At A Glance
CES 2026 showed that AdTech in 2026 will depend on strong data foundations, intentional media buying, and measurable outcomes. Agentic AI systems that can act, optimize, and transact on behalf of marketers emerged as a defining force, but only where data is accurate and privacy-first. Curation is becoming a standard buying approach as AI-powered systems prioritize quality and control. And activation and measurement are finally aligning through identity, allowing AI-driven decisions to be evaluated against real business results.Year after year, CES signals where marketing is headed next. In 2026, the message was clear. Progress comes from connecting data, intelligence, and outcomes with discipline, not spectacle. Across AI, programmatic media, and measurement, the same priorities surfaced again and again.
Under the bright lights of Las Vegas, three themes cutthrough,and each one pointed to a future where data, intelligence, and outcomes move in lockstep.
Here are the three themes that defined CES 2026.
1. Agentic AI proved that it’s only as good as its data inputs
AI was once again the star of the show. At CES 2026, marketers focused less on demos and more on proof that AI improves decisions, reduces friction, and drives outcomes. Every credible use case traced back to accurate, privacy-first data.
What changed at CES was how that intelligence is being applied. Agentic AI systems designed to act autonomously are moving beyond insights and into execution. From media buying to optimization, these agents are increasingly expected to make decisions at speed and scale. That shift raises the stakes for data quality. When AI is operating campaigns, not just informing them, accuracy and privacy are non-negotiable.

“This year’s CES made agency priorities crystal clear. Efficiency, differentiation, and outcomes. As agentic AI takes on more responsibility across planning, activation, and measurement, Experian gives agencies a robust data and identity foundation they can trust to own the outcome for every client.”
ExperianGreg Williams, Chief Operating Officer
Without accurate, privacy-compliant data, AI agents struggle to reflect real behavior or support responsible personalization. A reliable, privacy-first data foundation is what turns AI from an interesting experiment into an operational advantage.

That advantage gets even stronger when it’s anchored in an identity graph that understands people and households across channels. When identity and intelligence move together, AI becomes more accurate, accountable, and effective at driving outcomes.
In an AI first world, the strongest signal isn’t scale. It’s data quality.
2. Curation goes mainstream
Curation is no longer experimental. At CES, it showed up as a mandated capability for buyers and sellers navigating fragmented signals and complex supply paths. Marketers want intentional media buys they can explain, defend, and repeat.
AI is accelerating this shift. As AI systems take on more responsibility for planning, packaging, and optimization, curation provides the guardrails. It defines what “good” looks like (premium supply, trusted data, and clear performance goals), and allows AI to operate within those constraints driving the optimal outcomes for marketers.

“Our sell-side clients walked into CES asking how to stand out in a crowded landscape. The answer kept coming back to data-driven curation. With Experian Audiences and Curated Deals, SSPs and publishers can improve targeting within PMPs, package inventory more intelligently, and prove value with confidence. As we head into 2026, data is no longer a supporting input. It needs to be at the center of every conversation.”
ExperianChris Meredith, Head of Sell-Side
Rather than maximizing inventory access, curation prioritizes control, transparency, and performance. Buyers want premium supply aligned to specific goals. Sellers want clearer paths to demand. They can play the odds or own the outcome. When data leads, they own it. When curation is powered by high-fidelity audiences and a connected identity framework, it becomes even stronger. That’s what allows curated deals to deliver clarity, confidence, and repeatable performance.

This shift reflects a broader move away from probability-based buying toward outcome ownership, where AI-driven systems are measured not on activity, but on results.
3. Activation and measurement finally shared the same stage
Activation and measurement are now coming together around shared data and identity. CES 2026 marked a turning point where closing the loop felt achievable, not aspirational. Both the buy-side and sell-side face pressure to show that media investment drives outcomes.
Agentic AI was a quiet driver of this optimism. As AI agents increasingly manage activation decisions in real time, marketers need measurement systems that can keep up. That requires a shared data and identity foundation. One that allows AI-driven actions to be evaluated against outcomes consistently, across channels and partners.

In healthcare, accuracy is everything. Our clients need to reach patients and healthcare professionals in ways that respect privacy while driving meaningful outcomes. CES underscored that privacy, identity, and measurement must work in harmony. That’s how health marketers reduce risk and increase the likelihood that every message leads to better care.
ExperianSheila Wirick, Sales Director, Health
Achieving that requires a consistent identity spine that connects planning, activation, and outcomes across channels. And that spine is strongest when it’s built on accurate, privacy-first data and audiences that understand people and households. That connection allows marketers to move beyond proxy metrics and evaluate performance based on tangible results. When campaigns and measurement rely on the same data foundation, AI-driven platforms can optimize toward outcomes such as new customers, account growth, or in-store activity, not just delivery metrics.

That’s the connective layer that turns disconnected touch points into a measurable, outcomes-based system.
Three takeaways from CES 2026
- AI is maturing, but only for teams withaccurate, connected, privacy-first data that AI agents can act on responsibly.
- Curation is scaling, giving both humans and AI systems clearer paths to quality, control, and differentiation.
- Activation and measurement are aligning, allowing AI-driven decisions to be judged on outcomes, not assumptions.
We’re building for that world today. One where agentic AI operates on a trusted data and identity foundation, curation defines the rules, and outcomes determine success. With the right foundation and the deep data inputs, you can move faster, reduce risk, and let intelligence (human and artificial) work together to deliver results that last long after the neon lights fade.
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FAQs
The biggest shift was the move from hype to accountability. Marketers focused on data quality, intentional media buying, and outcome-based measurement rather than experimental technology.
Privacy-first data supports accuracy, compliance, and trust. AI models built on unreliable or opaque data struggle to reflect real consumer behavior and create risk for brands. At Experian, privacy and compliance are built in. Every data signal, attribute, audience, and partner goes through our rigorous review process to meet federal, state, and local consumer privacy laws. With decades of experience in highly regulated industries, we’ve built processes that emphasize risk mitigation, transparency, and accountability.
Curation simplifies buying by pairing premium inventory with specific audience and performance goals. This approach reduces waste and creates clearer, more repeatable buying paths. With the acquisition of Audigent, Experian is now more than just a premier data provider. We’re also a full-service curation partner. Together, we deliver end-to-end programmatic curation across data, inventory, and optimization, helping brands and publishers unlock smarter, more scalable media strategies.
It means using the same identity and data foundation to plan campaigns and evaluate results. This alignment allows marketers to measure success based on business outcomes, not just delivery metrics. With Experian, marketers can plan, reach, and measure in a connected cycle. Every impression is measurable. Every audience is accurate. Every decision is powered by data ranked #1 in accuracy by Truthset.
Identity connects data across channels and stages of the customer journey. It enables accurate AI, effective curation, and consistent measurement within one system. Experian delivers identity resolution at the scale, accuracy, and compliance required by the world’s largest enterprises. Our solutions are:
– Built on trust: Backed by 40+ years as a regulated data steward and rated #1 in data accuracy by Truthset, so you can act with confidence.
– Powered by our proprietary AI-enhanced identity graph: Combining breadth, accuracy, and recency across four billion identifiers, continuously refined by machine learning for maximum accuracy.
– Seamlessly connected: Pre-built data integration with leading CDPs, DSPs, and MarTech platforms for faster time to value.
– Always up to date: Frequent enrichment and near-real-time identity resolution through Activity Feed for timely personalization and more responsive customer engagement.
– Privacy-first by design: Compliance with GLBA, FCRA, and emerging state regulations baked in at every step, supported by rigorous partner vetting.
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As technology reshapes our media experience, TV remains a powerful channel for content consumption. In our next Ask the Expert series, we dive into a pivotal subject – the convergence of TV, linear (conventional broadcast and cable TV), and digital marketplaces. In this Q&A segment, we’re joined by two industry experts, Dan Hickox, VP of Development & Partnerships at 605, an iSpot.tv Company, and Chris Feo, Experian’s SVP of Sales & Partnerships, who guide us through an engaging discussion on convergent TV, attribution, measurement, and safeguarding personal data in the evolving landscape of TV advertising. How convergent TV is changing the future of advertising The convergence of traditional TV and digital streaming platforms presents an innovative opportunity for advertisers to engage their target audience. With convergent TV, you can create campaigns that bridge the gap between linear and streaming, ensuring your message reaches your target audience while avoiding ad fatigue. Along with high-quality content, extensive inventory, and targeting capabilities, convergent TV offers advanced measurement and attribution tools that will empower you to optimize advertising campaigns for maximum impact. You can make better decisions regarding when and where to strategically allocate your advertising budgets with effective TV measurement and attribution. Attribution in converged TV TV attribution involves tracing consumer actions and uncovering valuable insights into their behavior. With these insights, you can gain a clear understanding of the audience exposed to your ads and their actions in response. Lean into data attribution tools to track your target audience throughout the customer buying journey. Measurement in converged TV In contrast, TV measurement enables the tracking of performance TV advertising campaigns to assess campaign effectiveness. Through converged TV measurement solutions, you can rely on a singular data source, unifying different channels, devices, and metrics for actionable insights. This analysis will give you insights into the audience reached, their location, and the resulting actions taken. TV attribution’s impact on cross-channel media Embracing an omnichannel advertising approach is vital. Evaluating advertising campaigns across various platforms and devices – including linear, TV, and digital channels – is essential for identifying the channels that drive revenue for your businesses. Converged TV and digital streaming enable you to control ad frequency across all channels, enhancing the cross-screen experience. This convergence paves the way for a more comprehensive and holistic future in advertising. Here are three ways TV attribution impacts cross-channel media. Identify the most effective channels TV attribution offers a significant advantage in determining the channels that generate the most conversions. By using this data, you can make informed choices about budget allocation to achieve maximum impact. Deliver a seamless customer experience Consumers demand consistency in their brand interactions. TV attribution can help you by guiding the optimal timing and placement of ads, resulting in a more seamless viewing experience. This synchronization can significantly enhance customer loyalty and retention. Enhance marketing effectiveness By identifying the most effective channels and refining campaign strategies, TV attribution can significantly improve the success of marketing campaigns. The outcome is a measurable increase in sales and revenue, demonstrating the impact of informed and data-driven advertising. Audience-based targeting across linear and digital ecosystems It's crucial to comprehend and connect with the appropriate audience. The emergence of linear and digital platforms has required the development of audience targeting. Across these two ecosystems, audience-based targeting aims to enhance this process by concentrating on specific audience segments rather than general demographics or programming. Benefits of audience-based targeting There are four key benefits of audience-based targeting across the TV ecosystem. Personalization at scale Digital platforms have conditioned users to expect tailored experiences. Audience-based targeting ensures ads resonate with individual preferences and behaviors, even within the vastness of linear TV. Combining data from both linear and digital sources makes it possible to segment audiences more precisely. This results in advertising content tailored to each individual, making it more relevant and personalized. Optimized ad spend Improve your return on investment by targeting specific audience segments more likely to convert, ensuring your messages reach suitable viewers. In contrast to traditional TV purchasing, where advertisement slots are bought based on a show's overall demographic, audience-based targeting focuses on the viewers' behavior and interests, regardless of the program they are watching. Unified measurement and analytics When combining traditional and digital methods of reaching target audiences, it is essential to have a consistent approach to measuring success. By doing this, you can gain insight into how well your ad campaigns perform across different platforms and the frequency with which they are being seen. By comprehensively understanding audiences within different ecosystems, you can adjust your strategies in real time, guaranteeing that your campaigns remain flexible and successful. Enhancing the viewer experience Audience-based targeting benefits viewers by reducing the number of irrelevant ads they see. As a result, viewers can have a more pleasant experience while watching content, which may discourage them from skipping ads and increase their engagement with the content. Future-proofing and safeguarding data Businesses are focusing on future-proofing for data privacy, and safeguarding individual data is becoming more significant than ever before. Now’s the time to embrace new methods that protect your data privacy while ensuring that measurement remains accurate. Experian offers privacy-safe solutions to help businesses preserve precise measurement, even with fewer cookies. "What we're working toward is future-proofing ourselves. To do that, we work with partners like Experian who are already thinking forward, and with your pixel technology, we can capture and resolve the identifiers that we know will be around for a while."Dan Hickox, VP, Solutions Consulting, Development & Partnerships, 605 How Experian and 605 work together 605 is an independent TV measurement and analytics company providing solutions for advertising, content measurement, attribution, planning, optimization, and media transactions. “We partner with great identity partners, such as Experian, that really help us act as the connecting glue across different data touch points. So what it really is, is the ability to have holistic measurement across the different channels, across the different audiences and it starts out with the ability to be able to take disparate data sources and match them together.”Dan Hickox, VP, Solutions Consulting, Development & Partnerships, 605 605 and Experian have a strong partnership that enables 605 to enhance its data through Experian’s Consumer Sync and Pixel solutions. Consumer Sync – 605 utilizes Experian’s Consumer Sync to ensure their data is privacy-compliant and deterministic across all sources. Experian identity organizes people into households, links their digital devices and IDs to them, enriches their identity with behavioral attributes, and then makes this data actionable in any environment, all while maintaining consumer privacy and data regulations. Web Pixel Attribution – 605 utilizes Experian’s pixel solutions to generate web pixel attribution reports on a client-by-client basis – for linear, TV, and cross-platform reporting. 605’s reporting capabilities allow customers to understand their marketing campaigns' true impact and precisely identify high-performing strategies. With the Experian pixel, partners like 605 can learn more about anonymous website visitors by linking associated demographics and behavior attributes, build audience segments based on the highest cart value customers, and more. The 605 and Experian partnership work hand in hand to make linear TV as actionable as digital media for you. Customers can prove the effectiveness of their marketing tactics and gain actionable insights to deliver highly impactful campaigns. Watch the full Q&A Visit our Ask the Expert content hub to watch Dan and Chris's full conversation about TV measurement, data analytics, privacy regulations, and the evolving landscape of TV advertising in the digital age. Contact us About our experts Dan Hickox, VP, Solutions Consulting, Development & Partnerships, 605 As the Vice President of the Solutions Consulting team, Dan collaborates with sellers to turn prospective opportunities into long-term client relationships. He leads new initiatives and drives partnerships that expand 605 capabilities and improve marketplace positioning. Dan brings over a decade of cross-channel media experience in advanced analytics, media optimization, data integration and statistical analysis to 605. Chris Feo, SVP, Sales & Partnerships, Experian As SVP of Sales & Partnerships, Chris has over a decade of experience across identity, data, and programmatic. Chris joined Experian during the Tapad acquisition in November 2020. He joined Tapad with less than 10 employees and has been part of the executive team through both the Telenor and Experian acquisitions. He’s an active advisor, board member, and investor within the AdTech ecosystem. Outside of work, he’s a die-hard golfer, frequent traveler, and husband to his wife, two dogs, and two goats! Latest posts

Over the last few months, Experian has released new syndicated audiences to most major platforms supporting retail and travel. In this blog post, we’ll highlight some of these new audiences and how they can be used with other data from Experian to build the perfect audience to reach your customers and prospects. What separates Experian's syndicated audiences Experian’s 2,400+ syndicated audiences are available directly on over 30 leading television, social, programmatic advertising platforms, and directly within Audigent for activation within private marketplaces (PMPs). Reach consumers based on who they are, where they live, and their household makeup. Experian ranked #1 in accuracy by Truthset for key demographic attributes. Access to unique audiences through Experian’s Partner Audiences available on Experian’s data marketplace, within Audigent for activation in PMPs and directly on platforms like DirectTV, Dish, Magnite, OpenAP, and The Trade Desk. Household Expenditure audiences We’ve created new predictive audiences to help retailers reach consumers across 35 categories likely to spend within that category. A few categories include Apparel, DIY, Health, and more. With the launch of these new audiences, we will retire our existing Household Consumer Expenditure, Online and Retail category audiences in the November Digital Master update. Who these audiences are for Our Household Expenditure audiences use data from multiple sources, providing brands with highly accurate purchase predictions and data that scales for digital execution. Household Expenditure audiences are an excellent solution for brands with new product lines or where targeting based on historical purchases lack signal brands seek. Building data from multiple data sources helps ensure high performance and accuracy and can illuminate trends in consumer shopping patterns. These trends can be used to help predict future shopping behaviors. How to refine our Household Expenditure audiences To refine your audience, you can combine this data with Experian’s demographic and household expenditure audiences to ensure you are reaching consumers. For example, suppose you’re an apparel brand launching a new line aimed toward women over the age of 40. In that case, you can use Experian’s demographic data to reach those women and layer in our household expenditure purchase predictor segment for women's apparel to reach their new target audience. Mobile Location audiences We’ve expanded our location database to include more locations and points of interest. With this new data, we could strengthen our existing mobile location audiences to broaden the reach, improve accuracy, and increase performance. We’ve created 11 new mobile location audiences with our new dataset that supports the retail and travel verticals. These new audiences include new shopping behaviors, including high-income and high-end shoppers and travel and entertainment behaviors, including visiting sporting arenas like MLB, NBA, NFL, and university stadiums. Who these audiences are for These audiences are for brands that want to reach consumers based on their location behaviors. Often valid for retail, travel, and entertainment brands, Mobile Location audiences provide brands with highly accurate data that shows previous intent and interest in critical locations. How to refine our Mobile Location audiences To refine your audience, you can combine your Mobile Location audience with Lifestyle and Interest data. For example, if you are creating an advertising campaign for a hotel near a university stadium for the largest game in the season, you could combine university stadium visitors with sports enthusiasts and in-market for travel to find consumers most likely to be interested in your campaign and staying at the hotel. Purchase-Based Transaction audiences For use cases where predictive audiences aren’t the best fit to reach the right consumer, such as targeting consumer’s historical purchases, we’ve created new purchase-based transaction audiences that utilize opt-in consumer transaction data across 29 retail categories, including apparel, home, lifestyle, health, food and beverage, and more. Who these audiences are for These audiences are a perfect fit for brands trying to reach consumers based on previous purchases. These audiences can be broken out by their spending patterns – frequency of purchase and high spenders – and their response to advertising, including direct mail, email, inserts, and digital. How to refine our Purchase-Based Transaction audiences Combine these new audiences with Mosaic to fine-tune your audience based on their purchasing and lifestyle patterns. Suppose you are a brand with a new line of home décor products launching and will utilize influencers to endorse your product line. In that case, you can use Experian’s purchase-based transaction audiences for high spenders in home décor and layer our Mosaic audience Influenced by Influencers to find consumers who are most likely to purchase and trust an influencer. We can help you discover and activate your perfect audience Our audiences are available in most major data and execution platforms. Visit our partner page for more information. Don’t see our audiences on your platform of choice? We can help you build and activate an Experian audience on the platform of your choice. Contact us Latest posts

The AdTech industry is buzzing with discussions about cookie deprecation and effective strategies to tackle it. One of the commonly suggested solutions is the utilization of clean rooms alongside responsibly sourced first-party data. Above all else, the industry recognizes the importance of respecting consumer data and complying with all privacy laws. Additionally, the industry acknowledges the need for a change in our historical practices. This shift benefits everyone involved, as consumer data is more secure than ever. Tremendous investments have been made to ensure the utmost security of consumer information. Clean rooms are one of the tools that enable companies to use data securely, ensuring the content that you see is as relevant as possible. Two ways the AdTech industry is addressing cookie deprecation The days of sending data directly to partners for usage or for using only third-party data for marketing efforts are gone. Now, the emphasis is on responsibly collecting first-party data and using clean rooms to enrich first-party data to enhance marketing efforts. First-party data The industry is starting to lean into first-party data gained through transparent means. This valuable information provides organizations with deeper insights into their customers, allowing for more personalized and effective interactions. By embracing the power of first-party data, either on its own or enriched via partner collaboration, you can cultivate stronger relationships, build trust, and deliver tailored experiences that resonate with your customers on a deeper level. Clean rooms Many data lakes and warehouses offer this service, ensuring their clients can not only store their data with them but can connect it with other partners in a secure environment and extract more information through the combined data sets versus their data on its own. Brands and their partners recognize that they need to work together, and a clean room provides a secure environment to share their first-party data without exposing their sensitive data to their partner. So, while we're losing third-party cookies, brands and partners can still get value from first-party data by using a clean room to generate audience insights, segmentation strategies, personalized experiences and offers, media plans, and measurement and attribution. Three ways data clean rooms can improve Data clean rooms are a great way to facilitate data collaboration while ensuring sensitive data is not exposed. Data clean rooms are not yet easy to use nor are they inexpensive. They require investment, both financially and resource allocation-wise, and you are not guaranteed to yield great match results. Let’s dive into three areas for data clean room improvement. High cost According to the IAB's State of Data 2023, nearly two-thirds of data clean room users spent at least $200K on the technology in 2022. In addition, one-third of data clean room users expect the price of data clean rooms to rise in 2023. The high cost of this solution can make it inaccessible to smaller companies in the advertising space. Resource intensive Nearly half of the companies using data clean rooms have a team of six or more dedicated to the technology, according to the IAB’s State of Data 2023, while nearly a third of companies using data clean rooms have 11 or more employees focused on the technology. Data clean rooms are not turnkey solutions. Inefficient matching Even if companies are using clean rooms does not mean that they are automatically going to achieve great success. Identity fragmentation, data hygiene, and differing identifiers can suppress client match rates in clean rooms, leading to significant investment and a lackluster output. How to get the most return on your clean room investment The finish line for data collaboration in clean rooms is not just having a relationship with a clean room. Instead, you should incorporate an identity resolution solution in your clean room. By adding an identity solution to your clean room, you can: Resolve and match all your identity data, regardless of the identity data that you or your partner have, giving you a larger data foundation to analyze. Generate more valuable insights and information, leading to a better experience for your customers. Join data sets to create smarter activation and targeting strategies and produce more holistic measurement. Experian can help you get started with identity resolution and data clean rooms If you are investing in data clean rooms, that means you are committed to the best in data practices. Experian recommends going the extra step and that you also invest in finding an identity resolution solution. By doing this, you can see better match rates. Experian offers this capability and has existing relationships with three clean room partners, Amazon Web Services, InfoSum, and Snowflake. In addition to collaborating in clean rooms, we offer collaboration in two other secure environments. Contact us today to discuss how we enable identity resolution in clean rooms or to chat about our other collaboration capabilities. Get in touch Latest posts