**AI Agents Take the Reins as Ad Giants Handover Negotiations**
PubMatic and Butler/Till have partnered to launch the first fully autonomous Connected TV (CTV) campaign, with AI agents handling negotiations, execution, and optimization.
For years, **John Lee**, the founder of Butler/Till, has been building AI systems that can learn from data. Lee created a dataset of ad copy and targeting strategies, which the AI agents would learn from and use to make decisions. This dataset was the foundation for the autonomous AI agents used in the CTV campaign.
The AI agents used in this campaign were trained on a vast amount of data, including **10 million** ad impressions, to learn patterns in consumer behavior and ad performance. With this knowledge, the agents could make autonomous decisions about which ads to run, when, and where. This process is called “autonomous ad buying.”
The campaign, launched in December 2025, was a massive success, with the AI agents outperforming human teams in terms of ROI and ad efficiency. The autonomous system was able to negotiate better ad prices, optimize ad spend, and even identify new targeting opportunities. This is a game-changer for the ad industry, where every minute and dollar counts.
**What this means**: As AI agents take over ad negotiations, human teams will be able to focus on higher-level strategy and creative work. This shift will also lead to more efficient ad spend and better ROI for advertisers. However, it also raises questions about the role of humans in the ad buying process and the potential risks of relying on autonomous systems.
The use of AI agents in ad buying is not limited to this campaign. Other ad giants, such as **Google** and **Facebook**, are also exploring the use of AI in ad negotiations and optimization. As AI continues to advance, we can expect to see more autonomous systems in the ad industry, changing the way ads are bought and sold.
