The advertising industry has spent decades perfecting how to reach consumers. Now it faces a new challenge: marketing to machines.
As artificial intelligence reshapes how people discover and purchase products, marketers are starting to grapple with ensuring AI agents recommend your brand when consumers ask for help.
“I’m calling it B2A marketing,” said Sheryl Goldstein, EVP and chief industry growth officer at the Interactive Advertising Bureau, in this video interview with Beet.TV. “So it’s B2B, B2C, but now how do you market to agents? That’s an area that we’re very focused on and we know is changing the way marketers have to think about putting their products and services out in the market.”
AI’s creative and operational impact
Artificial intelligence is making in-roads across the media buying process. Creative production – historically one of the most expensive and time-consuming aspects of campaign development – is being transformed.
“Production costs, things like that are going way down because you don’t have to hire a whole crew and do things like that to have different creative,” Goldstein said. She pointed to platforms like Google that automatically adapt a single asset into multiple formats optimized for different placements.
The operational benefits extend to media planning and buying, where AI enables marketers to identify new audiences and find incremental reach using data that previously didn’t exist. “A lot of the redundant tedious work that happens often in this business is now being replaced by technology that makes it easier to buy and sell,” Goldstein said, “and it allows folks who are in those roles to do more strategic thinking.”
A call for boldness
According to Gartner, worldwide AI spending is projected to reach $2.52 trillion in 2026, marking a 44% increase from the previous year.
Goldstein urged industry leaders to embrace experimentation and accept the possibility of failure.
“You also have to be bold and not be afraid to put your foot in and try new things,” she said. “You can’t just keep doing business as usual because it’s not business as usual.”
Beet.TV Is Heading to Palm Springs!
The IAB’s Annual Leadership Meeting, running February 1–3 in Palm Springs, California, will feature speakers including actor Kevin Bacon discussing his evolution into a media company, alongside sessions on the creator economy and AI’s expanding role.
You’re watching Beet.TV coverage from IAB ALM 2026. For more videos from this series, please visit this page.
