Observed Signal · Aug 19, 2026 · Market Signal · Source: Rakuten Advertising · Impact: 4/5
Mirai Wins 2026 MarTech Breakthrough Award for AI Innovation
Rakuten Advertising’s Mirai has been named AI-Powered Marketing Decision Engine of the Year in the 2026 MarTech Breakthrough Awards. Discover how this agentic AI platform is transforming affiliate and performance marketing.
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Rakuten Advertising Launches Mirai AI Optimization Agent
Rakuten Advertising announced Mirai, a conversational AI optimization agent designed to streamline and optimize affiliate campaign management. Mirai lets advertisers build and manage strategic affiliate offers via natural language, automating backend configuration, commission-structure guidance, and time-sensitive campaign details (e.g., holiday promotions). Initial capabilities highlighted include strategic guidance and reporting, real-time asynchronous autonomous code generation to handle advanced logic, and automation of campaign details for tailored efficiency. Rakuten positions Mirai as a proprietary AI capability it will expand across the full affiliate program lifecycle — from partner identification and recruitment to ongoing performance optimization and reporting. The announcement was published via PR Newswire on 2026-05-07 and includes a quote from Adam Rostan, Chief Product Officer at Rakuten Advertising.
AI Revolutionizes Advertising: Automation and Innovation Surge
Industry observers note AI-driven acceleration in MadTech as advertising and commerce move toward automation and faster decisioning. The week’s roundup highlights Perplexity launching a tool to simplify online shopping, Channel 4 Sales introducing Smart Ad Engine to convert a brand’s social footprint into ready-to-air TV ads, and Alibaba.com unveiling AI Mode for natural-language supplier comparisons and tailored recommendations. ISBA’s Media Budgets Survey shows 65% of UK advertisers plan to boost marketing spend in 2026, with AI playing a major role in media operations and connected TV gaining prominence. The IAB Tech Lab introduced the Agentic RTB Framework to speed auctions and reduce latency. On the regulatory front, Meta won a US antitrust ruling regarding its Instagram and WhatsApp acquisitions, while Google faced a German court order for €572m in a market-dominance case (following a €2.7bn EU fine last year).
Miracly Launches with €1.8M to Automate AI Marketing
Miracly, an AI-powered marketing platform developed by The Wild Ventures (known for the home decor brand Wild Palace), has launched following a €1.8 million pre-seed funding round. The round was led by Beenext Ventures and Lotus, with participation from a Swedish family office and angel investors including Stefan Lindeberg (Creandum founder), Alex Bouaziz (Deel CEO), and Thomas Ekman (former CEO of Axel Johnson). Operating from Sweden and Singapore, Miracly offers a platform that combines generative engine optimization (GEO), marketing analytics, and automated execution. It helps businesses monitor and improve their visibility in AI search engines, addressing declining organic traffic and rising performance marketing costs. Key features include the AI agent 'Mira' for recommendations, 'Miracly Goals' for collaborative objective tracking, and a revenue recovery agent that converts customer service insights into opportunities. The platform already counts Dreams, Acclime, and Pixi Beauty among its clients across North America, Europe, and Asia.
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