In the final part of this series, we share more views from ad tech experts regarding what’s currently shaping the industry. Transparency, identity, and the human touch lead the way…

The rules of ad tech in 2026 are not just being revised; they are being entirely rewritten. For years, the industry thrived on a precarious balance of identity-based tracking and opaque supply chains. Today, that model has been fractured by privacy-first constraints, media fragmentation across CTV and retail networks, and a cultural awakening to the true cost of our digital ecosystems.

In its place, a new paradigm is emerging—one defined by the shift from raw identity to intelligent signals. Artificial intelligence is no longer just an optimisation tool; it has become the operating system of our industry.

Yet, as automation takes over the heavy lifting, the fundamental drivers of advertising are proving remarkably human. Transparency is now a non-negotiable mandate, while emotional resonance and proximity to premium, brand-safe supply have become the ultimate currencies of performance.

To make sense of this convergence, we asked leading voices across the industry to unpack the structural shifts defining the landscape. We’ve already had some amazing insights through parts one and two - here’s what our experts had to say in the final chapter of this feature…

The convergence of structural shifts

What is rewriting the rules of ad tech in 2026 is the convergence of some structural shifts: full-funnel complexity, privacy-first constraints, and AI-driven execution.

The industry is moving from identity-based targeting toward privacy-safe signals and a stronger focus on performance. Beyond reaching audiences, the challenge is understanding how those audiences actually contribute to brand lift across the funnel. The conversation is shifting from exposure to impact. At the same time, the rise of CTV and retail media has accelerated fragmentation, as well as the need for standardised frameworks across these environments.

In this landscape, where AI now manages execution in real-time, the biggest opportunity lies in the evolution of measurement. It must operate at the same speed as execution to provide the live signals brands need to optimise every lever of their media plan while it matters.

Ultimately, measurement has moved to the centre of the ecosystem: it is no longer just a way to prove performance, but the essential engine of growth that enables brands to steer every euro with precision and unlock scalable efficiency for all stakeholders.

Virginie Chesnais, Chief Marketing Officer, Happydemics

Human emotion is becoming the new currency of marketing performance

AI is continuing to rewrite the rules of ad tech, shifting to an acting agent that can handle heavy-lifting across the marketing and media value chain: deep customer understanding and hyper-personalisation, creative generation and adaptation, automation of omnichannel campaign execution and optimisation, and fluid cross-platform measurement. This transition will allow ad tech players and agencies to operate as AI-integrated service providers, delivering a level of scale, efficiency, and outcome measurement impact that was previously impossible.

However, in a landscape driven by automation, optimisation, and scale, human emotion is becoming the new currency of marketing performance. Advances in AI-powered content analysis now show that when an advertisement’s tone aligns with the emotional sentiment of surrounding content, cognitive impact increases significantly. And the results are measurable. Emotional resonance in ads is no longer a creative luxury; it is now a competitive advantage, as an additional targeting axis with enriched context or audience data.

Adrien Boyer, SVP EMEA, Seedtag

The move from identity to intelligence

Ad tech in 2026 is being reshaped by one core shift: the move from identity to intelligence.

Privacy regulation, led by frameworks like TCF, has accelerated the decline of user-level tracking and forced the industry to rebuild around compliant, signal-driven decisioning.

At the same time, AI is no longer an optimisation layer, it is the operating system. From bidstream enrichment to real-time pricing and creative decisioning, automation is redefining how media is bought and monetised.

The biggest structural change, however, is the rise of contextual and environment-based targeting across CTV and in-app. These channels operate with limited IDs, pushing the market toward content, device, and behavioural signals instead of cookies. This is our main focus in MarkApp across all our products.

Finally, infrastructure is consolidating. Platforms that combine exchange, intelligence and reporting into a unified stack are outperforming fragmented ecosystems.

The result is a simpler rulebook: privacy-first, signal-rich, fully automated.

Sotiris Oikonomou, Managing Director & Business Advisor, MarkApp

Opacity is a liability

For decades, ad tech’s business model has thrived on a problematic triad: attention, scale, and opacity. We’ve treated human attention as a commodity to be mined at scale, hiding the supply chain’s inefficiencies and ethical risks behind a veil of complexity. But in 2026, this opacity is no longer a shield – it’s a liability.

Documentaries such as Molly Versus the Machines and the BBC's 'Rage Machine' are creating a cultural moment of public realisation of the cost of our online spaces to their attention spans and mental health. The era of the black box is over. Businesses must now mandate object-level transparency, forcing the industry to reveal exactly where every penny is spent. Without this visibility, we cannot align media choices with genuine business objectives or human rights.

Crucially, we must confront our collective fear of finding out. We’ve avoided deep scrutiny because the truth – fraud, brand safety failures, and the collapse of independent media – is inconvenient. But true effectiveness isn’t about guessing; it’s about knowing. By demanding transparency, we stop funding the chaos and start investing in a resilient, trustworthy information ecosystem. The rules aren’t just changing, they’re being rewritten by those brave enough to look.

Harriet Kingaby, Co-Founder, Conscious Ad Network

The convergence of AI, regulation, and a return to fundamentals 

The rules of ad tech in 2026 aren’t being rewritten by one force – they’re being reshaped by a convergence of AI, regulation, and a necessary return to fundamentals.

AI is advancing at a relentless pace – driving optimisation, targeting, and creative at scale. But there’s also a growing sense of overload. In the rush toward automation, core objectives like quality, transparency, and real audience impact risk getting lost.

At the same time, privacy changes and signal loss are pushing the industry to rethink its reliance on data alone. What’s emerging as a true differentiator is proximity to quality supply. Buyers are placing greater value on premium, rights-cleared content and curated environments where context drives outcomes.

In a fragmented ecosystem, confidence is currency. Buying closer to the source ensures transparency, brand safety, and measurable results – proving that while AI may dominate the conversation, quality content remains the foundation of effective advertising.

Brian Cullinane, Chief Commercial Officer, VideoElephant

A new phase of intelligence 

The ad tech landscape is entering a new phase defined by intelligence rather than infrastructure.

The shift is clear: from execution to outcomes. And AI is the catalyst behind this transformation.

By unlocking a deeper understanding of content at scale, AI allows brands to decode semantics, context, and attention signals to identify the most valuable environments. This same intelligence is reshaping production, enabling faster, more personalised creative at scale, while also transforming targeting through dynamic, intent-driven activation rather than static audience segments.

This evolution is particularly visible in audio. Long seen as an emerging channel, audio is now becoming a true performance driver across the full funnel. Powered by AI, it combines contextual precision, creative scalability, and measurable impact. As a result, audio is no longer just about awareness, it is a strategic lever to deliver tangible business outcomes.

Geoffrey Fossier, Chief Marketing Officer, Audion

AI is driving the most momentum 

Our industry is moving at an unprecedented speed – before key trends have had a chance to settle, the next big thing is already on the horizon. AI is a key driver of this momentum, with its potential to deliver greater accountability and better results for advertisers. Though still in its early stages, AdCP's push for a standardised AI language aims to shape how the technology evolves – and testing and adoption are accelerating fast.

In this rapidly evolving, crowded space, the businesses that can leverage AI to identify and harness data signals in unique ways will thrive. Aggregating data effectively allows brands to interpret something as complex and changeable as user mindset – getting closer to potential customers, predicting when they are receptive to certain messages, and ultimately delivering better brand outcomes.

Peter Wallace, General Manager, EMEA & JAPAC, GumGum

AI’s role today is to lessen the burden of using ad tech platforms

Across the ad tech industry, many assume AI will rewrite all the rules. But this overlooks a fundamental reality: the core infrastructure powering ad tech, including DSPs, SSPs and ad servers, is unlikely to be rebuilt by AI anytime soon. The complexity of integrations and real-time bidding environments means these systems will not be outsourced to AI in the foreseeable future.

Instead, AI’s role today is to lessen the burden of using ad tech platforms. Infrastructure players and new entrants are already applying AI to enhance user interfaces and streamline workflows. This results in faster insights, automated execution and reduced manual effort. Ad tech becomes more agile, allowing quicker testing and optimisation for buyers and sellers.

Alongside driving game-changing outcomes, advertisers will spend less time on data aggregation and campaign setup and more time on strategy, focusing on how the intersection of ad tech and martech can deliver a 360 view of the consumer lifecycle for their brands.

John Piccone, Regional President, Americas, Adform