LAS VEGAS – As the advertising industry debates how quickly agentic AI will move from theory to practice, Alliant says the shift is already tangible inside its business.
Speaking with Beet.TV contributor David Kaplan at CES 2026, Margo Hock, vice president of digital partners, said Alliant’s acquisition of AnalyticsIQ is now entering a critical phase. The focus has moved beyond deal mechanics to how the combined data and teams reach clients.
Post-acquisition integration moves into market-facing mode
Alliant completed its purchase of AnalyticsIQ in mid-2025. Since then, the company has been merging data assets, aligning teams and clarifying leadership roles. According to Hock, the next step is defining what the combined company can offer that competitors cannot.
The integration blends Alliant’s legacy transactional data with AnalyticsIQ’s behavioral and psychographic insights. That combination, she said, is designed to produce a more differentiated asset for agencies and brands.
Agentic AI speeds modeling and broadens access
Hock described agentic AI less as a buzzword and more as an operational accelerant. Alliant had already begun using AI-driven techniques before the acquisition, while AnalyticsIQ relied more on methods like direct mail. The merger has accelerated the push to unify those approaches.
AI and machine learning are sharply reducing the time needed to model data. Processes that once took weeks can now be completed in days, allowing audiences to be activated faster across DSPs and marketplaces.
That speed has economic consequences. Faster modeling and optimization reduce reliance on manual agency labor, which historically favored large advertisers with big budgets. Hock said automation allows smaller brands to participate more meaningfully in advanced data-driven media.
Identity strategy expands from transactions
Identity and addressability have long been central to Alliant’s positioning. What has changed is scale.
Transactional data alone captures behavior for roughly 90 million consumers. By layering AnalyticsIQ’s national behavioral backbone onto that data, Alliant can extend those insights across the broader U.S. population.
This expansion opens new use cases for sectors such as CPG, travel and insurance, which need transaction-level precision but also national reach. Hock said the combined dataset allows clients to move beyond partial views of consumers.
Advertisers rethink first-party purity
Hock also pointed to a mindset shift underway in 2026. Last year, first-party data was often treated as the only acceptable currency. She expects a more balanced view to emerge.
Retail and commerce media networks provide valuable first-party signals, but they don’t tell the full story. Brands may know what a shopper bought, but not their broader financial situation, lifestyle, or intent.
Third-party data, when responsibly modeled alongside first-party inputs, still fills critical gaps. Hock said winning advertisers will be those who stop treating data strategies as either-or decisions.
Custom audiences take center stage
Looking ahead to Beet Retreat San Juan, Hock said Alliant plans to emphasize customization. Brands and agencies want clearer returns on media spend and more confidence that impressions reach real buyers.
Custom audiences, built from the combined Alliant and AnalyticsIQ assets, are expected to anchor that discussion. The goal, she said, is simple but difficult to execute: ensure that every marketplace and programmatic buy reaches the right consumer with less waste and friction.
As agentic AI becomes embedded in media workflows, Hock suggested that advantage will belong to advertisers who embrace speed, scale and smarter combinations of data rather than rigid adherence to last year’s rules.
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