IAB Tech Lab sets 2026 events targeting Agentic AI and TV

The shift toward 'Agentic' advertising represents a move to automate ad transactions using AI agents, requiring new protocols like AAMP to ensure human-speed standards work at machine speeds. For streaming, the Trusted Server framework is essential for reclaiming signals lost to browser tracking restrictions and ad blockers, directly impacting CTV yields and measurement accuracy. As fragmented platforms move from experimental features to core ad-tech infrastructure, these workshops provide the technical blueprint for maintaining interoperability across the ecosystem. Industry stakeholders should watch for the first real-world performance data from publishers testing the Trusted Server Arena Group deployment to validate revenue recovery claims.

The 2026 roadmap reflects a significant acceleration in technical standards designed to mitigate signal loss and prepare for automated AI buying. Per IAB Tech Lab (January 2026), the Agentic Advertising Management Protocols (AAMP) are built on three pillars—Foundations, Protocols, and Trust—to ensure AI agents operate without 'hallucination' in real-time bidding environments. This initiative follows the 2025 release of the Agentic Real-Time Framework (ARTF), which reportedly reduced latency by 80% in initial tests by shifting execution to high-performance infrastructure.

Parallel to AI automation, the Trusted Server initiative has gained urgency as a defense against ad-blocking and browser-level privacy constraints. According to Ad-Shield (May 2026), ad-blocking now affects more than 22% of global publisher inventory. IAB Tech Lab CEO Anthony Katsur noted at the 2026 Annual Leadership Meeting that Trusted Server can deliver up to a 300% improvement in page load speeds by moving script execution to the edge. This server-side shift allows publishers to render ads into pages as a single payload, effectively making them harder for traditional filter-list blockers to identify compared to client-side scripts.

In the CTV sector, the 2026 event topics align with the broader industry trend of 'Streaming Growing Up.' As reported by CSI Magazine (May 2026), technical standards from bodies like SVTA and IAB Tech Lab are increasingly focused on improving creative signaling for new formats like 'L-shaped' banners and pause ads. With US advertisers projected to invest over $10 billion more in social video and CTV than in linear TV by 2026, establishing standardized protocols for addressability and verification has become a primary objective for stakeholders looking to narrow the gap between viewership and spend.