New research reveals how advertising professionals view agentic AI—closing the execution gap, where they trust automation most, and why human oversight and orchestration define its future.
In advertising, the conversation around Artificial Intelligence has decisively shifted from uncertainty to one centered around opportunity and transformation. We recently surveyed advertising professionals to capture their thoughts on the future of agentic media, and the consensus is clear: AI’s true value is not in replacing human creativity, but in supercharging operational scale and campaign execution.
Despite all the hype around AI, most advertising professionals are still watching from the sidelines. Only 25% of those surveyed reported having used agentic AI for a campaign, revealing a clear execution gap and a need for simple, accessible solutions to remove the adoption friction.
Advancements in agentic technology are making it easier for advertising professionals to integrate AI solutions into their workflows, and the value is becoming increasingly clear. For example, with Equativ’s Agentic AI solutions, certain tasks that were once time-consuming, such as manual reporting, configuration checks, and pacing adjustments, have become automated. Our Maestro by Equativ platform, now equipped with agentic tools, cuts planning time by up to 40%, empowering teams to transition to campaign activation effortlessly.
When it comes to agentic AI, trust is at its highest when directing it toward performance-focused, data-driven tasks. Of those surveyed, 44% would let an AI agent generate A/B testing variations, and 44% would trust it to generate personalized, user-targeted elements.
This operational focus was further reinforced with 40% saying they want automation for campaign optimization in real-time. Our platform uses AI-powered intelligence for advanced optimization, helping teams manage bidding and budget allocation more efficiently. This delivers real-time performance without compromising the creative areas that advertising pros fiercely protect.
It’s likely not surprising that trust is the biggest barrier to adoption. Survey respondents reported their biggest fear is agentic AI running unchecked. In fact, 83% say they worry about agents executing full campaigns without human boundaries, proving that human oversight remains the ultimate safety net.
And, when it comes to the future, many are preparing for a shift from execution to governance, with 94% saying they believe the future role of advertising teams will focus on orchestration—in particular, strategy and agent governance. We built our platform with that in mind, and it acts as an essential compliance checkpoint and control layer, ensuring humans can design the rules and safely orchestrate agents at scale. This includes support for agent-to-agent trading via the Model Context Protocol (MCP), which enables clients to use their preferred external AI assistants (like Claude or custom GPTs) by seamlessly connecting them to Maestro by Equativ’s inventory, data, and deal execution capabilities through a single conversational interface.
The agentic shift in ad technology is here. Our platform allows you to move beyond simple automation to a fully orchestrated media ecosystem, where human oversight, governance, and creative control remain front and center in a changing advertising landscape.
View the full findings of our study, then request a demo to start orchestrating your media ecosystem today.
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