Anthropic, Block, OpenAI, and several other leading artificial intelligence (AI) technology companies have established the Agentic AI Foundation (AAIF) to foster an open and collaborative environment for the development of agentic AI tools aimed at advertisers and marketers. This initiative seeks to create a “vendor-neutral home for open-source agentic AI projects,” ensuring no single company dominates the space while providing support for community programs and research, including the development of protocols.
Among the contributions to the AAIF are Block’s open-source agent, known as “goose,” along with Anthropic‘s Model Context Protocol (MCP) and OpenAI‘s AGENTS.md. Major backers of the initiative include Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google, Microsoft, Bloomberg, and Cloudflare. Other significant members are IBM, Salesforce, Cisco, and Hugging Face.
While Integral Ad Science (IAS) is not an official member of the AAIF, the company recently announced the launch of IAS Agent, an AI-powered assistant designed to expedite campaign activations in the advertising sector. This tool aims to provide deeper insights and enable instant performance optimization, backed by over 15 years of proprietary insights from IAS. The company plans to showcase the IAS Agent at CES 2026 and anticipates a global rollout in early Q1 2026 at no additional cost.
A recent report from IAS indicates that media professionals are beginning to embrace AI, albeit cautiously, as they center their brand strategies on the evolution of digital video and social media to enhance performance. The findings reveal a complex media landscape in which innovation is coupled with a focus on brand protection and performance, a context that underscores the necessity for the AAIF’s establishment.
“2026 marks a turning point in digital advertising,” remarked IAS CEO Lisa Utzschneider. “As the boundaries between channels blur — and AI reshapes how content is created, consumed, and measured — industry experts are redefining what quality means in this new era.”
The IAS study found that 61% of advertising and marketing professionals express enthusiasm for AI developments in digital media, recognizing the opportunities for advertising within generative AI content. The report highlights that media quality is increasingly viewed as the cornerstone of performance. Furthermore, 86% of advertisers participating in the study emphasize the necessity of identifying, classifying, targeting, and avoiding AI-generated content on digital video platforms. In addition, 83% highlight the importance of measuring ad fraud, viewability, and suitability to drive performance outcomes within retail media networks.
Concerns regarding ad fraud and brand suitability remain top priorities, with 83% of advertisers in the study identifying these issues as major challenges as the volume of connected TV (CTV) inventory increases. Additionally, 69% of participants cite ad-content adjacency as a significant challenge in the digital media landscape, followed closely by concerns regarding ad fraud and measurement outcomes.
The launch of the AAIF and the introduction of tools like the IAS Agent indicate a significant push towards integrating AI into the advertising sector. As the industry navigates these changes, the collective efforts of leading technology firms and advertising professionals may redefine the standards of performance and quality in digital advertising. The developments in AI technologies signal to advertisers a pivotal moment for innovation and strategy in a rapidly evolving digital marketplace.
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