Skai vs Smartly

Skai Launches Agent Connect, Opening Its Omnichannel Marketing Infrastructure to External AI Agents

Skai announced the launch of Agent Connect, a new product that opens its omnichannel marketing infrastructure to external AI agents via MCP. The newsroom also highlights new press releases on Q2 2026 ad spend trends and the company being named Overall AdTech Company of the Year in the 2026 MarTech Breakthrough Awards.

Survey: Media Buyers Unready for Agentic Revolution

Kiri Masters argues that despite widespread announcements of AI agents for media buying, most media buyers and brands lack the data infrastructure and integrations required to adopt agentic workflows. A Skai survey of 332 paid media practitioners found a mean 'agentic readiness' score of 35.7/100, with 30% unprepared, 49% exploring, and only 3% having AI embedded at scale. Retail media and CPG brands score below the 'Building' tier, and very few organisations expose agent-readable data or end-to-end orchestration. The piece highlights the gap between C-suite enthusiasm and practitioner readiness and warns that agentic advantages will depend on retailers and platforms making data accessible to agents.

• Skai surveyed 332 paid media practitioners in April and scored them across nine dimensions of agentic readiness.
• The mean agentic readiness score across respondents was 35.7 out of 100.
• 30% of respondents were in the 'Unprepared' tier, 49% were 'Exploring', and 3% reported AI embedded at scale.

Horizon CEO Bob Lord Criticizes Holdcos’ FTE Pricing Models

At Smartly's Advance event in Lower Manhattan, Horizon Media Holdings president Bob Lord publicly criticized traditional full-time equivalent (FTE)-based pricing models used by major agency holding companies. He argued that such models, along with principal-based buying, are outdated and hinder client business growth. Lord emphasized the need for 'composable architectures' and monetizing technology investments rather than relying on legacy headcount-based pricing. He predicted that within five years, clients will stop paying for FTE-based models. His comments highlight a growing industry debate about agency compensation structures as technology and AI reshape the agency landscape.

• Horizon Media Holdings president Bob Lord criticized FTE-based pricing models at Smartly's Advance event.
• Lord called FTE models and principal-based buying 'the old system'.
• He predicted clients will stop paying for FTE-based models within five years.

Smartly adds LinkedIn Ads to unified platform for B2B marketers

Smartly, the AI-powered advertising technology company, announced a new integration bringing LinkedIn Ads into its unified advertising platform. This collaboration aims to help B2B marketers personalize creative for professional audiences, accelerate video production, and use audience and performance intelligence to continuously improve advertising outcomes. By combining LinkedIn's professional audience insights with Smartly's AI-powered creative and performance intelligence, marketers can create more relevant creative across the B2B buying journey. The integration also enables scaling video production for LinkedIn through AI-powered automation and turning performance signals into actionable insights.

• Smartly announced a new integration bringing LinkedIn Ads into its unified advertising platform.
• The integration is designed to help B2B marketers personalize creative for professional audiences.
• Smartly's CEO, Laura Desmond, highlighted the collaboration's importance for B2B marketers.

TIMBALAND TO HEADLINE SMARTLY’S ADVANCE IN NEW YORK CITY ON SEPTEMBER 29

Smartly announces that Timbaland will headline its ADVANCE event in New York City on September 29.