WPP Media announced the development of a buyer agent for video as part of its new Agentic Standards Initiative, which aims to establish common technology, workflow and governance standards for AI-powered media buying across the premium TV and video ecosystem.
The initiative brings together premium media owners, technology platforms, and industry standards bodies to define how buyer and seller AI agents can interact securely and transparently at scale. Early collaborators include Comcast Advertising and its ad tech platform FreeWheel, Disney Advertising, Fox Advertising, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Paramount, IAB Tech Lab, and Prebid.org.
The announcement comes as the advertising industry considers agent AI. Agent AI enables autonomous software agents to assist with media planning, purchasing, optimization, measurement, and campaign coordination. WPP Media said that while some companies are deploying AI agents for certain parts of advertising workflows, the broader ecosystem requires common standards that enable interoperability between buyer and seller agents.
As part of this effort, WPP Media is developing a buyer agent for video within its agent marketing platform, WPP Open. Buyer agents operate within WPP Open’s Agentic Activation Orchestration Layer, coordinating interactions between people, AI agents, data, tools, authorization controls, and partner systems.
The company will initially focus on linear TV, connected TV and premium video, where complex transactional workflows and high-value media investments require robust governance and interoperability. WPP Media said insights from this effort could ultimately inform agent buying across other media channels.
The collaboration aims to define standards covering audience discovery, inventory evaluation, planning recommendations, buyer and seller agent communications, proposal and approval workflows, programmatic guaranteed deals, private marketplaces, campaign activation, pacing and optimization, measurement, adjustments, compliance checks, and audit trails.
According to WPP Media, the standard aims to reduce the fragmentation of AI-powered media buying by replacing bespoke integrations with common communication protocols while strengthening financial controls, approval mechanisms, privacy protections and human oversight.
This effort also builds on governance principles already implemented within WPP Open, including workspace separation, role-based access controls, restricting training of AI models that use client data without permission, default protection of personally identifiable information, continuous monitoring, and secure and functional verification.
Initial testing with participating partners has already begun. WPP Media said it expects to progress from alpha and beta testing to supporting large-scale TV and video investments over the next six to nine months, and plans to share technical learnings, reference workflows and proposed industry standards in early 2027.
“Twenty years ago, the transition to programmatic led to a fundamental shift in how media is bought and sold. We expect agent media to have an even bigger impact on the industry in the months and years ahead. Companies leading this next era will combine intelligence, interoperability, and governance to define how media decisions are made. That’s what we’re building with our partners: a trusted buyer agent strategy designed to align with our clients’ interests, maximize the value of their media investments, deepen relationships with consumers, and transform intelligence.” said Brian Lesser, CEO of WPP Media.
“Amid the uncertainty posed by the emergence of a new wave of technology, it is important that the industry focuses on building the right and scalable blueprint for the future of agents that deliver outcomes for marketers.WPP Media’s Agent Standards initiative is an important step in creating this future, and aligns well with our long-standing philosophy of supporting initiatives that prioritize transparency, trust, and industry interoperability,” said James Luke, President, Comcast Advertising.
“The future of media buying is not just automation; it is intelligent, interoperable, and results-driven. The real opportunity lies in providing buyer and seller agents with a common foundation to make better decisions, faster, while maintaining the trust and accountability required for premium advertising.” “We’re excited to work with our partners and industry partners to help establish the standards that will enable the next generation of premium video advertising,” said Jamie Power, Disney Senior Vice President of Advertising, Addressable Sales.
“We’re excited to partner with Brian and the team at WPP Media to help raise the industry standard for agent media buying. Establishing a shared framework for transparency, interoperability and governance is key to scaling innovation across premium video.” Jeff Collins, President, Advertising Sales, Marketing and Brand Partnerships, Fox Corporation.
“Paramount is making continued and increasing investments in driving innovation through our partners. 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.” Travis Scoles, Vice President, Advanced Advertising, Paramount.
“IAB Tech Lab is pleased to collaborate with WPP Media to establish new technology standards and enhance existing technology standards that define how agent advertising scales across the industry. We are pleased to serve as an important reference point for media buyer agents and demonstrate how open, interoperable standards can enable buyer and seller agents to communicate, verify, transact, and operate within a trusted governance framework. We look forward to working with WPP to enable a broader ecosystem to reduce fragmentation, enhance transparency, and create a technological foundation for responsible and scalable agent buying.” CEO Anthony Catur
“As agent technology reshapes digital advertising, the industry has a unique opportunity to create a more transparent, interoperable and efficient ecosystem. ADCP is a critical foundation for that future, enabling trusted communication at scale between buyers and sellers. We are excited to work with WPP and other industry leaders to advance these efforts and, through Prebid Sales Agent, help drive open standards and innovation that will shape the next generation of digital advertising.” Mike Lasic, President of Prebid.org
