Star report says AI agents will reshape ad operations

By AI, Created 8:25 AM UTC, May 21, 2026, /AGP/ – Star says AI agents are beginning to change how agencies, media teams and adtech platforms handle campaign operations, with early use focused on repetitive tasks rather than full autonomy. The report argues that humans will keep approving major decisions while new standards and governance rules become key to scaling agentic workflows.

Why it matters: - AI agents could take over repetitive ad operations work, freeing teams to focus on strategy, creative and client relationships. - The shift could change how agencies, publishers and adtech platforms run campaigns as operations move from fixed-rule automation to systems that can adapt and make recommendations. - The report says full automation is not the near-term goal. Human approval still remains central for major campaign decisions.

What happened: - Star, a global technology consultancy, published a new report called Understanding Multi-Agent Media Operations. - The report examines how AI agents are starting to reshape campaign operations inside agencies, media teams and adtech platforms. - Star says agencies and other ad industry players are introducing AI cautiously and starting with smaller deployments before expanding. - The report identifies five emerging trends in the market: agencies moving beyond basic automation, smaller initial AI deployments, human approval for major decisions, pressure for systems to work together and a shift from repetitive work to oversight and strategy. - Sergii Gorpynich, CTO and co-founder of Star, said adding AI agents is about building systems that understand context and can complete multi-step tasks across teams and tools.

The details: - The report says the advertising industry is moving beyond older automation systems that follow fixed rules and toward AI agents that can adapt and complete more complex operational tasks. - Many AI systems still do not communicate properly with one another, creating friction across fragmented agency, publisher and adtech workflows. - Emerging standards such as AdCP are intended to let AI systems representing advertisers, agencies and publishers exchange information and negotiate media transactions directly. - The report says agencies will need stronger governance as AI systems take on more responsibility, including clearer rules for behavior, decision tracking and human intervention when problems arise. - Ad ops teams still spend large amounts of time fixing pacing issues, checking delivery spreadsheets and moving information between systems. - AI agents are being introduced to handle those tasks so teams can spend more time on strategy and client work. - Most companies are layering AI tools into existing software instead of replacing current systems overnight. - Star says agencies are testing AI agents on specific tasks first before expanding them into more complex areas of campaign management.

Between the lines: - The report points to a staged rollout, not a sudden AI takeover. That suggests the industry is prioritizing control, reliability and compatibility over speed. - The emphasis on standards like AdCP signals a bigger issue than automation alone. The challenge is getting disconnected systems to talk to each other well enough for agentic workflows to scale. - Gorpynich said the industry does not yet trust fully autonomous systems and that AI currently works more like an operational assistant, flagging issues and suggesting optimizations. - Star’s framing suggests the highest-value near-term use case is not decision-making, but reducing manual coordination work that slows campaign execution.

What’s next: - Agencies are likely to keep piloting AI agents on narrow operational tasks before widening their use. - Broader adoption will depend on governance, system interoperability and standards that let different platforms exchange information reliably. - Human oversight is likely to remain in place for strategy and major campaign decisions while agents handle repetitive execution work. - More details are available in the report Understanding Multi-Agent Media Operations.