LAS VEGAS – Agentic AI and self-serve tools took center stage at CES in Las Vegas last week, marking a significant shift from assisting advertisers to actually executing media campaigns.
Joining me in the bustling Beet.TV studio at the Vdara Hotel, I caught up with Reddit’s Stephen Riad, who was just promoted to EVP of advertising sales. Here, we discussed Reddit’s embrace of self-service with the beta rollout of its AI-powered media buying tool, Max campaigns, and why Reddit maintains a unique role in an AI-driven world.
Introducing Reddit’s Max campaigns
Max campaigns are a new AI-powered buying tool designed to simplify activation while driving stronger performance. The platform automatically optimizes settings at the impression level, streamlining workflow for advertisers.
Max campaigns “use AI to help the advertiser target the right community, be relevant at the right time with the right creative,” Riad explained. “It’s a really great productivity tool. Advertisers are able to show up at the right moments, which is the key to them resonating and making a connection to Reddit’s audience.”
Enabled by Reddit Community Intelligence and AI that predicts the value of every impression, Max campaigns give advertisers clearer visibility into what creative and audiences are driving results.
According to Reddit, Max campaigns beta has launched first for traffic and conversion campaigns to select advertisers, with more advertisers receiving access over the coming months.
Human engagement is Reddit’s differentiator
“Intent is our superpower,” Riad noted. “It’s not just scrolling through the content, 71% of people are actively looking for specific product information.
Reddit is home to more than 100,000 communities organized around passions, interests, and obsessions boasting more than 23 billion posts and comments. In essence, Reddit has become a living archive of cultural and commercial insight that puts a premium on human conversation and interaction.
As AI compresses information into packaged summaries, Riad sees people moving in the opposite direction—toward nuance and lived experience. “People are seeking out human conversation today more than ever,” he said. “People are putting a premium on the discussion, on the human conversation.”
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