The future of CTV isn’t agentic OR programmatic – it’s both!

The rise of agentic AI has led to speculation that a new era of autonomous media buying could soon replace programmatic advertising. However, framing ‘agentic AI’ and ‘programmatic’ as competing models fails to take into account how premium CTV works right now. 

Programmatic already provides the infrastructure that enables buyers and sellers to transact premium video inventory at scale. Agentic AI has the potential to make that infrastructure significantly easier to use by reducing manual effort, improving workflows and helping advertisers and publishers make informed decisions at pace.  

Rather than replacing programmatic, agentic AI is poised to strengthen it. The bigger questions for CTV are these: where does agentic AI create real value today, where are its limits, and how should the industry think about AI and programmatic working together? 

Embracing the opportunity 

For publishers especially, the challenge is about capturing advertising spend wherever it originates. As more budgets begin flowing through AI-powered buying systems, publishers would be wise to be ready to capitalise. 

The big opportunity for publishers today lies in making CTV transactions smarter, faster and more efficient. Agentic AI can help maximise yield, improve forecasting, streamline the ways that inventory is packaged and make premium inventory easier to discover. These improvements can enable media owners to respond more efficiently to market demand while improving performance across multiple channels. 

For advertisers, AI can remove many of the operational frustrations that still exist with campaign planning and execution. Campaign setup, optimisation, forecasting, reporting and analysis can all be streamlined, leaving more time for strategic decisions. 

Just the beginning 

Despite the hype surrounding AI, the market remains in the early stages of operationalising the technology. 

Modern marketers are being asked to coordinate spend across multiple platforms, disconnected datasets and fragmented workflows while, at the same time, maintaining transparency and accountability. The objective should be to unlock the genuine productivity gains that AI can deliver without overestimating how it can be applied today. 

This is particularly important when considering live CTV. In 2026, live programming represents some of the most valuable inventory available, with audiences continuing to show up at scale for premium sports and major live events. Today, global sporting tournaments and premium entertainment all compete for limited inventory. 

In this context, the idea that autonomous agents can simply negotiate transactions with one another through a series of prompts overstates where the technology stands today. A buyer may be able to ask an AI assistant to secure the opening or closing position within a live commercial break, but expressing that objective is only a small part of the process. 

Successfully executing a live campaign still depends on inventory access, established deal structures, publisher controls, pacing, scheduling, real-time availability and carefully managed operational decisions. Agentic AI can undoubtedly simplify the front end of these workflows, make sophisticated buying platforms easier to navigate, accelerate planning and surface better recommendations. What it cannot do is replace the trusted infrastructure, commercial relationships and transaction frameworks that make premium live CTV possible in the first place. 

Building on solid foundations 

Programmatic provides the scale, access and common transaction framework that underpin premium CTV.  

Agentic AI’s role is not to replace that infrastructure, but to make it more intelligent by simplifying workflows, surfacing better recommendations and helping buyers and sellers make faster, more informed decisions. AI offers the opportunity to improve the way buyers and sellers work within existing programmatic environments and unlock greater efficiency without compromising the trust and accountability that power premium media transactions. 

As more decision-making becomes automated, these foundations will only become more important. The future of CTV isn’t agentic or programmatic – it’s both: intelligent AI working alongside proven programmatic infrastructure to create a more efficient, scalable and trusted marketplace.