Ad Tech Briefing: Agencies reposition for the agentic era

The deal, which has accelerated rivals’ efforts to reassess their reliance on LiveRamp-linked infrastructure, also underscores a broader shift underway across the media buying landscape: agencies increasingly want tighter control over the systems, data flows, and governance structures that underpin modern advertising operations.

That sentiment surfaced repeatedly in conversations with attendees at Digiday’s Programmatic Marketing Summit earlier this month, where discussions around AI, transparency, and supply-path control frequently converged around a single idea — agencies no longer see “agentic” media buying as merely a workflow upgrade. Instead, many increasingly view it as a restructuring of how media operations themselves are organized.

One of the clearest themes was a growing preference for more deliberate and tightly controlled programmatic supply paths. Several attendees described frustration with opaque auction dynamics, fragmented supply chains, and DSPs that increasingly resemble closed ecosystems. “Everybody has a walled garden essentially,” remarked one participant at the event’s townall sessions, which are conducted under Chatham House Rule.

That frustration mirrors concerns raised in separate background conversations with industry observers about the market shifting from “default on” buying models toward “default off” environments, where buyers increasingly decide exactly which publishers, exchanges, and supply routes are permitted to participate in campaigns.

The result is a more curated ecosystem in which buyer trust, direct integrations, and operational leverage matter more than scale alone.

Several summit attendees also framed AI adoption less as a creative revolution and more as an operational governance challenge. Agencies are experimenting aggressively with AI-assisted reporting, audience workflows, and campaign management, but many remain wary about relinquishing too much control.

“We need to have governance frameworks for those,” one attendee said of emerging agentic systems. Another summarized the current tension more bluntly, “You either have some folks who are all in on it… and you have some that will not touch it.”

That divide is particularly acute around data handling, privacy, and client accountability. Multiple attendees discussed concerns over exposing sensitive information to AI systems, while others questioned whether existing agency contracts and governance structures are prepared for autonomous decision-making across media workflows.

At the same time, agencies appear increasingly interested in building internal AI capabilities rather than relying entirely on external platforms. Several attendees described efforts to develop proprietary AI agents, reporting systems, and internal workflow automation, even as resource constraints remain a limiting factor. “Building something in-house, custom and private, is really the best version of that,” said one attendee.

That positioning increasingly overlaps with the broader strategic rationale behind deals such as Publicis’ pursuit of LiveRamp. Although the transaction has largely been discussed through the lens of identity, data collaboration, and AI readiness, it also reflects agencies’ efforts to gain greater ownership of the underlying infrastructure of advertising itself. Rival holding companies are already reassessing relationships, supply paths, and interoperability dependencies in response.

The resulting market dynamic is less about replacing humans with autonomous agents and more about determining who controls the systems those agents ultimately operate across.

What we heard

“Clients want their agencies to productize for outcomes, but don’t want them to have a random strip on their first-party data. This will be good for indie solutions (both for adoption and for appearing on other agency M&A radars).”

– One ad tech investor pins hope on the herd mentality kicking in among agency holding companies’ corporate development executives in the wake of Publicis’ LiveRamp takeover. 

Numbers to know

While the industry is riven with unease over AI-driven efficiencies, i.e., mass job losses and salary suppression, some are doing just fine.

• $70 million: The reported 2025 earnings of Omnicom CEO John Wren, the same year as the merger with InterPublic Group, resulted in 8,200 job losses
• 43%: The extent of the shareholder revolt against his remuneration package
• $14.8 million: The compensation ceiling for WPP CEO Cindy Rose
• 20%: The most recent pay hike for Publicis Groupe CEO Artour Sadoun, which means his potential salary for 2026 will be $8.96 million

What we covered

Why Amazon and YouTube pitched operating systems at this year’s upfront

Digiday sources indicate that this year, negotiations have veered toward who controls the infrastructure of advertising itself — underscored by presentations from some of the biggest names in advertising.

The downstream implications of Publicis Groupe’s $2.2 billion bet on LiveRamp 

Rival holding companies will likely be rethinking their relationship with the industry’s largest data onboarding outfit.

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