Nvidia Hires Google Cloud Marketing Leader as Its First CMO
Nvidia has appointed Alison Wagonfeld, a longtime Google executive, as its first chief marketing officer, starting in February. The move formalizes Nvidia’s marketing function as the company deepens its role in the AI economy. Wagonfeld previously built Google Cloud’s marketing operation into a $60 billion run‑rate business. She will oversee both marketing and communications, signaling Nvidia’s next phase of growth and brand development.
AI Steps Out of the Screen at CES. These 5 Things Stopped Me in My Tracks
CES 2026 showcased a dramatic shift as artificial intelligence moved from screen‑based software to tangible hardware. The four‑day show spanned 2.6 million square feet, hosted 3,500+ exhibitors, and attracted roughly 142,000 attendees. Among the highlights were AI‑powered robots, smart wearables, and...
5 Things the Ad Industry Can’t Stop Talking About at CES 2026
At CES 2026, ad‑tech leaders focused on five hot topics: the infrastructure needed for agentic advertising, the persistent draw of live‑sports inventory, accelerating agency consolidation, AI‑driven search eroding publisher revenue, and the evolving role of AI in creative production and media...
Omnicom Media’s Florian Adamski: Client Fatigue Is Fueling a ‘Renaissance Moment’ Across Media and Creative
Omnicom Media CEO Florian Adamski announced that the $13.5 billion acquisition of Interpublic Group has reshaped Omnicom, absorbing most of IPG Mediabrands. He described a “renaissance moment” driven by client fatigue, prompting a return to integrated creative‑media models. Adamski emphasized an...
From AI to Measurement: Disney’s Biggest Adtech Updates From CES
Disney announced a suite of ad‑technology upgrades at its CES Tech and Data Showcase, aiming to streamline CTV advertising through AI and self‑service tools. Highlights include an AI‑driven video generation platform that assembles brand‑compliant commercials, an internal AI planning system...
The Trade Desk’s Jeff Green Says 2026 Will Be ‘The Best Year Yet’ for the Open Internet
The Trade Desk CEO Jeff Green told CES that 2026 will be the strongest year yet for the open internet. He said AI‑driven targeting and new measurement tools will lure brands away from walled‑garden platforms toward premium web inventory. Green...
Inside the Agentic Operating System Code and Theory Is Teasing at CES
Marketers are rapidly adopting AI, yet most have not re‑engineered workflows to capture its full value. At CES, Code and Theory unveiled The Machine, an agentic AI operating system that embeds automation and intelligence into existing marketing stacks instead of...
What Ads in LLMs Could Look Like by 2027
Panelists at ADWEEK’s CES 2026 forum warned that ads embedded in large language model (LLM) responses will appear by 2027. They envision paid placements, commerce links, and conversational prompts replacing traditional banner and link ads. Auction‑style pricing is expected to carry...
Havas Will Use AI to Redefine What Agency Work Is Worth
Havas introduced AVA, an AI‑powered, no‑code platform, at CES to centralize knowledge and automate agency workflows. The system gives every employee instant access to data, campaign results, and AI tools, aiming to boost productivity across the holding company. AVA is...
Equinox’s New Year Campaign Undercuts AI Slop With Human Portraits
Equinox launched its “Question Everything But Yourself” New Year campaign, juxtaposing absurd AI‑generated images with realistic human portraits to stress authenticity. Developed by Angry Gods and rolled out on Jan 5 across out‑of‑home, digital and social channels, the ads feature bizarre...
Walmart Opens Up Ads in Gen AI Shopping Agent Sparky
Walmart has begun serving ads inside Sparky, its AI shopping assistant, after a pilot last fall. The sponsored prompts appear when shoppers ask for product recommendations, and 81 % of Walmart customers have already used Sparky to check availability. Leveraging its...
Viant Raises Its Bet on AI as Digital Advertising Becomes More Fragmented
Viant has launched Outcomes, an AI‑driven campaign manager built on its 2024 Viant AI platform, designed to meet cost‑per‑action and return‑on‑ad‑spend goals with minimal human input. In a beta test against a human trader, Outcomes outperformed by 2.3× on CPA...
Read All of ADWEEK’s Year-Ahead 2026 Coverage
ADWEEK’s executive editor Alison Weissbrot released a year‑ahead outlook for 2026, highlighting AI’s deepening influence across advertising, media, and technology. The preview outlines six dominant AI trends, including intelligent agents that will reshape search, community engagement, and ad transactions. It...
In the Age of AI, Every Creative Needs To Think Like a Creative Director
Creative directors are becoming the most indispensable role in agencies as AI takes over routine execution. While AI can generate thousands of variations instantly, it lacks the human judgment to identify which outputs resonate. Directors bring taste, cultural insight, and...
EXCLUSIVE: Reddit Takes on Google and Meta with New AI Media Buying Tool
Reddit unveiled Max Campaign, an AI‑driven media‑buying platform, at the CES conference. The tool automates audience targeting, bid management, and creative optimization while tapping Reddit’s vast repository of community‑generated conversation data. By promising higher transparency, it aims to lure performance‑focused...
Prompt Shift: Top Consumer AI Trends for 2026 Reshaping Search, Shopping, and Creativity
Matt Britton outlines five consumer AI trends that will reshape how people search, shop, and create by 2026. AI is collapsing the gap between idea and execution, enabling individuals to produce content in hours. Generation Alpha, raised on omnipresent AI,...
5 M&A Trends to Expect in 2026, From Multibillion-Dollar AI Deals to Further Holdco Consolidation
2026 is set to eclipse 2025 as a record‑breaking year for tech, media and advertising M&A, with deal flow accelerating after a modest start to 2025. Total M&A volume reached $4.3 trillion in 2025, a 39% jump from 2024, and analysts...
What Keeps iFit Ahead of the Curve? Kirsten Spittel-Sloan’s Personalization Secret
iFit’s SVP of Marketing Kirsten Spittel‑Sloan discussed how the company stays ahead in fitness‑tech by investing equally across the marketing funnel, building a high‑trust adaptable culture, and leveraging AI‑driven personalization. She highlighted a multi‑layered consumer intelligence approach that combines social...
9 Brands That Doubled Down On AI in 2025
In 2025 generative AI moved from a peripheral experiment to a core business engine for leading brands, with companies like Unilever, Klarna, and Disney embedding the technology across product creation, marketing, and operations. The shift delivered dramatic cost cuts, faster...
Indie Agency Glow Dips Its Toe In Software Sales With Creator Vetting Tool
Glow, an independent social and digital marketing agency, has introduced CreatorView, an AI‑driven platform that vets influencers for brand safety and alignment. The move reflects a broader trend of agencies expanding into software sales as AI shortens product development cycles...
Media Executives Share Their Predictions for 2026
Media executives anticipate 2026 will shift from frantic AI experimentation to disciplined sorting of what scales and what doesn’t. They warn that AI‑driven traffic volatility will push firms to prioritize stable revenue models and audience trust. Human‑first storytelling and differentiated,...