AI is turning ad tech into a fight for the brain behind the buy
As AI automates advertising workflows, the contest is shifting to who can make the decisions that deliver results.
As the year 2026 approaches its end, the ad tech sector has witnessed a surge in mergers and acquisitions, providing a fitting backdrop for the recent Digital Marketing Summit organized by investment bank LUMA Partners. The summit's opening remarks were delivered by LUMA Partners CEO Terry Kawaja and Conor McKenna, a partner at the boutique investment bank, who both emphasized that artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming ad tech in two significant ways.
Firstly, AI is making marketing technology more adept at selecting and delivering ads; secondly, it is altering how consumers discover and purchase products.
The evolution of AI in ad tech is primarily manifesting in the automation of previously complex workflows. This shift is expected to alter the competitive landscape, moving the focus away from managing the campaign delivery process to making superior real-time decisions. Companies that excel in identifying the most effective signals to use, determining the optimal creative content to display, pinpointing the ideal placement for an ad, and continuously improving results, will be the ones to prosper in the AI-driven era.
Written by urgent.news from Digiday's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
