IAB State of Data 2025: AI Is on the Brink of Transforming How Advertising Works at Its Core

While AI Adoption is Accelerating, More Urgency Is Needed

NEW YORK, March 24, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- AI is set to transform the advertising industry, but we're not there yet. This is among the key findings found in IAB's State of Data 2025: The Now, The Near, and The Next Evolution of AI for Media Campaigns, released today. The report provides the first-ever industry benchmarks on AI usage, adoption rates, and perceptions as well as challenges, opportunities, and future needs within the media campaign lifecycle.

"While AI has long been used for yield management, optimization, and automation, the explosion of generative and agentic AI solutions will radically alter the entire digital media ecosystem. AI will soon power every aspect of media campaigns, not to mention its impact on the creative process." said David Cohen, CEO, IAB. "We must fundamentally rethink how agencies, brands, platforms and publishers work — which is both incredibly exciting and challenging at the same time."

The report, designed to evaluate market readiness for AI transformation, was created by IAB in partnership with BWG Global and Transparent Partners, and surveyed over 500 subject matter experts across the buy- and sell-sides of the industry. 

Current AI Adoption Status

To date, only 30% of agencies, brands, and publishers have fully integrated AI across the media campaign lifecycle. The initial focus is clearly on driving efficiency, as nearly twice as many agencies and publishers have fully scaled AI compared to brands.

Despite a slow start, however, half of those who haven't yet fully integrated AI expect to do it by 2026. But the study reveals that half the industry lacks a strategic roadmap for AI.

"The industry isn't taking full advantage of what AI can do now. It can build media plans, generate audience segments, select media partners, forecast performance, and even use synthetic or "fake" data to enhance marketing mix modeling and sales attribution" said Angelina Eng, VP Measurement, Addressability & Data Center, IAB. "This will transform how media campaigns are conceived, executed, and managed from start to finish. It will happen fast, and laggards are at risk of being left behind. This report will help the industry develop the roadmaps they need to leap from AI-assisted workflows to the complete integration that will unlock AI's full potential."

What's Holding The Industry Back?

Contrary to popular assumptions, job security is the least of the industry's concerns at just 37%. The industry recognizes that AI requires a strong foundation before it can take on human tasks and realize its potential.

Nearly two-thirds cite the quality of the data being used and produced, the protection of that data, and fragmentation among disparate tools as top barriers.

There are also fears about transparency. Half of brands worry they don't have enough transparency about how agency and publishing partners use AI on their behalf, and half of agencies worry about brands bringing their AI capabilities in-house and reducing their reliance on partners.

There Are Solutions, But More Need to Embrace Them

The study asked about eighteen different solutions ranging from clear use cases, formal training, defined KPIs specifically for AI solutions, formal assessment of workflows, to governance boards to address concerns and challenges, but at most, only 49% are using or planning to use any one of them.

Eng concludes, "The study suggests that agencies, brands, and publishers need to take a phased approach to AI adoption, ensuring that data inputs and outputs are secure and of high quality. They also need to train teams on best practices, collaborate with the industry to develop standards, and prioritize key use cases to establish a strong foundation for full-scale adoption. There is already a lot of catching up to do, and AI capabilities are leaping even further ahead almost daily. There's no time to waste."

The report, IAB State of Data 2025: The Now, The Near, and The Next Evolution of AI for Media Campaigns, is available here. A series of four webinars on this vital subject will begin March 24. To register for the IAB State of Data Webinar: AI in the Media Campaign Lifecycle click here. In addition, IAB is releasing a companion guide to the report that provides tactical recommendations for integrating AI into day-to-day media planning, activation, and analysis.

About IAB
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) empowers the media and marketing industries to thrive in the digital economy. Its membership comprises more than 700 leading media companies, brands, agencies, and the technology firms responsible for selling, delivering, and optimizing digital ad marketing campaigns. The trade group fields critical research on interactive advertising, while also educating brands, agencies, and the wider business community on the importance of digital marketing. In affiliation with the IAB Tech Lab, IAB develops technical standards and solutions. IAB is committed to professional development and elevating the knowledge, skills, expertise, and collaboration of the workforce across the industry. Through the work of its public policy office in Washington, D.C., the trade association advocates for its members and promotes the value of the interactive advertising industry to legislators and policymakers. Founded in 1996, IAB is headquartered in New York City.

About BWG Global
BWG Global has set the industry standard as the premier provider of industry intelligence to more than 100,000 professionals across leading hedge funds, mutual funds, long-only investment firms, family offices and corporations. Supported by a robust compliance structure and anchored in proven research methodology, BWG Global identifies key market inflections and uncovers unique investable ideas. The firm offers products and services through a license subscription to its digital research library and live events, including Primary Intelligence Virtual Forums, Forum Synopses, Channel Intelligence Research Reports, Market Insight Survey Reports and Custom Research.

BWG Global pioneered an investigative, interview-based methodology providing channel research to the institutional investment community in the 1990s and then expanded its footprint internationally to conduct live, in-depth interviews in more than 20 countries in North and South America, Europe and Asia. In 2013, the company fundamentally changed how investment managers and corporations' access real-time information through live forum events. BWG Global provides much-needed transparency by creating access to real-time information and data on sector, company and technology trends.

About Transparent Partners
Transparent Partners is a Services-as-a-Solution company that helps enterprise brands transform their marketing capabilities with AI-driven solutions.

Today's marketing organizations struggle with fragmented technology, underutilized data, and increasing pressure to drive measurable impact. AI and automation have the power to solve these challenges—but only when applied effectively.

Transparent Partners delivers AI-powered services and embedded solutions that unlock the full potential of marketing technology and data. Our deep domain expertise helps enterprise brands operationalize AI, automate workflows, optimize investments, and accelerate business growth.

How We Deliver Value:
AI-Driven Decisioning & Automation – Scaling marketing efficiency and precision
Data & Analytics Activation – Turning intelligence into action
MarTech & Operational Enablement – Reducing complexity and optimizing investments
Agentic Marketing Solutions (AMS) – AI-powered automation across marketing functions

We help the world's largest brands win with AI—delivering measurable business outcomes, maximizing ROI, and turning marketing investment into competitive advantage.

SOURCE Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB)