Chris Harihar of Mod Op looks at what might be making headlines on La Croisette this year...

Cannes Lions feels weirdly consequential for adtech this year. 

Whether it’s OpenAI's ad ambitions, continued interest in agentic media buying, or consolidation, it’s fair to say that the industry is in a period of category-altering change.

Advertisers and agencies, of course, are watching the change closely. 

I'll be attending Cannes on behalf of my agency, Mod Op, and participating in a 4A's roundtable with agency leaders to discuss where the industry is headed. The future of adtech – and what comes next – will be a major topic of conversation. 

With that in mind, here are five adtech storylines I'll be watching closely throughout the week.

Yahoo DSP's Agent Network

Yahoo has emerged as one of the most active and savvy DSPs building for an agentic future. Ahead of Cannes, it launched Agent Network, an ecosystem of nearly two dozen AI agents spanning planning, activation, optimisation, measurement, and creative.

I would also argue that it's one of the more thoughtful agentic launches because it recognises that agentic advertising is not a one-man band. It will require interoperability, market education, and support for a range of approaches. That's the only way this works. Yahoo recognised that early with its "Yours, Mine, Ours" agentic strategy, launched at CES, which is built around the idea that agentic advertising is an ecosystem opportunity, not a walled garden.

The industry is admittedly still figuring out what agentic media-buying looks like in practice. But Yahoo DSP's approach could help set the stage for broader adoption.

DoubleVerify's Agentic Push

Another big announcement heading into Cannes is DoubleVerify's introduction of DV Neura, an AI engine that brings DV data into agents. The launch includes an Insight Agent that can be queried for campaign recommendations and an Activation Agent that executes approved changes. The technology is available to both owned and third-party agents.

As an early example of its potential, Butler/Till is using DV data in Claude via Model Context Protocol (MCP).

What's especially interesting here is the broader impact this could have on agentic adoption. DV is already deeply integrated across the advertising ecosystem. That connectivity is a major advantage in an agentic world, where many platforms are limited to a handful of integrations or a single channel. DV operates across channels, media, platforms, and partners, making agentic around quality, optimisation, and measurement more practical and executable.

Supply-Side Measurement

For years, advertisers have evaluated inventory after it reaches the DSP. That can create transparency challenges for advertisers while undervaluing inventory for publishers.

Media.net believes it has a solution. Last year, the SSP launched Elevate, a measurement capability with Claritas that essentially moves measurement upstream in the supply path. It gives advertisers visibility into inventory before buying decisions are made. Since launch, the platform has expanded to support additional measurement players, with more enhancements expected. Adam Gerber, Media.net's new Head of Strategy, tells me Elevate has seen growing demand and is expected to be a major topic of conversation for the company at Cannes.

As advertisers look for greater transparency, measurement closer to supply becomes increasingly valuable. It can help advertisers better understand quality, performance, and opportunity across the open web while helping publishers ensure their inventory is fairly valued.

OpenAI's Advertising Ambitions

For OpenAI's ad play, it takes a village. That's the general takeaway as the company has leaned heavily into the existing advertising and adtech ecosystem while building its advertising offerings.

That philosophy is reflected in its presence at Cannes, where OpenAI will participate in multiple panels and events throughout the week. Even as it helps create a new advertising channel, the company appears to recognise that agencies, adtech platforms, and other trusted partners will play a critical role in driving adoption.

The next major question is measurement. As OpenAI looks to attract larger enterprise budgets and greater volume from midmarket advertisers, proving effectiveness will become increasingly important. Experimentation may drive initial adoption, but long-term spending typically follows measurable outcomes, regardless of the advertiser.

Publicis-LiveRamp Questions

The biggest M&A storyline heading into Cannes may be what happens next with LiveRamp.

Axios is reporting that agentic platform Hightouch is trying to acquire portions of LiveRamp's identity business following Publicis' acquisition of the company. If true, it would add a bizarre and interesting layer to one of the industry's most significant deals in years.

I think this is also a good example of a more fundamental issue in the agency and adtech world. Agencies are expected to be independent and neutral on everything from data ownership and activation to measurement, and situations like this inevitably raise questions about that neutrality.

As agencies like Publicis expand their capabilities through acquisitions, potential conflicts emerge. For independent agencies, that creates an opening. There is growing value in solutions designed around neutrality from the start rather than stitched together through acquisitions. I also think concerns about scale are often overstated when you consider the amount of integration required to make acquired businesses fit within a larger holding company.

Taken together, these stories highlight an industry in the middle of a major transition. Cannes won't settle or solve anything, but it will help us figure out where the market is heading and going.

Chris Harihar is EVP of Communications at Mod Op, one of the world's fastest-growing independent agencies, where he works with companies across the adtech ecosystem.