Published September 30
This year’s Advertising Week NY is around the corner (next week to be exact), and top executives from around the industry are expecting — what else? — AI to dominate conversations.
But they’re also expecting those conversations to lean more into AI in practical terms, the data beneath it, privacy implications and more.
Here’s what 10 top executives told The Current:
Cody Coleman, Co-Founder & CEO, Coactive AI: “Marketers are tired of AI promises, and they should be. The question going into Advertising Week is simple: what's working, and how do you know? Most AI in advertising still can’t answer the second half, because it can’t see what’s inside the creative and the content it runs against. Measurement starts with understanding context. Everything else is guesswork with a nicer dashboard.”
Alex Collmer, Founder & Executive Chairman, VidMob: “The question in every room will be what those tools are actually delivering, and how any brand can pull ahead when everyone is building on the same foundation models. That’s why data, and proprietary data in particular, has taken center stage. Marketers have figured out that access to AI isn’t an advantage anymore, because everyone has it. The advantage is what you feed it. That’s how you get non-commodity results from commodity tools.”
Mike Ellery, Chief Creative Officer, Sparks: “I hope to see more conversation around the practical side of AI adaptation — how teams build the skills and confidence to integrate AI into their workflows in a safe, ethical and human-led way. Just as importantly, I hope we continue to challenge the idea that AI is valuable simply because it’s new. The opportunity is to use it where it genuinely improves an experience, rather than as a gimmick.”
Richy Glassberg, CEO & Co-Founder, SafeGuard Privacy: “Expect AI agents to dominate the stage at AWNY, and expect privacy to come up more than people think. The conversations worth listening [to] are about accountability. AI doesn’t change who’s responsible for data, but it does change what your partners are doing with it, often after you’ve already vetted them. The question I want every panel to answer is whether your diligence reflects what your partners’ technology looks like today.”
Rachel Herbstman, Vice President, Data Innovation, Ampersand: “Advertising Week will be full of conversation about AI, automation and increasingly sophisticated audience data, but not enough about what sits underneath all of it. Every targeting and measurement decision depends on knowing who you’re actually reaching, and the quality of that identity signal rarely gets the scrutiny it deserves.
If the signal is unreliable, smarter technology just helps you make the wrong decision faster with compounding effects. CTV needs to start treating identity accuracy as a media quality issue, not a technical footnote, because marketers can only trust the results if they can trust the data and identity foundation behind them.”
Ali Mack, Vice President, Ad Tech Sales, Experian: “Heading into Advertising Week, the conversation will shift from ‘What can AI do for my marketing?’ to ‘What data is my AI built on?’ As agents take on more planning, activation and measurement decisions, marketers will start asking whose consumer intelligence is shaping those recommendations. The brands that can answer that question with confidence will be the brands that know they have trusted, governed, interoperable data underneath their AI, not just a smarter model on top.”
Todd Porch, CEO, Strategus: “Advertising Week will test whether consolidation is improving advertising for buyers or simply concentrating control. The themes from this year’s M&A surround the consolidation of measurement, data and AI capabilities inside fewer, larger platforms.
At the same time, I expect conversations that dive into the tensions between the open web and walled gardens, increasingly a question of who controls data, inventory and the definition of performance. Technology has made it easier to achieve scaled reach. For advertisers, the stronger advantage has become the ability to move quickly, adapt to changing conditions, and make smarter decisions with an independent point of view.”
Bob Regular, CEO, Infolinks: “I expect the conversation around AI to become much more practical. The industry has spent plenty of time talking about what AI could change; now marketers want to know where it can actually make advertising smarter, more relevant and more accountable. At the same time, as search and discovery evolve and consumer attention becomes even more fragmented, the open internet has an opportunity to prove its value in new ways. I think we’ll hear a lot about how better signals, smarter technology and stronger measurement can help marketers reach people in the moments that actually matter.”
Stephen Williams, CEO, Marketing Evolution: “I expect AI-powered measurement and attribution to get more attention as marketers face pressure to prove ROI. What I wish got more airtime is who gets credit for the sale. Too often, attribution credits the closer, whether that’s a search ad, a retailer or a sales rep, rather than the creator of the demand. Multi-touch attribution was meant to fix that, but it can only credit the touchpoints it can track, so it still favors lower-funnel digital channels and leaves internal teams competing to claim the conversion.
And as privacy changes and AI assistants erase the click path, it’s becoming even less reliable. As a result, brand investment is chronically undervalued and underfunded. AI can help by reconstructing fragmented customer journeys and connecting brand spend to the conversions it drives, so marketers can optimize for what grows the business, not just what’s easy to measure.”
Andrea Zapata, SVP, Agency Partnerships, VideoAmp: “Advertising Week will be full of conversations about AI and agents, but the more consequential shift is what happens when those technologies start making real media decisions. As planning and buying become more automated, advertisers will need measurement that can move at the same speed, helping them understand what’s working, optimize in-flight and connect investment to real business outcomes. I expect that tension between greater automation and greater accountability to be a major theme this year.”