The news: Recent CES announcements suggest that agentic AI will accelerate in 2026—yet many marketers still distrust it.

The most recent announcement: Yahoo DSP is embedding agentic AI directly into its platform, making automation a native layer across media planning, activation, optimization, and measurement. Several agentic capabilities are already live, including AI-assisted campaign activation, proactive troubleshooting, and automated audience discovery, with additional agents planned through 2026.

But it’s not just Yahoo:

• NBCUniversal’s new proof-of-concept shows how agentic AI can orchestrate planning, activation, and optimization across linear TV and streaming—including live sports.
• Google’s rollout of Ads Advisor and Analytics Advisor embeds conversational, hands-free optimization directly into Ads and Analytics.
• The new IAS Agent automates core functions, including optimization, troubleshooting, and performance analysis, while keeping humans in control through explainable recommendations.

Welcome addition or intrusion? Yahoo and others are positioning agentic AI as a foundational shift in how programmatic buying gets done, prioritizing speed and automation without removing human oversight from decision-making. But while adoption is rising, enthusiasm is on a slower curve.

• 55% of marketers trust the technology to plan and execute tasks, per Yahoo DSP findings—but one in five still express distrust of agentic AI, indicating that confidence in fully autonomous systems lags.

The findings follow a broader trend of marketers feeling uncertain about how to best leverage AI in daily work:

• Only 39% of US and UK marketing and sales professionals are confident in their departments’ use of AI to drive revenues, per General Assembly. Nearly half (46%) are ambivalent about AI for this purpose.
• 54% of marketers fear a loss of creativity and human touch, per Ascend2, highlighting fears that automation could erode the unique brand voice provided by human teams.