In the last of our three AI prediction pieces, our expert panel looks at how the publishing industry can make the most of the new tech and use it to benefit their output…

In 2026, the pace of generative AI innovation—alongside new models for content creation, curation, and monetisation—poses profound questions about the future of publishing. Should publishers see AI as a rival reshaping audience behaviour and value chains, or as an ally enhancing efficiency, creativity, and growth?

To explore this tension, ExchangeWire convened an expert panel of industry leaders spanning publishing, ad tech, and AI innovation. Together, they shared their perspectives on how the relationship between publishers and AI will evolve over the next 12 months. 

From the impact of synthetic content on trust and quality, to the rise of AI-driven ad products and data strategies, their insights paint a nuanced picture of what’s to come.

"Agentic systems will transform publisher monetisation, but choosing a transparent AI partner will be key."

By 2026, agentic systems powered by advanced LLMs will fundamentally change how publishers classify content, build audiences, and optimise monetisation. Modern LLMs already outperform traditional, static contextual providers. Sentiment, tone, narrative, and semantic relationships can all be truly understood in real-time. This powers dynamic audience segmentation and suitability scoring.

But as AI noise proliferates and vendors rush half baked models to market, publishers will need to carefully vet partners. The winners will choose innovative platforms that offer transparent, auditable output as well as publisher-controlled curation pathways.

Even if the broader AI bubble cools, the value remains - faster and more accurate classification, reduced operational overhead, safer environments for advertisers, and high-fidelity audiences. Real-time, on-page LLM processing, like ArcSpan’s agentic architecture, will become a future-proof contextual layer that outperforms legacy providers regardless of market hype cycles.

James Dempsey, VP, International, Arcspan

"With the right tools and systems, collaboration with AI becomes a real competitive edge."

Collaborate, but only when the data is ready. Publishers shouldn’t rush to adopt AI before getting their data house in order. Real impact in ad ops, sales, and finance only happens when AI runs on data that’s clean, connected, and dynamic. 

Rate cards, product setups, and client discounts must be digitally linked, adaptable, and supported by a data architecture both humans and AI can trust. Without that, AI isn’t progress; it’s chaos with a glossy interface. With the right tools and systems to build that connected backbone, collaboration with AI becomes a real competitive edge – redefining efficiency, insight, and how publishers win.

Britta Heitkamp, Marketing & Communications Manager, Gotom

"Competing on volume is a race to the bottom."

AI has pushed publishing toward "content autopilot", where synthetic volume erodes trust, originality and, increasingly, P&L. LLM answer layers siphon off organic traffic, while cheap AI content deflates the value of each impression – the basic unit this industry was built on. Competing on volume is a race to the bottom and cannot sustain the current publishing model.

The opportunity for publishers is to reset the economics together: use AI as an assistant to strengthen human reporting and personalise experiences, and treat premium, verified content as "training-grade data" that can be licensed via APIs and revenue-share deals based on outcomes, not just impressions. Publishers who price attention, trust, and data rights together will become partners in AI – not casualties of it.

Abishek Nigam, Business Head, Ad Tech, Times Internet

"We’ll see the rise of managed, monetised access."

In 2026, I believe the tension between AI companies and publishers will shift from conflict to structured cooperation. Hard blocking of AI crawlers won’t last. It’s already clear that outright prevention doesn’t protect value - it only removes publishers from the datasets that shape the next generation of search, discovery, and recommendation systems.

Instead, we’ll see the rise of managed, monetised access. Publishers will move toward tiered licensing models that define exactly what AI systems can use and how. Preview access for headlines and snippets, deeper archive access for model training, and premium real-time data feeds for high-value use cases. This will let publishers keep control of their assets while finally capturing revenue from the demand AI companies already have.

In my view, 2026 is the year when publishers stop treating AI as an intruder and start treating it as a buyer - on their terms.

Olga Zharuk, Chief Product Officer, Teqblaze

"Advertisers who prioritise quality partnerships will win both trust and performance."

As we enter 2026, quality journalism has never been more important and challenged by AI-generated content. Publishers who fact-check and uphold editorial standards are starved of traffic and revenue when their role matters most. The irony is stark: brands advertising on quality news content benefit from 1.5 times perceived trust, yet advertisers are abandoning news in pursuit of "zero-risk" environments, weakening the institutions we need most. As trust in and usage of AI tools increase, the journalist's role as gatekeeper of accuracy becomes vital, and so does the advertiser's role in sustainable journalism.

Our neuroscience research proves that quality context drives performance. Neuro-contextual advertising, which matches ads to an article's interest, intent, and tone, delivers 3.5 times higher neural engagement. When the emotion of an ad matches its environment, the brain works less and remembers more. In 2026, advertisers who prioritise quality partnerships will win both trust and performance.

Marko Johns, UK Managing Director and Head of Agency, International, Seedtag

"AI platforms will battle to control ad budgets."

By 2026, competition and collaboration will shape the relationship between AI and mobile publishers. On the competition side, AI platforms will battle to control ad budgets, using their models to win spend. That race will be tough on margins, leaving publishers squeezed by lower yields and less leverage. At the same time, AI will become a shared tool: publishers will work more closely with platforms and data partners to clean up supply, improve measurement, fight fraud, and grow revenue.

But the real change will be around control. As AI becomes the engine of monetisation, publishers face a choice: hand that engine to closed ecosystems, or run it themselves. The next wave will come from publishers running their own AI-driven monetisation systems, deciding which partners to plug in and how their data is used. The winners in 2026 won’t just use AI; they’ll own the intelligence behind their revenue.

Frederic Liow, Chief Revenue and Operations Officer, Algori

"Marketers will be free to focus on strategy, storytelling and brand differentiation."

Moving into 2026, every creative asset must prove its impact, especially as budgets are scrutinised and demands for clear ROI grow. We will see AI step out of the shadows of backend operational efficiencies to take a frontline role, aligning creatives with campaign performance and directing how media is planned and bought. As a collaborative data ecosystem takes root across digital advertising, AI models will be able to access rich veins of consumer data, making every brand touchpoint personalised and relevant.

In practice, AI will let advertisers set up campaigns by defining a goal and product, with AI’s predictive power reverse-engineering the best placement, timing and creative mix. With AI fine-tuning all aspects of optimisation, marketers will be free to focus on strategy, storytelling, design, and brand differentiation. Given the high risk that automation will steer campaigns towards similar creative and strategic conclusions, this differentiation will be key.

Ivan Doruda, CEO, MGID

"Audience strategy will narrow and specialise."

Open web traffic, especially traditional search, is declining, pushing publishers to expand their reach across every channel where audiences exist.

Successful publishers will be those that can master multimedia output, broadening their talent and production capabilities to create, distribute, and monetise content across newsletters (look at the meteoric rise of Substack), social media (particularly the vertical video format of Snap and TikTok), podcasts, apps, and CTV. While platform reach expands, audience strategy will narrow and specialise, supported by intelligence that reveals untapped segments that might provide readership growth and the incremental revenues that follow.

Spreading the word far and wide will be key to securing a loyal and durable following, as referral traffic dwindles. Expect to see more subscriptions, particularly among publishers with exclusive niches and high-quality investigative journalism, as well as personality-driven video and podcasts that can cultivate community and provide intimate experiences that can’t be emulated by AI.

Benjamin Lanfry, Chief Client Services & Partnerships Officer, Ogury