58% of ad execs expect agentic buying to hit scale within a year, according to IAB Europe research
Agentic buying is 2026’s year of the mobile.
New research from IAB Europe reveals that a majority of ad executives anticipate agentic ad buying to reach operational use or scale within the next year. Despite initial wariness due to technical costs and definitional questions, 58% of 58 ad executives surveyed across 44 European markets now expect this trend to materialize. Larger organizations with 501 or more employees are more advanced in implementing agentic systems, with 86% already running their most sophisticated systems where people and agents collaborate on planning, delegation, and execution.
In contrast, smaller organizations with 500 or fewer employees show less progress, with only 48% expecting agentic buying to reach a comparable level. The expectations regarding agentic trading remain contentious, with the potential impact and feasibility of this technology still subject to debate.
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