In the second piece of this series, we share more views from ad tech experts regarding what’s currently shaping the industry. From agentic AI to M&A, discover what they believe is making the biggest impact on how ad tech is developing. 

Our industry is continuously evolving: there’s always something new going on, which is one of the many exciting things about it. Right now, we are at several pivotal moments. 

In part one of this series, thought-leaders from across the industry shared their thoughts about what’s bringing about the most change. 

AI was top of the list for many thought-leaders. The rise of AI has introduced new challenges, with industry players forced to rethink their operations and establish new ways of working. As technology makes strides, the era of agentic AI unfolds. Still in its infancy, the technology promises a new world of autonomous media buying. What will the coming year bring? 

Privacy was deemed another of the biggest forces shaping ad tech in 2026. Stricter regulations and growing consumer expectations are pushing advertisers towards more privacy-first solutions, as we witness the ongoing decline of third-party IDs. 

The importance of quality was also said to be rewriting the rules of ad tech, with many industry players moving away from a prioritising-scale-over-everything approach. Media buyers appear to be asking tougher questions, putting greater scrutiny on non-compliant supplies. Trust and transparency are becoming increasingly important. 

If you missed part one, you can catch up here. Read on to hear from our next selection of experts. What is rewriting the rules of ad tech in 2026? 

The move from destination-based browsing to intent-driven discovery

The rules of ad tech are no longer being rewritten incrementally – they are being redefined at the interface layer. The biggest shift in 2026 is the move from destination-based browsing to intent-driven discovery, powered by AI agents and conversational interfaces.

This changes everything. Traditional programmatic infrastructure - built on cookies, identifiers, and fragmented supply paths - is becoming less relevant in a world where the “moment of intent” is captured upstream, before a user ever reaches a publisher.

At the same time, regulation is accelerating this shift. Privacy frameworks are forcing the industry to move from tracking users to understanding context, while platforms are consolidating control over data and distribution.

Companies like Kindred.co are emerging to bridge this gap - connecting real-time intent with commerce outcomes through deterministic data and embedded offers.

Ad tech is no longer about serving impressions - it is about shaping outcomes at the point of intent.

Aaron Simpson, Founder & Executive Chair, Kindred 

AI has put ad tech in a vulnerable position 

Ad tech is in a vulnerable place right now. We thought things changed quickly before, but the AI era has brought a whole new pace. Incredible advancements in vibe coding tools such as Claude Code, Google AI Studio, and others have made it feasible for agency and in-house teams to build their own bespoke solutions. Ad tech tools that are easily replicated like creative analysis tools risk becoming obsolete. 

Those that are safe are those that truly add and demonstrate value to users. With budgets being safeguarded and competitive edge a top priority, marketing teams are reluctant to sign long-term contracts. They need to be confident that their ad tech can not only stack up but is also future-fit to support and adapt to continuous AI developments.

Jaye Cowle, CEO & Founder, Launch 

We need to ask: who is rewriting the rules? 

It’s not so much ‘what’ is influencing adtech’s evolution but ‘who’. The collective goal across ad tech, whether you work for a publisher, brand, agency, or technology provider, is to create meaningful human connections. And it’s those humans, whether working behind the scenes or the consumer in front of the screen, that will dictate how, when and where advertising works best.

“At the end of the day, advertising is a service industry, and human conversation and interaction cannot be replaced or automated away. People may end up paying a premium for that human-to-human relationship if businesses go too far down the automation / AI route. But those companies that prioritise ’people’ – inside their walls and their customer base – will prove to be fittest for survival. 

Chris Hogg, CRO, Lotame 

The agentic shift, transparency wars, and M&A 

A fundamental restructuring is underway. Driven by the shift to agentic AI and escalating transparency wars, current M&A activity reveals a "K-shaped" reality: elevating those offering true utility and delivering profitability to clients while leaving legacy generalists behind.

The agentic shift is finally solving the open web’s complexity problem. With the Ad Context Protocol (AdCP) reducing the "human-in-the-loop", the friction of planning and activating across fragmented inventory is vanishing. Automation is making the open web as accessible – and performant – as any walled garden.

The friction between The Trade Desk and the agencies highlights growing pressure on holding companies. Transparency can be profitable. Agencies are partnering with independent players like Taptap Digital to deliver omnichannel campaigns that walled gardens can’t replicate, justifying fees through visible outcomes rather than hidden arbitrage.

M&A now separates those deemed essential vs commodity assets. Investment flows toward defensible, specialized tech. In 2026, the winners are those providing the transparency brands need to stay compliant and the margins they need to stay solvent.

Alvaro Mayol, Global CEO, Taptap Digital

AI and contextual 

AI is the one element in advertising that's rewriting all the rules. Brands and agencies are adopting AI across creative production, optimisation, and workflow management (and much more).

Working closely with agency partners, I see the real value AI brings. There’s growing demand for stronger creative and performance optimisation across major platforms, with advertisers focused on ensuring every pound spent delivers meaningful brand impact.

In 2026, we’ve also seen a rise in contextual alignment across the industry. Agencies and advertisers are increasingly leaning into interest-based targeting to connect with audiences in more meaningful ways. As third-party cookies continue to decline, contextual technology is thriving – offering more effective and privacy-conscious ways to reach the right audiences.

Sasha King, Sales Director, Silverpush

Transformation through sell-side decisioning  

The expansion of sell-side decisioning is potentially transformative. It means running the right decisions earlier and letting the DSPs do what they’re good at. Containerised workflows like the IAB’s ARTF, which support automation within a safe operating environment, could turn the traditional programmatic sequence on its head and deliver more usable signals for partners across the chain.

Embedding agentic AI responsibly into manual elements of programmatic advertising, such as audience planning, is also set to rewrite the rules by delivering privacy-safe yet deeply efficient solutions that blend precision with scale. Tools like agentic media planners are being built with this in mind - using the power of agentic to enable faster activation of relevant and impactful campaigns that lead to more meaningful outcomes.

Matt Beck, VP, Strategy and Partnerships, Nano Interactive

AI is eliminating the value of execution 

AI is rewriting the rules of ad tech by eliminating the value of execution. Today, media buying remains largely operational, consuming over 80% of time while delivering little to no differentiation. This work is often outsourced, low margin, and forces companies to scale teams on tasks that create no real value.

The shift is not about replacing existing buying platforms. They are already powerful, performant, and deeply embedded in the ecosystem. The problem lies in how they are operated. Manual workflows are slow, inefficient, and economically broken.

While new protocols and agent to agent models are emerging, they remain fragmented and will take years to stabilise. Waiting for a hypothetical new paradigm is not a viable strategy.

The real opportunity is to bring AI into existing systems, maintaining full control while automating execution. By removing up to 80% of operational workload, platforms like Concord allow teams to refocus on strategy, where value is actually created.

Nathan Venezia, Co-Founder & CEO, Concord

Agility to change in a sea of sameness 

As an industry built on innovation and pushing boundaries, ad tech has always been subject to the next technological leap forward, or regulatory shift sideways. Agility to change is table stakes in our world. 

What is now rewriting the long-held rules of product-led businesses is the fact that when everyone is using the same datasets, white-labeled tech stacks, and open-web inventory, you end up in a sea of saturated sameness. And this creates negative pressure on raising capital and driving demand. 

The solution was once a proliferation of complicated jargon, obfuscated propositions, and acronyms aplenty. But the most savvy ad tech leaders today are those that are investing in distinctive market positioning, driven with clarity and candour by stories that matter to audiences who care. The rest will simply fade into a lumascape of background noise and won't be around long enough to write the next chapter of our vibrant industry. 

Stephen Jenkins, Founder & MD, Too Many Dreams