{"id":89594,"topic":"ai","source":"exchangewire.com","title":"Agentic Ad Buying Gains Ground in IAB Europe’s 2026 AI Report - exchangewire.com","url":"https://www.exchangewire.com/blog/2026/09/24/agentic-ad-buying-gains-ground-in-iab-europes-2026-ai-report/","url_hash":"ce1c11e6f264f3c7557a4a292e0a1b0b366080a4","author":"","summary":"Agentic Ad Buying Gains Ground in IAB Europe’s 2026 AI Report exchangewire.com","content":"IAB Europe, the leading European-level industry association for the digital advertising ecosystem, has today (24th September, 2026) released its 2026 Impact of AI on Digital Advertising Report, revealing how AI is becoming increasingly embedded across advertising operations as organisations move towards implementation, investment, and governance.\nDeveloped by IAB Europe and members of its AI Working Group, the annual study examines how organisations across the digital advertising ecosystem are adopting AI, preparing for emerging capabilities and managing associated risks.\nThe results show an industry moving from adoption towards more established implementation. AI use for marketing is widespread at 86%, while 72% of respondents answering the investment question report higher general AI investment than in 2025. Governance is also becoming more formal across organisations.\nExpectations around agentic advertising are building, with 58% expecting agentic ad buying to reach operational use or scale within the next year. However, the findings show that current deployment remains uneven, with larger organisations generally further ahead in the autonomy of production systems.\nCommenting on the findings, Dimitris Beis, data & innovation strategist at IAB Europe, said, \"This year’s findings shed light on what leveraging newer AI capabilities really means for the digital advertising ecosystem, from the criteria used to evaluate AI-based solutions to the level of autonomy currently implemented in production systems. Ambition remains ahead of practice in areas such as agentic trading, although the results suggest strong interest and continuing investment. For industry leadership, the practical questions are familiar: where is the value, have we established the conditions to capture it, and who is accountable when something goes wrong?\"\nKey findings from the report:\nAI adoption is widespread, while agentic use is still emerging - AI is now widely used for marketing, while expectations around agentic ad buying are growing faster than current deployment.\nInvestment is rising as efficiency drives value - Organisations are increasing investment in AI, with operational efficiency the most commonly selected measure of effectiveness. However, reported performance in advertising operations remains mixed.\nGovernance is becoming more formal, but gaps remain - Formal ownership of AI governance is becoming more established, although advertising and marketing-specific guidance is less widespread and a lack of expertise or training remains the most commonly cited barrier to adoption.\nSecurity tops the list of AI concerns - Security ranks as the leading AI-related concern, followed by privacy, although responses vary across the sample. Respondents also highlighted wider pressures around resources and managing legal, commercial, ethical, and security risks together.\nDemand for practical industry guidance is clear - Respondents expressed a clear need for practical AI marketing guidance from industry associations, while many organisations are still assessing the impact of the EU AI Act.\nKatharina Schneeberg, head of innovation & technology at BVDW & IAB Europe's AI Working Group co-lead, also commented, \"The findings show that AI adoption is no longer the key challenge. Organisations are now focused on scaling AI across their business, establishing governance and translating experimentation into tangible business impact.\nAs agentic capabilities continue to evolve, companies will need practical guidance, shared frameworks and real-world examples to deploy these systems responsibly and effectively.\nThe next stage of AI maturity will be defined by an organisation’s ability to integrate AI at scale and demonstrate its impact on business outcomes.\"\nThe findings will help inform the priorities of IAB Europe’s AI Working Group, which brings organisations from across the digital advertising ecosystem together to develop practical guidance and research, gather industry input and share knowledge through webinars, workshops and use case showcases.\nThe full report can be accessed here.\nTo find out more about IAB Europe’s AI work and how to get involved, please contact communication@iabeurope.eu.","image_url":"https://cdn.exchangewire.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/IAB-IAIDR-1200x6282-1.jpg","lang":"en","published_at":"2026-09-24T10:35:33+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-09-24T12:15:05+00:00","status":"read","starred":0,"extract_state":"ok","summary_auto":"IAB Europe, the leading European-level industry association for the digital advertising ecosystem, has today (24th September, 2026) released its 2026 Impact of AI on Digital Advertising Report, revealing how AI is becoming increasingly embedded across advertising operations as organisations move towards implementation, investment, and governance. Developed by IAB Europe and members of its AI Working Group, the annual study examines how organisations across the digital advertising ecosystem are adopting AI, preparing for emerging capabilities and managing associated risks.","cluster_id":null,"extract_retries":0,"extract_error":null,"contract_version":"news_item.v1","format_contract_version":"news_item_formats.v1","dedup_url":"https://www.exchangewire.com/blog/2026/09/24/agentic-ad-buying-gains-ground-in-iab-europes-2026-ai-report/","quality_profile":{"profile_version":"extraction_quality.v2","bucket":"high","confidence":0.9,"failure_kind":"none","retryable":false,"retry_after_attempts":0,"reason":"High confidence: full text extraction produced 4230 characters.","operator_guidance":{"severity":"ok","recommended_action":"trust_full_text","next_step":"Use the extracted full text as the primary article source.","operator_label":"Ready","can_retry":false,"can_use_summary":false,"diagnostics_required":false},"content_depth":{"contract_version":"content_depth.v1","category":"full_text","label":"Full text","has_full_text":true,"has_summary":true,"content_length":4230,"summary_length":578,"usable_text_length":4230,"source_field":"content"},"legacy_collapsed":false,"signals":{"extract_state":"ok","extract_error":null,"extract_retries":0,"content_length":4230,"summary_length":578}},"news_item":{"id":89594,"canonical_url":"https://www.exchangewire.com/blog/2026/09/24/agentic-ad-buying-gains-ground-in-iab-europes-2026-ai-report/","source_url":"https://www.exchangewire.com/blog/2026/09/24/agentic-ad-buying-gains-ground-in-iab-europes-2026-ai-report/","title":"Agentic Ad Buying Gains Ground in IAB Europe’s 2026 AI Report - exchangewire.com","source_name":"exchangewire.com","author":null,"published_at":"2026-09-24T10:35:33+00:00","locale":"en","topic":"ai","tags":[],"rss_summary":"Agentic Ad Buying Gains Ground in IAB Europe’s 2026 AI Report exchangewire.com","full_text":"IAB Europe, the leading European-level industry association for the digital advertising ecosystem, has today (24th September, 2026) released its 2026 Impact of AI on Digital Advertising Report, revealing how AI is becoming increasingly embedded across advertising operations as organisations move towards implementation, investment, and governance.\nDeveloped by IAB Europe and members of its AI Working Group, the annual study examines how organisations across the digital advertising ecosystem are adopting AI, preparing for emerging capabilities and managing associated risks.\nThe results show an industry moving from adoption towards more established implementation. AI use for marketing is widespread at 86%, while 72% of respondents answering the investment question report higher general AI investment than in 2025. Governance is also becoming more formal across organisations.\nExpectations around agentic advertising are building, with 58% expecting agentic ad buying to reach operational use or scale within the next year. However, the findings show that current deployment remains uneven, with larger organisations generally further ahead in the autonomy of production systems.\nCommenting on the findings, Dimitris Beis, data & innovation strategist at IAB Europe, said, \"This year’s findings shed light on what leveraging newer AI capabilities really means for the digital advertising ecosystem, from the criteria used to evaluate AI-based solutions to the level of autonomy currently implemented in production systems. Ambition remains ahead of practice in areas such as agentic trading, although the results suggest strong interest and continuing investment. For industry leadership, the practical questions are familiar: where is the value, have we established the conditions to capture it, and who is accountable when something goes wrong?\"\nKey findings from the report:\nAI adoption is widespread, while agentic use is still emerging - AI is now widely used for marketing, while expectations around agentic ad buying are growing faster than current deployment.\nInvestment is rising as efficiency drives value - Organisations are increasing investment in AI, with operational efficiency the most commonly selected measure of effectiveness. However, reported performance in advertising operations remains mixed.\nGovernance is becoming more formal, but gaps remain - Formal ownership of AI governance is becoming more established, although advertising and marketing-specific guidance is less widespread and a lack of expertise or training remains the most commonly cited barrier to adoption.\nSecurity tops the list of AI concerns - Security ranks as the leading AI-related concern, followed by privacy, although responses vary across the sample. Respondents also highlighted wider pressures around resources and managing legal, commercial, ethical, and security risks together.\nDemand for practical industry guidance is clear - Respondents expressed a clear need for practical AI marketing guidance from industry associations, while many organisations are still assessing the impact of the EU AI Act.\nKatharina Schneeberg, head of innovation & technology at BVDW & IAB Europe's AI Working Group co-lead, also commented, \"The findings show that AI adoption is no longer the key challenge. Organisations are now focused on scaling AI across their business, establishing governance and translating experimentation into tangible business impact.\nAs agentic capabilities continue to evolve, companies will need practical guidance, shared frameworks and real-world examples to deploy these systems responsibly and effectively.\nThe next stage of AI maturity will be defined by an organisation’s ability to integrate AI at scale and demonstrate its impact on business outcomes.\"\nThe findings will help inform the priorities of IAB Europe’s AI Working Group, which brings organisations from across the digital advertising ecosystem together to develop practical guidance and research, gather industry input and share knowledge through webinars, workshops and use case showcases.\nThe full report can be accessed here.\nTo find out more about IAB Europe’s AI work and how to get involved, please contact communication@iabeurope.eu.","excerpt":"IAB Europe, the leading European-level industry association for the digital advertising ecosystem, has today (24th September, 2026) released its 2026 Impact of AI on Digital Advertising Report, revealing how AI is becoming increasingly embedded across advertising operations as organisations move towards implementation, investment, and governance. Developed by IAB Europe and members of its AI Working Group, the annual study examines how organisations across the digital advertising ecosystem are adopting AI, preparing for emerging capabilities and managing associated risks.","extraction":{"state":"ok","confidence":0.9,"error":null,"explanation":"High confidence: full text extraction produced 4230 characters.","diagnostics_url":"/api/diagnose?url=https%3A//www.exchangewire.com/blog/2026/09/24/agentic-ad-buying-gains-ground-in-iab-europes-2026-ai-report/","quality_profile":{"profile_version":"extraction_quality.v2","bucket":"high","confidence":0.9,"failure_kind":"none","retryable":false,"retry_after_attempts":0,"reason":"High confidence: full text extraction produced 4230 characters.","operator_guidance":{"severity":"ok","recommended_action":"trust_full_text","next_step":"Use the extracted full text as the primary article source.","operator_label":"Ready","can_retry":false,"can_use_summary":false,"diagnostics_required":false},"content_depth":{"contract_version":"content_depth.v1","category":"full_text","label":"Full text","has_full_text":true,"has_summary":true,"content_length":4230,"summary_length":578,"usable_text_length":4230,"source_field":"content"},"legacy_collapsed":false,"signals":{"extract_state":"ok","extract_error":null,"extract_retries":0,"content_length":4230,"summary_length":578}}},"display_formats":["compact","card","full","digest_section","json"]},"daily_stack_record":{"title":"Agentic Ad Buying Gains Ground in IAB Europe’s 2026 AI Report - exchangewire.com","url":"https://www.exchangewire.com/blog/2026/09/24/agentic-ad-buying-gains-ground-in-iab-europes-2026-ai-report/","summary":"IAB Europe, the leading European-level industry association for the digital advertising ecosystem, has today (24th September, 2026) released its 2026 Impact of AI on Digital Advertising Report, revealing how AI is becoming increasingly embedded across advertising operations as organisations move towards implementation, investment, and governance. Developed by IAB Europe and members of its AI Working Group, the annual study examines how organisations across the digital advertising ecosystem are adopting AI, preparing for emerging capabilities and managing associated risks.","source":"exchangewire.com","date":"2026-09-24T10:35:33+00:00","content":"IAB Europe, the leading European-level industry association for the digital advertising ecosystem, has today (24th September, 2026) released its 2026 Impact of AI on Digital Advertising Report, revealing how AI is becoming increasingly embedded across advertising operations as organisations move towards implementation, investment, and governance.\nDeveloped by IAB Europe and members of its AI Working Group, the annual study examines how organisations across the digital advertising ecosystem are adopting AI, preparing for emerging capabilities and managing associated risks.\nThe results show an industry moving from adoption towards more established implementation. AI use for marketing is widespread at 86%, while 72% of respondents answering the investment question report higher general AI investment than in 2025. Governance is also becoming more formal across organisations.\nExpectations around agentic advertising are building, with 58% expecting agentic ad buying to reach operational use or scale within the next year. However, the findings show that current deployment remains uneven, with larger organisations generally further ahead in the autonomy of production systems.\nCommenting on the findings, Dimitris Beis, data & innovation strategist at IAB Europe, said, \"This year’s findings shed light on what leveraging newer AI capabilities really means for the digital advertising ecosystem, from the criteria used to evaluate AI-based solutions to the level of autonomy currently implemented in production systems. Ambition remains ahead of practice in areas such as agentic trading, although the results suggest strong interest and continuing investment. For industry leadership, the practical questions are familiar: where is the value, have we established the conditions to capture it, and who is accountable when something goes wrong?\"\nKey findings from the report:\nAI adoption is widespread, while agentic use is still emerging - AI is now widely used for marketing, while expectations around agentic ad buying are growing faster than current deployment.\nInvestment is rising as efficiency drives value - Organisations are increasing investment in AI, with operational efficiency the most commonly selected measure of effectiveness. However, reported performance in advertising operations remains mixed.\nGovernance is becoming more formal, but gaps remain - Formal ownership of AI governance is becoming more established, although advertising and marketing-specific guidance is less widespread and a lack of expertise or training remains the most commonly cited barrier to adoption.\nSecurity tops the list of AI concerns - Security ranks as the leading AI-related concern, followed by privacy, although responses vary across the sample. Respondents also highlighted wider pressures around resources and managing legal, commercial, ethical, and security risks together.\nDemand for practical industry guidance is clear - Respondents expressed a clear need for practical AI marketing guidance from industry associations, while many organisations are still assessing the impact of the EU AI Act.\nKatharina Schneeberg, head of innovation & technology at BVDW & IAB Europe's AI Working Group co-lead, also commented, \"The findings show that AI adoption is no longer the key challenge. Organisations are now focused on scaling AI across their business, establishing governance and translating experimentation into tangible business impact.\nAs agentic capabilities continue to evolve, companies will need practical guidance, shared frameworks and real-world examples to deploy these systems responsibly and effectively.\nThe next stage of AI maturity will be defined by an organisation’s ability to integrate AI at scale and demonstrate its impact on business outcomes.\"\nThe findings will help inform the priorities of IAB Europe’s AI Working Group, which brings organisations from across the digital advertising ecosystem together to develop practical guidance and research, gather industry input and share knowledge through webinars, workshops and use case showcases.\nThe full report can be accessed here.\nTo find out more about IAB Europe’s AI work and how to get involved, please contact communication@iabeurope.eu.","confidence":0.9,"diagnostics_url":"/api/diagnose?url=https%3A//www.exchangewire.com/blog/2026/09/24/agentic-ad-buying-gains-ground-in-iab-europes-2026-ai-report/","quality_bucket":"high","failure_kind":"none","retryable":false,"quality_reason":"High confidence: full text extraction produced 4230 characters.","quality_profile":{"profile_version":"extraction_quality.v2","bucket":"high","confidence":0.9,"failure_kind":"none","retryable":false,"retry_after_attempts":0,"reason":"High confidence: full text extraction produced 4230 characters.","operator_guidance":{"severity":"ok","recommended_action":"trust_full_text","next_step":"Use the extracted full text as the primary article source.","operator_label":"Ready","can_retry":false,"can_use_summary":false,"diagnostics_required":false},"content_depth":{"contract_version":"content_depth.v1","category":"full_text","label":"Full text","has_full_text":true,"has_summary":true,"content_length":4230,"summary_length":578,"usable_text_length":4230,"source_field":"content"},"legacy_collapsed":false,"signals":{"extract_state":"ok","extract_error":null,"extract_retries":0,"content_length":4230,"summary_length":578}},"tags":[]},"fallback_formats":["markdown","json","html"],"actions":{"read":"/item/89594","export_markdown":"/api/items/89594/export?format=markdown","export_json":"/api/items/89594/export?format=json","diagnose":"/api/diagnose?url=https%3A//www.exchangewire.com/blog/2026/09/24/agentic-ad-buying-gains-ground-in-iab-europes-2026-ai-report/"},"formats":{"full":{"id":89594,"title":"Agentic Ad Buying Gains Ground in IAB Europe’s 2026 AI Report - exchangewire.com","url":"https://www.exchangewire.com/blog/2026/09/24/agentic-ad-buying-gains-ground-in-iab-europes-2026-ai-report/","source":"exchangewire.com","author":null,"published_at":"2026-09-24T10:35:33+00:00","locale":"en","topic":"ai","tags":[],"excerpt":"IAB Europe, the leading European-level industry association for the digital advertising ecosystem, has today (24th September, 2026) released its 2026 Impact of AI on Digital Advertising Report, revealing how AI is becoming increasingly embedded across advertising operations as organisations move towards implementation, investment, and governance. Developed by IAB Europe and members of its AI Working Group, the annual study examines how organisations across the digital advertising ecosystem are adopting AI, preparing for emerging capabilities and managing associated risks.","full_text":"IAB Europe, the leading European-level industry association for the digital advertising ecosystem, has today (24th September, 2026) released its 2026 Impact of AI on Digital Advertising Report, revealing how AI is becoming increasingly embedded across advertising operations as organisations move towards implementation, investment, and governance.\nDeveloped by IAB Europe and members of its AI Working Group, the annual study examines how organisations across the digital advertising ecosystem are adopting AI, preparing for emerging capabilities and managing associated risks.\nThe results show an industry moving from adoption towards more established implementation. AI use for marketing is widespread at 86%, while 72% of respondents answering the investment question report higher general AI investment than in 2025. Governance is also becoming more formal across organisations.\nExpectations around agentic advertising are building, with 58% expecting agentic ad buying to reach operational use or scale within the next year. However, the findings show that current deployment remains uneven, with larger organisations generally further ahead in the autonomy of production systems.\nCommenting on the findings, Dimitris Beis, data & innovation strategist at IAB Europe, said, \"This year’s findings shed light on what leveraging newer AI capabilities really means for the digital advertising ecosystem, from the criteria used to evaluate AI-based solutions to the level of autonomy currently implemented in production systems. Ambition remains ahead of practice in areas such as agentic trading, although the results suggest strong interest and continuing investment. For industry leadership, the practical questions are familiar: where is the value, have we established the conditions to capture it, and who is accountable when something goes wrong?\"\nKey findings from the report:\nAI adoption is widespread, while agentic use is still emerging - AI is now widely used for marketing, while expectations around agentic ad buying are growing faster than current deployment.\nInvestment is rising as efficiency drives value - Organisations are increasing investment in AI, with operational efficiency the most commonly selected measure of effectiveness. However, reported performance in advertising operations remains mixed.\nGovernance is becoming more formal, but gaps remain - Formal ownership of AI governance is becoming more established, although advertising and marketing-specific guidance is less widespread and a lack of expertise or training remains the most commonly cited barrier to adoption.\nSecurity tops the list of AI concerns - Security ranks as the leading AI-related concern, followed by privacy, although responses vary across the sample. Respondents also highlighted wider pressures around resources and managing legal, commercial, ethical, and security risks together.\nDemand for practical industry guidance is clear - Respondents expressed a clear need for practical AI marketing guidance from industry associations, while many organisations are still assessing the impact of the EU AI Act.\nKatharina Schneeberg, head of innovation & technology at BVDW & IAB Europe's AI Working Group co-lead, also commented, \"The findings show that AI adoption is no longer the key challenge. Organisations are now focused on scaling AI across their business, establishing governance and translating experimentation into tangible business impact.\nAs agentic capabilities continue to evolve, companies will need practical guidance, shared frameworks and real-world examples to deploy these systems responsibly and effectively.\nThe next stage of AI maturity will be defined by an organisation’s ability to integrate AI at scale and demonstrate its impact on business outcomes.\"\nThe findings will help inform the priorities of IAB Europe’s AI Working Group, which brings organisations from across the digital advertising ecosystem together to develop practical guidance and research, gather industry input and share knowledge through webinars, workshops and use case showcases.\nThe full report can be accessed here.\nTo find out more about IAB Europe’s AI work and how to get involved, please contact communication@iabeurope.eu.","reading_time_min":3,"extraction":{"state":"ok","confidence":0.9,"error":null,"explanation":"High confidence: full text extraction produced 4230 characters.","diagnostics_url":"/api/diagnose?url=https%3A//www.exchangewire.com/blog/2026/09/24/agentic-ad-buying-gains-ground-in-iab-europes-2026-ai-report/","quality_profile":{"profile_version":"extraction_quality.v2","bucket":"high","confidence":0.9,"failure_kind":"none","retryable":false,"retry_after_attempts":0,"reason":"High confidence: full text extraction produced 4230 characters.","operator_guidance":{"severity":"ok","recommended_action":"trust_full_text","next_step":"Use the extracted full text as the primary article source.","operator_label":"Ready","can_retry":false,"can_use_summary":false,"diagnostics_required":false},"content_depth":{"contract_version":"content_depth.v1","category":"full_text","label":"Full text","has_full_text":true,"has_summary":true,"content_length":4230,"summary_length":578,"usable_text_length":4230,"source_field":"content"},"legacy_collapsed":false,"signals":{"extract_state":"ok","extract_error":null,"extract_retries":0,"content_length":4230,"summary_length":578}}},"quality_profile":{"profile_version":"extraction_quality.v2","bucket":"high","confidence":0.9,"failure_kind":"none","retryable":false,"retry_after_attempts":0,"reason":"High confidence: full text extraction produced 4230 characters.","operator_guidance":{"severity":"ok","recommended_action":"trust_full_text","next_step":"Use the extracted full text as the primary article source.","operator_label":"Ready","can_retry":false,"can_use_summary":false,"diagnostics_required":false},"content_depth":{"contract_version":"content_depth.v1","category":"full_text","label":"Full text","has_full_text":true,"has_summary":true,"content_length":4230,"summary_length":578,"usable_text_length":4230,"source_field":"content"},"legacy_collapsed":false,"signals":{"extract_state":"ok","extract_error":null,"extract_retries":0,"content_length":4230,"summary_length":578}},"actions":{"read":"/item/89594","export_markdown":"/api/items/89594/export?format=markdown","export_json":"/api/items/89594/export?format=json","diagnose":"/api/diagnose?url=https%3A//www.exchangewire.com/blog/2026/09/24/agentic-ad-buying-gains-ground-in-iab-europes-2026-ai-report/"}},"digest":{"id":89594,"title":"Agentic Ad Buying Gains Ground in IAB Europe’s 2026 AI Report - exchangewire.com","url":"https://www.exchangewire.com/blog/2026/09/24/agentic-ad-buying-gains-ground-in-iab-europes-2026-ai-report/","source":"exchangewire.com","topic":"ai","published_at":"2026-09-24T10:35:33+00:00","excerpt":"IAB Europe, the leading European-level industry association for the digital advertising ecosystem, has today (24th September, 2026) released its 2026 Impact of AI on Digital Advertising Report, revealing how AI is becoming increasingly embedded across advertising operations as…","quality_bucket":"high","quality_reason":"High confidence: full text extraction produced 4230 characters.","reading_time_min":3,"cluster_id":null},"card":{"display_title":"Agentic Ad Buying Gains Ground in IAB Europe’s 2026 AI Report - exchangewire.com","subtitle":"exchangewire.com · 2026-09-24","summary":"IAB Europe, the leading European-level industry association for the digital advertising ecosystem, has today (24th September, 2026) released its 2026 Impact of AI on Digital Advertising Report, revealing how AI is…","badges":["quality:high"],"links":{"read":"/item/89594","original":"https://www.exchangewire.com/blog/2026/09/24/agentic-ad-buying-gains-ground-in-iab-europes-2026-ai-report/","diagnose":"/api/diagnose?url=https%3A//www.exchangewire.com/blog/2026/09/24/agentic-ad-buying-gains-ground-in-iab-europes-2026-ai-report/"},"quality_warning":null},"export":{"title":"Agentic Ad Buying Gains Ground in IAB Europe’s 2026 AI Report - exchangewire.com","url":"https://www.exchangewire.com/blog/2026/09/24/agentic-ad-buying-gains-ground-in-iab-europes-2026-ai-report/","summary":"IAB Europe, the leading European-level industry association for the digital advertising ecosystem, has today (24th September, 2026) released its 2026 Impact of AI on Digital Advertising Report, revealing how AI is becoming increasingly embedded across advertising operations as organisations move towards implementation, investment, and governance. Developed by IAB Europe and members of its AI Working Group, the annual study examines how organisations across the digital advertising ecosystem are adopting AI, preparing for emerging capabilities and managing associated risks.","source":"exchangewire.com","date":"2026-09-24T10:35:33+00:00","content":"IAB Europe, the leading European-level industry association for the digital advertising ecosystem, has today (24th September, 2026) released its 2026 Impact of AI on Digital Advertising Report, revealing how AI is becoming increasingly embedded across advertising operations as organisations move towards implementation, investment, and governance.\nDeveloped by IAB Europe and members of its AI Working Group, the annual study examines how organisations across the digital advertising ecosystem are adopting AI, preparing for emerging capabilities and managing associated risks.\nThe results show an industry moving from adoption towards more established implementation. AI use for marketing is widespread at 86%, while 72% of respondents answering the investment question report higher general AI investment than in 2025. Governance is also becoming more formal across organisations.\nExpectations around agentic advertising are building, with 58% expecting agentic ad buying to reach operational use or scale within the next year. However, the findings show that current deployment remains uneven, with larger organisations generally further ahead in the autonomy of production systems.\nCommenting on the findings, Dimitris Beis, data & innovation strategist at IAB Europe, said, \"This year’s findings shed light on what leveraging newer AI capabilities really means for the digital advertising ecosystem, from the criteria used to evaluate AI-based solutions to the level of autonomy currently implemented in production systems. Ambition remains ahead of practice in areas such as agentic trading, although the results suggest strong interest and continuing investment. For industry leadership, the practical questions are familiar: where is the value, have we established the conditions to capture it, and who is accountable when something goes wrong?\"\nKey findings from the report:\nAI adoption is widespread, while agentic use is still emerging - AI is now widely used for marketing, while expectations around agentic ad buying are growing faster than current deployment.\nInvestment is rising as efficiency drives value - Organisations are increasing investment in AI, with operational efficiency the most commonly selected measure of effectiveness. However, reported performance in advertising operations remains mixed.\nGovernance is becoming more formal, but gaps remain - Formal ownership of AI governance is becoming more established, although advertising and marketing-specific guidance is less widespread and a lack of expertise or training remains the most commonly cited barrier to adoption.\nSecurity tops the list of AI concerns - Security ranks as the leading AI-related concern, followed by privacy, although responses vary across the sample. Respondents also highlighted wider pressures around resources and managing legal, commercial, ethical, and security risks together.\nDemand for practical industry guidance is clear - Respondents expressed a clear need for practical AI marketing guidance from industry associations, while many organisations are still assessing the impact of the EU AI Act.\nKatharina Schneeberg, head of innovation & technology at BVDW & IAB Europe's AI Working Group co-lead, also commented, \"The findings show that AI adoption is no longer the key challenge. Organisations are now focused on scaling AI across their business, establishing governance and translating experimentation into tangible business impact.\nAs agentic capabilities continue to evolve, companies will need practical guidance, shared frameworks and real-world examples to deploy these systems responsibly and effectively.\nThe next stage of AI maturity will be defined by an organisation’s ability to integrate AI at scale and demonstrate its impact on business outcomes.\"\nThe findings will help inform the priorities of IAB Europe’s AI Working Group, which brings organisations from across the digital advertising ecosystem together to develop practical guidance and research, gather industry input and share knowledge through webinars, workshops and use case showcases.\nThe full report can be accessed here.\nTo find out more about IAB Europe’s AI work and how to get involved, please contact communication@iabeurope.eu.","confidence":0.9,"diagnostics_url":"/api/diagnose?url=https%3A//www.exchangewire.com/blog/2026/09/24/agentic-ad-buying-gains-ground-in-iab-europes-2026-ai-report/","quality_bucket":"high","failure_kind":"none","retryable":false,"quality_reason":"High confidence: full text extraction produced 4230 characters.","quality_profile":{"profile_version":"extraction_quality.v2","bucket":"high","confidence":0.9,"failure_kind":"none","retryable":false,"retry_after_attempts":0,"reason":"High confidence: full text extraction produced 4230 characters.","operator_guidance":{"severity":"ok","recommended_action":"trust_full_text","next_step":"Use the extracted full text as the primary article source.","operator_label":"Ready","can_retry":false,"can_use_summary":false,"diagnostics_required":false},"content_depth":{"contract_version":"content_depth.v1","category":"full_text","label":"Full text","has_full_text":true,"has_summary":true,"content_length":4230,"summary_length":578,"usable_text_length":4230,"source_field":"content"},"legacy_collapsed":false,"signals":{"extract_state":"ok","extract_error":null,"extract_retries":0,"content_length":4230,"summary_length":578}},"tags":[],"format_contract_version":"news_item_formats.v1"}}}