech Podcast, ExchangeWire's Aimee Newell-Tarin and Mat Broughton are joined by Ross Jenkins, EMEA and APAC CEO, Mediahub, to discuss Meta's AI restructuring, zero-click search tools, and agency roles in media buying.

This week's stories:

Meta plans fourth restructuring of AI efforts in six months (Reuters)

Meta is reportedly planning a fourth overhaul of its artificial intelligence efforts within the past six months. The company is expected to divide its new AI unit, Superintelligence Labs, into four groups: a new TBD Lab; a products team including the Meta AI assistant; an infrastructure team; and the Fundamental AI Research lab focused on long-term research. This follows recent senior staff departures as well as a poor reception of its Llama 4 model. 

Havas joins race to find answers to clients’ zero-click search queries (Digiday) 

As consumers increasingly adopt AI search tools instead of traditional search engines, Havas has developed a tool called Brand Insights AI, which aims to give advertisers a real-time ranking of their performance in search results generated by Google, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Grok, DeepSeek, and Claude. Agencies’ clients are reportedly being pressured by their boards to be more visible in AI search. 

More US Ad Spend Comes Direct From Brands Than Through HoldCos as AI Reshapes Media Planning and Buying (VideoWeek) 

Research from Advertiser Perceptions, a market intelligence firm, demonstrates the diminishing role of holding companies in the total US ad market. In 2019, almost half of US ad spend came from the ‘big six’ holdcos. This figure decreased significantly over the following five years, with holdcos accounting for just 28% of ad spend in 2024 (the data covers the first three quarters of last year).