Techtonic - one day, one message: the future is agentic, but built on standards

Techtonic brought the industry together for a single, fast-paced day of insight, debate and practical direction, focused on one central question: how does advertising evolve as AI moves from tools to agents?

Opening the event, our Director of Industry Relations, Alex Kozloff, welcomed a room packed with publishers, platforms, agencies and ad tech leaders before handing over to Anthony Katsur, CEO of IAB Tech Lab, who set the tone with a clear message: agentic AI is not a reset, it’s the next phase of programmatic.

Navigating the agentic frontier

Katsur outlined how the Tech Lab’s 2025 roadmap is focused on steadying a fragmented ad ecosystem, with dozens of initiatives addressing long-standing challenges like signal loss, fraud and measurement that are becoming more pressing as AI accelerates change. He argued that agentic AI will only scale if the industry shares common standards and language, which is why the Tech Lab is extending existing frameworks rather than rebuilding them, including early work on a more efficient real-time bidding model. While AI agents are still at an early stage, he stressed that the standards being set now, from advertising infrastructure to new ways for publishers and LLMs to communicate, will shape whether agentic advertising develops in a controlled, scalable way or not.

From silos to signals

The discussion moved from standards to real-world application as Lavan Sornarajah of MiQ explained how agentic AI is already influencing advertising decision-making, arguing that true AI maturity comes from deep integration rather than surface-level adoption. As data, platform and attention fragmentation continue to grow, the real challenge is harmonisation: bringing together hundreds of data feeds, millions of SKUs and thousands of brands into systems that can actually be activated. Generative AI is increasingly enabling this through tools like natural-language personas, shared audience taxonomies and recommendation engines, with agents not replacing traders but helping orchestrate signals across an increasingly complex landscape.

Publishers: disruption, but with opportunity

A publisher panel featuring Press Gazette, Hearst UK, Reach plc and Captify took on the impact of AI with a notably optimistic outlook, arguing that while conversational search and AI-driven discovery are changing traffic patterns, decline is not inevitable. Instead, intent-rich audiences, longer and more meaningful queries, and AI-enabled workflows are creating new opportunities across sales, content and data, with publishers using tools like AI training programmes, automated reporting and intent-led audience products to free up teams’ time, strengthen advertiser relationships and build more resilient, trust-based connections with their audiences. 

CTV: Bridging fragmentation and media performance

Connected TV is no longer just a high-impact channel. It is the proving ground for omnichannel effectiveness. The key takeaway was that fragmentation is not the core problem; disconnected planning is. When CTV is activated in isolation, it amplifies inefficiency. When it is connected to premium editorial environments and evaluated through attention rather than reach alone, it becomes a powerful driver of brand performance. The future of CTV success lies in coherence across screens, not scale at any cost.

Powering the agentic web: why UCP matters now

The central insight from this session was that AI-driven advertising will only scale if agents can share user signals in a consistent, privacy-safe way. Standardisation is not a constraint; it is an enabler. User Context Protocols create a common language for identity, consent, context, and feedback, allowing automated systems to make better decisions in real time while maintaining trust. Without this foundation, the promise of agentic advertising collapses under complexity. 

Redefining agency value in the AI era 

AI is reshaping advertising, but its real impact is not operational efficiency; it is expectation. Consumers are already interacting with AI, often unknowingly, yet trust remains fragile. The key takeaway was that agency value is shifting from execution to guidance. Success in the AI era will depend on helping brands navigate uncertainty, make responsible trade-offs, and apply AI where it genuinely improves effectiveness and experience. The winners will not be those who adopt the most tools, but those who use them with intent and accountability. 

Commerce media: the unifying layer of advertising 

Commerce media is becoming the connective tissue of a fragmented ecosystem. The session underscored how collapsing funnels, data loss, and platform convergence are forcing a rethink of how advertising decisions are made. Commerce signals, rooted in real product interaction and purchase behaviour, are emerging as the most reliable source of truth. As agentic commerce approaches, brands that can activate first-party commerce data responsibly will be better equipped to understand intent, influence earlier in the journey, and drive measurable growth.

Curation in the modern media landscape

Curation is often misunderstood, but the takeaway was simple: it is not a new trend, it is better programmatic practice. By distributing intelligence across the supply chain, curation enables greater transparency, control, and effectiveness in a privacy-first world. Attention, contextual signals, and first-party data are essential inputs for understanding what drives real outcomes. When measured properly, curation helps separate genuine value from assumed performance.

The main takeaway?  

Techtonic didn’t promise quick fixes. Instead, across one tightly packed day, it delivered something more valuable: alignment.

Agentic AI is coming, but it will only work if the industry speaks the same language. Standards, collaboration and experimentation, in that order, emerged as the blueprint for what comes next.

In a year defined by hype, Techtonic stood out for its clarity: the future may be agentic, but it’s being built deliberately, one standard at a time. 

Watch our short film below for more from Techtonic, plus insights and reactions from guests on the day.