New Delhi: WPP Media has announced an industry-wide initiative focused on developing standards for agent media buying in TV and video advertising as artificial intelligence becomes increasingly integrated into media planning, activation and optimization.
The company said it is working with media owners, technology platforms and standards bodies to establish a common technology, workflow and governance framework that will enable AI-powered buyer and seller agents to interact consistently and transparently.
As part of this effort, WPP Media is developing a video buyer agent within its marketing platform, WPP Open. The system will initially focus on linear TV, connected TV, and premium video inventory, where media transactions involve significant investments and complex workflows.
According to WPP Media, the initiative aims to address concerns such as fragmentation, inconsistent agent interactions, data governance, and transparency as companies across the advertising ecosystem deploy AI agents to buy and sell media.
The company works with organizations such as Comcast Advertising, FreeWheel, Disney Advertising, Fox Advertising, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Paramount, IAB Tech Lab, and Prebid.org.
Areas discussed include audience discovery, inventory assessment, planning recommendations, approval workflows, activation processes, optimization, measurement, compliance, and audit trails.
WPP Media said the standard aims to provide safeguards around financial management, privacy protection, verification processes, and human oversight in agent workflows.
The company added that its existing governance framework includes workspace separation, role-based access controls, restrictions on using client data without permission to train AI models, and monitoring mechanisms.
“Twenty years ago, the shift to programmatic led to a fundamental shift in how media is bought and sold,” said Brian Lesser, CEO of WPP Media. “We expect agent media to have an even greater impact on the industry in the coming months and years. The companies leading this next era will be those that combine intelligence, interoperability and governance to define how media decisions are made.”
That’s what we’re building with our partners: trusted buyer agent strategies designed to operate in our clients’ best interests, maximize the value of their media investments, deepen relationships with consumers, and turn intelligence into growth. ”
James Rooke, president of Comcast Advertising, said: “Amid the uncertainty posed by the emergence of a new wave of technology, it is important that the industry focuses on building the right, scalable blueprint for the future of agency for marketers. WPP Media’s Agentic Standards Initiative “This is an important step in creating this future and aligns well with our long-standing philosophy of supporting efforts that prioritize transparency, trust, and industry interoperability.”
Addressable by Disney Advertising “The future of media buying is not just automated, it’s intelligent, interoperable, and results-driven,” said Jamie Power, senior vice president of Sales. “We are excited to work with WPP Media and our industry partners to help establish the standards that will enable the next generation of premium video advertising.”
“We are excited to partner with Brian and his team at WPP Media to help raise the industry standard for agent media buying,” said Jeff Collins, president of ad sales, marketing and brand partnerships at Fox Corporation. “Establishing a shared framework for transparency, interoperability and governance is key to scaling innovation across premium video.”
“Paramount is making continued and increasing investments in driving innovation through our partners,” said Travis Scholes, vice president of Advanced Advertising at Paramount. “We are excited to work with WPP to leverage frontier technologies such as agent AI to drive new ways for buyers and sellers to work together for the benefit of brand marketers and the future of television advertising.”
“IAB Tech Lab is excited to work with WPP Media to establish new technology standards and enhance existing technology standards that define how agentic advertising scales across the industry,” said Anthony Katar, CEO of IAB Tech Lab. We are excited to have demonstrated how agents can communicate, verify, transact, and operate within trusted governance.” We look forward to working with WPP and the broader ecosystem to reduce fragmentation, enhance transparency, and build the technological foundations for responsible and scalable agent media buying. ”
“As agent technology reshapes digital advertising, the industry has a unique opportunity to create a more transparent, interoperable, and efficient ecosystem,” said Mike Racic, president of Prebid.org. “ADCP is a critical foundation for that future, enabling trusted communications between buyers and sellers at scale.”
We are excited to work with WPP and other industry leaders to advance these efforts and, through our Prebid sales agents, help drive open standards and innovation that will shape the next generation of digital advertising. ”
WPP Media said initial testing is underway and the plan is to progress from alpha and beta testing to broader deployment into large-scale TV and video transactions over the next six to nine months. The company plans to share its findings, technical findings, and proposed standards with the entire industry in early 2027.
