Adrian Isoldi.
The AdNews end of year Perspectives, looking back at 2025 and forward to next year.
Adrian Isoldi, Director, Enterprise Sales Australia, Magnite
2026 will be a defining year for our industry — one that will see the industry shift from experimenting with new approaches to integrating them at scale. The focus is now on applying technology in ways that add genuine value to drive not just efficiency, but better outcomes for everyone in the ecosystem.
With the programmatic landscape evolving fast, agencies are under pressure to do more with less, while publishers seek transparency, control and stronger yield. Across the conversations I’m having, three themes keep surfacing: control, transparency and efficiency. Everyone wants to simplify without losing sophistication, automate without losing insight, and optimise without losing human context.
As audiences fragment across screens, formats and platforms, these qualities have never mattered more. Technology has become the enabler to achieving this with its ability to connect data, streamline workflows, and unlock growth in smarter, fairer and more sustainable ways.
- Streaming accelerates for SMBs
The next big wave of streaming growth won’t come from global brands, but from small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). The industry and the technology it is creating is shifting the model to one where SMBs have more access and barriers to entry are finally removed.
AI-integrated technology is driving this change. By automating creative generation and simplifying campaign setup and optimisation, it’s making CTV advertising far more accessible and cost-effective. Smarter buying tools are empowering smaller advertisers to reach audiences on premium platforms that were once out of reach, opening the door to a new generation of streaming advertisers.
For publishers, that translates to more advertisers, more competition for inventory, and stronger yield. For agencies, it creates new layers of demand and new ways to deliver value. And for advertisers, it means levelling the playing field by enabling them to access the same CTV opportunities that were once the domain of major brands, with tools that scale to their needs and budgets.
In 2026, streaming will evolve into one of the most inclusive, data-driven and efficient channels in digital advertising as AI lowers the barriers and reshapes what we mean by “TV advertising”.
- Investment shifts towards measurable value and AI-driven efficiency
2025 was the year of experimentation, with many platforms testing AI and LLMs. 2026 will be the year AI becomes a core functionality in how media is planned, traded and optimised.
As an industry, we are exploring what works right now and what’s the potential for the future. It is no longer a question of if AI can deliver, but how much better it can make the process and improve accuracy and efficiency across every channel.
We are already seeing this play out in the market. AI capabilities are being built directly into ad-tech platforms — from predictive analytics and smarter forecasting to campaign optimisation. They are improving how inventory is valued, how decisions are made, and how performance is measured.
At the same time, advertisers are re-evaluating what performance really means and shifting away from traditional metrics like reach and frequency toward value generation to understand what truly drives sales and brand impact.
In every conversation I’ve had this year, there’s a sense of “we’ve seen what it can do and now we need to embed it.” My message to marketers and agencies alike is to truly start treating AI as a functional layer of everyday operations rather than an experiment. AI won’t replace human creativity or strategy, but in an increasingly automated ecosystem it will help teams act on insights faster, make smarter buys, and forecast outcomes with confidence.
- Curation defines the next phase of programmatic buying
Curation has quickly become one of the most important developments in programmatic, and 2026 will be the year it becomes a more central element of advertisers’ buying strategies.
As the industry demands more transparency, quality, and control, curation delivers on all three. It simplifies how buyers discover, package, and activate premium inventory through unified workflows powered by high-quality data and helps ensure every dollar invested tied to real outcomes.
For publishers, it provides greater visibility into who’s buying, at what value, and under what terms. For agencies and advertisers, it offers more consistent access to audiences and insights into performance without additional layers of complexity.
The next 12 months won’t be about adding more technology — they’ll be about applying the right technology, in the right way, to drive better outcomes for everyone.
It’s an exciting time to be part of this industry. The pace of change can be challenging, but it’s also what makes it rewarding. When technology is used with purpose — to simplify, connect, and create value — everyone benefits: advertisers, publishers, and audiences alike.
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