Digiday’s guide to what’s in and out for Advertising Week NY 2026
Keep up to date with Digiday’s annual coverage of Advertising Week in New York. More from the series →
Advertising Week New York opens Monday at The Penn District, and the industry has moved on since last year. Creators now pitch brands without an agency in the room. AI agents have started doing the shopping for their owners and OpenAI has an ad sales team. Here’s what’s in and what’s out.
In
OpenAi’s vp of monetization
Out
Perplexity’s head of publisher partnerships
In
Making Dhar Mann chief creator officer
Out
Making Dhar Mann a speaker
In
Selling AI-made UGC
Out
Selling creator-made UGC
In
Pitching podcasts in a deal room
Out
Pitching podcasts on a panel
In
Asking if the shopper is a bot
Out
Asking if the viewer is a bot
In
VIZIO pitching with Walmart
Out
VIZIO pitching aline
In
Sending the team CMO
Out
Sending the point guard
In
Pitching creators to answer engines
Out
Pitching creators to algorithms
In
Snap sending researchers
Out
Snap sending its president of Americas
In
Microsoft XBox selling ads
Out
Microsoft Advertising selling Microsoft ads
In
Uber sending its measurement lead
Out
Uber sending its ads chief
In
Model makers hoisting dinners
Out
Chip makers sitting on panels
In
Journalists who left the network
Out
Journalists still at the network
In
Zero degrees of Kevin Bacon
Out
One degree of Kevin Bacon
In
Bravo cast members
Out
Love Island cast members
In
Robots handing out samples
Out
Brand ambassadors handing out samples
In
Christina Milian at Kareoke
Out
Omaron on the main stage
More in Marketing
Marketing’s upper middle embraces AI creative production
Scaled AI creative production is becoming ordinary among CMOS outside the billion dollar club.
‘It scared the hell out of me’: What brands have learned from creator partnerships
At Shoptalk Fall, brands like Favorite Daughter, SharkNinja and Bob’s Discount Furniture talked about what they’ve learned from working with creators.
Future of Marketing Briefing: Agency fees in creator deals are the next transparency headache for marketers
As creator marketing budgets grow, so do questions about what agencies are taking.