‘We’re all going to live with uncertainty forever’: Advertising Week New York opens amid industry rebuild
Why this year’s Advertising Week New York feels different (yes, we know we say that every year).
Attendees at the recent Advertising Week New York gathering won't be short on topics to discuss, though such fervor has been a recurring theme at nearly every iteration of the event over the past decade. Organizers assert that attendance numbers are on the rise year-over-year, and industry publications like Digiday often label each event as transformative.
However, the 2026 edition stands out due to the emphasis on rebuilding the business around its human resources, with many professionals arriving uncertain about their roles in the forthcoming restructuring. Executives convening at Midtown's The Penn District repeatedly mention implementation as a primary focus. Alistair Hill, CEO and co-founder of brand uplift specialist On Device, noted that the company has swiftly transitioned from experimental phases to executing concrete strategies.
Stephanie Latham, Roblox's Vice President of Global Partnerships and Advertising, highlighted a shift in dialogue from assessing marketers' comfort levels with AI usage to securing enterprise agreements with AI service providers. Kochava CEO Leslie Amadi emphasized the need to determine how far agentic AI has progressed from conceptualization to practical application, stressing that CFOs are increasingly engaging in cost-related discussions and that security teams are more vigilant about potential data leaks from first-party sources into AI models.
A key concern for Hill is maintaining trust in the data and measurement processes, as rapid optimization could prove futile if stakeholders cannot rely on the underlying information.
Written by urgent.news from Digiday's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
