Identity is the bridge between AI and outcomes

Forget the cookie delay — AI is already starting to rewrite the rules of advertising.

While the industry was busy debating yet another postponement of Chrome’s third-party cookie phaseout — a distraction that’s consumed headlines for years — AI was steadily emerging as one of the most disruptive forces in marketing. But here’s the twist: AI doesn’t work without identity. If marketers want results — real outcomes, not just impressions — they need to prioritize the data that makes AI go.

First-party data strategies are now mainstream. Interoperable identity solutions like Unified ID 2.0 (UID2) and ID5 are gaining adoption across the open web. Connected TV (CTV) has grown into a performance-focused, cookieless channel. Contextual and geo-based targeting have become smarter and more scalable. Identity graphs help marketers stitch together signals across devices, platforms and channels.

The foundation for a better ecosystem isn’t being built — it’s already here.

AI is past the headline phase — now it’s about performance

Here’s what’s not a distraction. AI. It’s no longer buzz. It’s here — and it’s already reshaping how we plan, activate and measure advertising.

We’re now seeing the rise of agentic AI: systems that not only surface insights but also act on them. These AI agents identify patterns, build audiences, optimize media buys and analyze performance. AI is helping many marketers stop guessing and start improving.

But there’s a catch — one we can’t afford to overlook.

AI is only as good as the data it works with. “Garbage in, garbage out,” as the saying goes. And in advertising, that means if you don’t know who you’re reaching, even the smartest AI probably won’t drive results. To unlock AI’s full potential, marketers need a strong, privacy-conscious identity foundation.

Identity is the fuel that makes AI work

AI can personalize creative, optimize in-flight campaigns and even recommend which channels to prioritize — but it can’t do any of that well without context. And context starts with identity.

Identity connects signals from different devices, logins, channels and interactions to create a more complete picture of customer intent. Instead of just tracking clicks, it helps AI understand context — what matters, when, and why. That kind of signal clarity can give AI the power to help you make smarter predictions, uncover insights and deliver relevance at scale. Without identity, AI is operating int the dark. With identity, AI becomes meaningfully smarter.

Identity is the foundation of the outcomes era

We’re living in a performance-driven age. Impressions and clicks are typically no longer enough. Marketers today are being judged by real outcomes: incremental sales, customer acquisition, revenue lift and long-term value.

To measure those outcomes, you need to know who you reached — and whether they took action. Identity can make that connection possible. It can link ad exposure to real-world results. It can enable accurate attribution across channels. It can power personalization at every stage of the journey, helping you make each impression more valuable.

This is the Outcomes Era, and identity is what can make it measurable.

Commerce media and CTV show what’s possible

Two of the fastest-growing channels — commerce media and CTV — are great examples of identity in action.

In commerce media, identity helps retailers and marketplaces organize their customer data, enrich it with external insights and activate it across their own sites and off-site channels. It makes precision targeting possible, and it gives marketers clear ROI they can prove.

In CTV, identity can help solve a fundamental challenge: turning pseudonymous viewers into addressable audiences. On free ad-supported streaming platforms (FAST), identity solutions can resolve viewership to the household level. On logged-in platforms, identity enriches profiles with behavioral and purchase data, helping you boost demand, improve CPMs and growing revenue.

At Experian, we’ve invested in this future. Our recent acquisition of Audigent brings together data, identity and activation together under one roof — built to support both AI-driven planning and outcome-based performance.

How marketers can aim to win now

To stay ahead in a world defined by AI and outcomes, marketers should:

• Invest in omnichannel identity to unify signals across platforms and environments

• Make identity actionable in real time to inform both targeting and measurement

• Utilize first-party data, clean rooms and privacy-conscious partnerships to help you future-proof performance

• Tailor identity strategies to fit their media mix — because what works in CTV may not apply to in-app or web

It’s not about rebuilding everything. It’s about building on what’s already working.

Final thought: Identity is the bridge

AI is raising the bar, and outcomes are the new standard. But neither works without identity. The marketers who win typically won’t treat identity as a compliance checkbox — they’ll treat it as their competitive edge.

This op-ed represents the views and opinions of the author and not of The Current, a division of The Trade Desk, or The Trade Desk. The appearance of the op-ed on The Current does not constitute an endorsement by The Current or The Trade Desk. UID2 was developed by The Trade Desk.