Agentic AI is approaching fast - but payment methods are lagging behind

This year, the buzz around AI has taken on a new dimension, as Agentic AI has assumed the position of AI’s killer-app-in-waiting. As we all surely know by now, agentic AI refers to systems that are autonomous, adaptable and able to operate independently or in cooperation - making decisions, initiating action and pursuing outcomes-based behaviour.

These are the AI systems most of us are likely to engage with most often in the coming years, as they set about controlling our smart homes, streamlining our day and monitoring our health. Significantly, they are also the type of AI that appears set to redefine adtech.

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In advertising, agentic AI has enormous potential for applications such as real-time, autonomous campaign management, large-scale hyper-personalisation, brand agents, and strategy and insight generation.

The real significance of agentic AI for advertising, however, will be on the consumer side. For years, ads and affiliate recommendations have been optimised for brands, not individuals. Algorithms track users, push products, and flood feeds with retargeting. And people are tired of it.

As a result, the future of digital engagement is shifting. The next era won’t be about shouting louder or spending more. Personal AI agents are going to be taking control on behalf of users - filtering ads, curating offers and, based on preferences, deciding what gets through. The most important relationship won’t be between brands and consumers anymore - it will be between individuals and their AI agents.

This will mean three things. First, we will see a boom in personalised, intent-driven advertising, instead of mass-market targeting. Second: the rise of AI-curated affiliate placements, where trusted agents pick winners. And third: a push-to-pull transformation, in which users, rather than passively receiving value, actively request it.

Brands who are able to construct transparent, high-quality offerings that earn AI agents’ trust will get their messages through to consumers. Those who continue to put their faith in old-fashioned ad bombardment will be left behind.

A rocket-fuelled future with carrier-pigeon payments

We believe agentic AI is going to be transformative. But as we look to an AI-driven, laser-fast future in terms of the technology being used to reach consumers, it is hard to ignore the fact that critical elements of the adtech ecosystem’s underlying infrastructure - such as its antiquated payment methods - could do with a future-proof transformation of their own.

To put it another way, we need to be careful that we are not building a rocket ship for ad delivery, creativity and AI, while using a carrier pigeon behind the scenes for supply-chain payment and business opportunities.

The industry’s payment processes underpin the business, now and in tomorrow’s AI-driven world. But the adtech supply chain is long and complicated, with brands at the top, agencies, DSPs and SSPs in the middle, and publishers and content creators at the bottom.

Each link in that chain introduces a payment delay, and since brands and agencies often hold onto funds for as long as possible, those at the bottom get squeezed the hardest. It is not uncommon to see small, valuable players waiting 90 or 120 days to be paid for their contribution to the advertising lifecycle.

Transformative technologies are here - let’s use them

When businesses struggle with cash flow, they can’t scale their operations, invest in marketing, or pay their own suppliers on time. That creates a domino effect that stifles growth across the entire advertising industry - even if AI is turbo-charging processes elsewhere.

But here, too, there are transformative technologies available. Using a data-driven adtech finance platform, businesses can receive their sales revenue as soon as it’s earned, rather than waiting weeks or months. Real-time transaction data enables the advancement of payments before an invoice is even raised. This model is based on transparency, automation, and flexibility - helping businesses get paid faster without taking on debt or navigating lengthy approval processes.

Of course we welcome tools such as agentic AI, which promise to deliver a new, more effective and efficient age of digital marketing. But we also hope the same kind of automation will permeate the business at all levels - ensuring that those who are striving to scale operations at speed will receive their own rewards at a similar pace.