Marketers put up guardrails as AI agents reshape programmatic buying

AI agents are evolving quickly. In theory, agents are autonomous decision makers — automating campaign creation, optimizing ad buys and drafting pitch decks. In reality, marketers aren’t ready to give up control, establishing guardrails to keep agents in check.

Marketers don’t have a lot of trust when it comes to AI agents in ad buying yet. But that mistrust isn’t unfounded. Hallucinations are reason enough for guardrails, per execs. An incorrect CPM could make or break an ad buy, leaving the agency — instead of the agent — holding the bag.

“Would it blow a quarter’s worth of budget in a weekend? All of that’s well-founded, so that’s a fear,” said Henry Webster, svp director of analytics and insight at Kelly Scott Madison (KSM) Media, who spoke onstage during Digiday’s Programmatic Marketing Summit (DPMS), May 6-8 in Palm Springs, Calif. “The process of taking baby steps, testing, putting stringent guardrails and checks on agents that would operate in that way — makes a ton of sense.”

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By the numbers: Ad tech’s quarter of mixed fortunes

The latest quarterly earnings calls for the ad tech sector are largely over for the latest reporting period, with bluster over yet more senior departures at The Trade Desk, and AppLovin’s continued rise (generating nearly $2 billion in Q1) dominating Q1 headlines.

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Such numbers pale in comparison to the AI-fueled earnings increases of Big Tech, arguably the top tier of the media jungle, but upon initial inspection, the majority of this 12-strong cohort of companies, all of which issued their earnings over the last 14 days, posted increases.

However, three posted annual revenue declines — see chart below — with executives’ effusive soundings on the prospects of making their businesses agentic, equally prompting queries about whether AI will erode the stickiness of their company’s platform?

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