Observed Signal · Feb 16, 2026 · Webinar Recording · Source: https://triscari.substack.com/feed · Impact: 3/5 · Sentiment: Positive
Transforming AdTech: Embracing Agentic AI's New Era
Quo Vadis published a webinar recording and accompanying commentary exploring how agentic AI is reshaping the media value chain. The post promotes two upcoming live events (Last Media Dollar Live in NYC on Feb 25, 2026; Advertising Economic Forum on March 18–19, 2026) and summarizes an interview with Andrew Mole about programmatic shifts. Key topics include Google’s announced near‑term $180 billion capex plan signaling accelerated AI infrastructure buildout, the Ad Context Protocol (AdCP) and Prebid.org’s development of an open-source Prebid Sales Agent to enable publisher-side autonomous ad management, and concerns about transparency and trust to avoid RTB-era “lemon market” outcomes. The piece positions the agentic era as both an opportunity and a structural change in workflows, incentives, and value capture across publishers and buyers.
Discusses major industry developments: Google’s $180B AI capex (infrastructure signal) and Prebid.org’s open-source effort (Prebid Sales Agent) to enable publisher-side agentic AI—both could materially affect programmatic monetization and publisher control, but this is commentary/webinar content rather than an official platform policy change.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Last Media Dollar “Live” will be held in New York City on February 25, 2026 at the Roxy Cinema in Tribeca.
- Advertising Economic Forum will convene March 18–19, 2026 (Day 1 at Horizon Media; Day 2 at The New York Times Center).
- Google told investors on its Q4/FY25 earnings call it plans to invest $180 billion in near‑term capex for AI infrastructure.
- Prebid.org has taken over the Ad Context Protocol (AdCP) code to develop the Prebid Sales Agent—an open-source framework for publisher-side AI to manage, negotiate, and execute ad campaigns.
- Quo Vadis frames ‘transparency’ as synonymous with ‘trust’ and warns agentic AI must avoid repeating RTB-era information asymmetries that created a lemon market.
Connected Companies & Entities
5 Entities mappedOntology Mapping & Concepts
Related Market Signals & Shifts
Recent verified developments and strategic activity across this market segment.
Rebuilding the Media Value Chain for Agentic AI
A Quo Vadis webinar recording (published on Triscari Substack) explores how agentic AI is reshaping the media value chain. The piece highlights Google’s Q4/FY25 announcement to invest $180 billion in near-term capital expenditures and frames that as a bet on accelerated AI adoption. Discussion topics include the rise of agentic AI, the Ad Context Protocol (AdCP) and Prebid.org’s development of a Prebid Sales Agent to enable publisher-side autonomous ad management, and concerns about transparency and trust compared with the RTB era. The post also promotes upcoming industry events: Last Media Dollar Live (Feb 25, 2026) and the Advertising Economic Forum (Mar 18–19, 2026).
2026: The Rise of Autonomous AI in Media Buying
Industry voices interviewed by Adzine describe 2026 as an inflection point for 'agentic' AI in media trading: autonomous AI agents are beginning to act as decision-makers that build audiences, select placements and adapt creatives in real time. Participants from Quantcast, Equativ, Adform, Revo/Love and Traffective report practical deployments in repeatable, transactional scenarios while stressing limits where strategic judgment, complex budget trade-offs and liability are required. First‑party, machine‑readable real‑time signals are highlighted as critical fuel for effective agentic workflows. Experts call for common standards and protocols (IAB Tech Lab Agentic Roadmap, AdCP, MCP) to enable interoperable agent-to-agent interactions, evaluation and accountability. The consensus forecasts growing agentic automation in operational programmatic tasks in 2026, but a hybrid model retaining human responsibility and oversight for strategy and governance.
AI Takes Charge: Programmatic Advertising Trends for 2026
Amir Sharer, founder & CEO of BRAVE, convenes four industry leaders to map programmatic advertising shifts expected in 2026. The conversation frames 2026 as 'The Great Reconstruction' driven by agentic AI that negotiates media outcomes and by new protocols such as 'AdCP' (Advertising Content Protocol). The article cites ANA’s Q2 2025 Programmatic Transparency Benchmark saying curated marketplaces and PMP deals now account for the majority of programmatic spend. Key industry changes include upstream curation (Curation-as-a-Service), tighter latency requirements (sub-10ms targets for high-frequency mobile), identity architectures that integrate agent logic, and a market premium on verified human inventory (the “Human CPM”). Contributors named include Brian O'Kelley (Scope3), Lisa Abousaleh (ID5), Terrence Moduthagam (Media.net Select) and Tamir Shub (Intent IQ).
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