Digiday Daily

August 18, 2026

Marketing execs are pushing for company-wide AI adoption, expecting everyone to use AI tools to expedite brainstorming, scale creative ideas and win client business. That expectation exists without a universal line in the sand for where machine learning ends and human ingenuity begins.

TOP STORY

The Business of AI

Marketers embrace AI across workflows, but questions over guardrails and job impacts remain

As AI moves deeper into agency workflows, marketers are still figuring out the guardrails—and what it means for entry-level jobs.

OTHER THINGS TO KNOW

Step-by-step guide to assessing agentic readiness and adopting at scale. A buyer agent evaluating inventory is only as informed as the data a seller agent can surface. Becoming agent-ready now sets publishers up for a smooth transition into agentic buying and selling. Partner insights from Optable.
While AI is changing how work gets done, it’s not changing who does it just yet. The focus now is shifting from finding the perfect tech stack to prioritizing AI that works alongside marketers. Partner insights from Contentful.
There are only 10 spots left for the Digiday Publishing Summit, taking place Sept. 14–16 in Miami. Join publishing leaders from Reuters Digital, Axios, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and more for candid conversations, valuable networking and practical insights on what’s next for publishing.

MARKETING

The Sports Marketing Playbook

How Unilever detergent brand Persil measures sports sponsorship impact

The fabric detergent brand sponsors Arsenal and F1 Academy. Brand boss Giovanna Gomes explains how it tracks the impact of those deals beyond just exposure.

Retail Revolution

How DTC startups are using AI to scale more efficiently

Brand marketers are recreating the DTC playbook for the current agentic AI landscape.

PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM PAYPAL ADS

Why the group organizer is the customer worth competing for

The chief friend officer, or CFO of the friend group, organizes, decides and settles up. Every payment they make pulls other people into a purchase that might never have happened otherwise.

MEDIA & PLATFORMS

Modern Retail

ANA updates efforts to standardize retail media network measurement

The ANA is hammering out guidelines around standardization of retail media measurement, on behalf of its member base of marketers

PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM SHEER ID

Why — and how — brands are building loyalty with students

With $593 billion in spending power, college students are one of the most lucrative audiences a brand can engage.

PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM MOLOCO

The problem with last-touch for CTV

Measuring CTV on last-touch alone tells only part of the story. Across hundreds of advertisers, 30% of campaigns are significantly undervalued by last-touch models alone.

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