New York: IAB Tech Lab, the global standard-setting body for digital advertising technology, has announced the release of its Agentic Roadmap, outlining how the industry can scale agentic buying and selling by extending existing technical standards rather than rebuilding them from scratch.
The roadmap lays out a practical, interoperable path for enabling secure, high-performance agentic execution across the digital advertising ecosystem. To accelerate delivery, IAB Tech Lab said it is making a significant engineering investment focused exclusively on artificial intelligence development, including the addition of new development resources.
“Agentic execution is already part of how digital advertising operates today,” said Anthony Katsur, CEO, IAB Tech Lab. “Open, interoperable standards are what make that possible. The fastest and smartest way forward is to build on a shared foundation, not introduce multiple new standards that create fragmentation.”
Building on Existing Industry Standards
The Agentic Roadmap builds on core standards that already underpin digital advertising transactions, delivery, measurement, and privacy. These include transaction and delivery standards such as OpenRTB, AdCOM, OpenDirect, VAST, and the recently released Deal API, alongside measurement frameworks like Open Measurement ID and the upcoming Conversion API.
Privacy and regulatory alignment remains central, with continued reliance on frameworks such as the Global Privacy Protocol (GPP) and Transparency & Consent Framework (TCF), as well as established taxonomies covering ad products, privacy, content, and audiences.
A key component is the recently released Agentic RTB Framework (ARTF), which enables large language models and autonomous agents to participate in real-time advertising transactions without compromising performance.
Integrating Modern Protocols for Machine-Speed Execution
In addition to extending existing standards, IAB Tech Lab is integrating modern protocols such as Model Context Protocol, Agent2Agent, and gRPC. This combination is designed to enable secure, machine-speed execution and scalable coordination between independent systems.
“The industry gets the best of both worlds—high-performance agentic execution combined with the interoperability, governance, and trust the market already relies on,” Katsur added.
For agencies, publishers, brands, and ad-tech providers, the roadmap promises faster speed-to-value, lower integration complexity, and reduced operational risk by modernising execution layers rather than reinventing foundational infrastructure.
Agentic Initiatives Planned for 2026
Looking ahead, IAB Tech Lab plans to extend these standards into a full agentic execution layer in 2026. Planned initiatives include open-source reference implementations of buyer and seller agents, a neutral Model Context Protocol reference server, standardised agent profiles, Protocol Buffers and gRPC mappings for existing specifications, and additional open-source agentic tools shaped by industry feedback.
The organisation will also prioritise trust, provenance, measurement, and transaction-integrity signals, maintaining alignment with GPP and TCF.
Industry Backs Interoperable Approach
The roadmap has drawn support from major industry players. NBCUniversal Advertising & Partnerships said interoperability is essential to maintaining performance while unlocking the next phase of automation. Experian Marketing Services highlighted the importance of real interoperability for scale, while PubMatic and Index Exchange emphasised the need to evolve intent, execution, governance, and transparency together.
Webinars and Boot Camps to Drive Adoption
To support industry adoption, IAB Tech Lab will host a public webinar titled “Reviewing the Agentic AI Standards Roadmap” on January 28, 2026. From February 12, 2026, it will also launch a series of in-person Agentic AI Boot Camps and workshops, beginning at the IAB Ad Lab and continuing monthly.
As agentic execution gains momentum across digital advertising, IAB Tech Lab said its Agentic Roadmap—driven by the Agentic Task Force—offers a clear, stable path to scaling intelligent systems while preserving interoperability and industry trust.
