IAB’s David Cohen: AI Is Doing to the Internet What the Internet Did to Traditional Media
CANNES, France — Three decades after digital advertising disrupted traditional media, artificial intelligence is triggering an equally fundamental rethinking of measurement frameworks, supply chain architecture, and the role agents play in mediating brand-consumer relationships.
“If you think back to the beginning of the industry 30 years ago, the internet disrupted traditional media back then and now we’re going through this kind of same thing happening with AI disrupting the internet,” David Cohen, CEO of the IAB, told Beet.TV contributor David Kaplan at Cannes Lions. “We’re wrestling with rethinking lots of the things that we’ve built over the past three decades, rethinking the role that agents and bots play in intermediating the relationship between brands and consumers.”
This disruption arrives alongside economic uncertainty that is compressing planning cycles and threatening long-term brand investment — challenges the industry must navigate simultaneously, Cohen noted.
Standards lag innovation
AI guardrail development follows historical patterns established during early internet standardization, with the industry beginning to address transparency, disclosure, and LLM advertising formats on an accelerated timeline compared to previous cycles.
“If you think back to the early days of the standard ad package, that was about 2002, 2003, and the internet advertising world really took off in 1996. So it was seven or eight years before we came up with a set of standards because standardization and innovation don’t always work together,” Cohen said. “We’re going through the same thing again in a much more accelerated timeline.”
Economic uncertainty compresses planning cycles
Pandemic-era agility lessons now shape how brands respond to current uncertainty, shifting investment decisions closer to execution moments and reducing appetite for long-term brand building despite its strategic value.
“The days of annual planning — we’d do the upfront, we’d get in the market — I’m not sure that that’s entirely gone, but I think it’s much more in the moment, closer to the moment of execution,” Cohen said. “If things are not working in the immediate term, you kind of move on. There’s not a lot of appetite for what we call long-term brand building, which I think is a shame.”
Permanent complexity
Media fragmentation will continue expanding despite industry consolidation efforts, requiring better management tools rather than simplification strategies that ignore structural market realities.
“Fragmentation has been around this business for a very, very long time. I think it’s going to continue to explode,” Cohen said. “We’re now using technology and data to make our jobs as planners and strategists much more efficient and effective.”
Industry resilience defines Cannes moment
Despite consumer confidence challenges and geopolitical uncertainty, the advertising industry’s builder mentality generates optimism that transcends current headwinds.
“If you look out on the Croisette, you see an industry that is resilient, that is resourceful, that is optimistic. The world is a pretty challenging place on lots and lots of fronts. Consumer confidence in the US is at an all time low. And yet we are still an industry of builders,” Cohen said. “I get a great deal of confidence and I get a great deal of energy from that.”
You’re watching Beet.TV coverage from Cannes Lion 2026. For more videos from this series, please visit this page.
CANNES, France — Three decades after digital advertising disrupted traditional media, artificial intelligence is triggering an equally fundamental rethinking of measurement frameworks, supply chain architecture, and the role agents play in mediating brand-consumer relationships.
“If you think back to the beginning of the industry 30 years ago, the internet disrupted traditional media back then and now we’re going through this kind of same thing happening with AI disrupting the internet,” David Cohen, CEO of the IAB, told Beet.TV contributor David Kaplan at Cannes Lions. “We’re wrestling with rethinking lots of the things that we’ve built over the past three decades, rethinking the role that agents and bots play in intermediating the relationship between brands and consumers.”
This disruption arrives alongside economic uncertainty that is compressing planning cycles and threatening long-term brand investment — challenges the industry must navigate simultaneously, Cohen noted.
Standards lag innovation
AI guardrail development follows historical patterns established during early internet standardization, with the industry beginning to address transparency, disclosure, and LLM advertising formats on an accelerated timeline compared to previous cycles.
“If you think back to the early days of the standard ad package, that was about 2002, 2003, and the internet advertising world really took off in 1996. So it was seven or eight years before we came up with a set of standards because standardization and innovation don’t always work together,” Cohen said. “We’re going through the same thing again in a much more accelerated timeline.”
Economic uncertainty compresses planning cycles
Pandemic-era agility lessons now shape how brands respond to current uncertainty, shifting investment decisions closer to execution moments and reducing appetite for long-term brand building despite its strategic value.
“The days of annual planning — we’d do the upfront, we’d get in the market — I’m not sure that that’s entirely gone, but I think it’s much more in the moment, closer to the moment of execution,” Cohen said. “If things are not working in the immediate term, you kind of move on. There’s not a lot of appetite for what we call long-term brand building, which I think is a shame.”
Permanent complexity
Media fragmentation will continue expanding despite industry consolidation efforts, requiring better management tools rather than simplification strategies that ignore structural market realities.
“Fragmentation has been around this business for a very, very long time. I think it’s going to continue to explode,” Cohen said. “We’re now using technology and data to make our jobs as planners and strategists much more efficient and effective.”
Industry resilience defines Cannes moment
Despite consumer confidence challenges and geopolitical uncertainty, the advertising industry’s builder mentality generates optimism that transcends current headwinds.
“If you look out on the Croisette, you see an industry that is resilient, that is resourceful, that is optimistic. The world is a pretty challenging place on lots and lots of fronts. Consumer confidence in the US is at an all time low. And yet we are still an industry of builders,” Cohen said. “I get a great deal of confidence and I get a great deal of energy from that.”
You’re watching Beet.TV coverage from Cannes Lion 2026. For more videos from this series, please visit this page.
