- Only 30% of agencies, brands and publishers have fully integrated artificial intelligence (AI) across their media campaign life cycles, per the IAB’s State of Data 2025 report.
- While half of those that haven’t yet fully integrated AI across their media campaigns expect to achieve this by 2026, most would not have a strategic roadmap. Half of brands are also concerned about a scarcity of transparency into how agency and publishing partners use AI on their behalf.
- One of the biggest obstacles to adoption are data concerns, with nearly two-thirds of those queried citing the standard of the info getting used and produced, the protection of that data and fragmentation amongst disparate AI tools as top barriers.
For the entire discussion about AI and the spending on recent tools, practices and methods to harness it, it has yet to achieve widespread use, in line with the IAB’s State of Data report. However, because the tech continues to rapidly evolve, those that are slow to get on board are susceptible to being left behind, in line with Angelina Eng, vp of measurement, addressability and data center for the IAB.
“The industry isn’t taking full advantage of what AI can do now. It can construct media plans, generate audience segments, select media partners, forecast performance, and even use synthetic or ‘fake’ data to reinforce marketing mix modeling and sales attribution,” Eng said in an announcement. “This will transform how media campaigns are conceived, executed, and managed from start to complete.”
However, of those using AI, the bulk are very satisfied. Seventy percent of agencies and publishers, who’re ahead of brands by way of adoption, say the tools meet or exceed their expectations for driving time, cost savings and resource goals.
The report suggests there continues to be an extended option to go for widespread and enthusiastic AI adoption. A majority of agencies, brands as publishers (as many as 90%) are using general-purpose tools equivalent to ChatGPT, Perplexity and Meta AI — or functions inside the platforms they’re already using, equivalent to The Trade Desk’s Koa, Google Smart Bidding and Merkle’s GenCX — for their AI use. While these tools can provide an introduction and easy accessibility to AI use, they don’t at all times have the robust functionality that may result in a widespread business advantage.
Further, only about half of the agencies, brands and publishers responding are using or planning to make use of any of the 18 solutions proposed by the surveyors — equivalent to long-term strategic roadmaps, clear use cases or defined KPIs — to beat the AI adoption challenges for their media campaigns. Additionally, only 20% are putting in AI boards or contract clauses, which is able to leave them open to biased outputs, data breaches and compliance failures.
Ultimately, those that don’t have plans in place will probably be vulnerable to falling behind their industry competitors, losing consumer trust and facing legal consequences.
“The study suggests that agencies, brands, and publishers have to take a phased approach to AI adoption, ensuring that data inputs and outputs are secure and of top of the range,” Eng said. “They also have to train teams on best practices, collaborate with the industry to develop standards and prioritize key use cases to determine a robust foundation for full-scale adoption.”
The IAB partnered with BWG Global and Transparent Partners for its latest report, which surveyed over 500 subject material experts at agencies, brands and publishers.
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