Podcast Summary: CTV and Streaming Advertising Trends for 2026 Summit Panel – AI's Impact on Streaming's Ad Creative

Podcast: Behind the Numbers: an EMARKETER Podcast
Host: Nate Elliott (EMARKETER Principal Analyst)
Panelists:

• Carolyn Gieglich (VP, AI, Interactive Advertising Bureau [IAB])
• Todd Fetlin (VP, Creative Lead, One Horizon)
• Jonathan Watkins (Head of Optimization, TV Scientific)
  Date: December 2, 2025
  Episode Type: Special Edition (Recorded at eMarketer Summit, November 14, 2025)

Episode Overview

This panel brings together top industry experts to examine the evolving role of artificial intelligence in connected TV (CTV) and streaming advertising, particularly focusing on creative production, personalization, measurement, and the forthcoming regulatory landscape. The discussion candidly addresses both the opportunities and challenges arising from AI-powered advertising, dispelling hype, and offering real-world insights marketers can use right now.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Where AI Is Making the Most Impact in Streaming Advertising

• Operational Efficiency & Optimization
  • AI is already streamlining processes such as media buying and audience targeting, reducing human workload and operational overhead.

    “Operationally…the challenges with all these creative renditions is that it's operationally heavy to distribute all of that media and to make sure that it gets trafficked and tagged correctly. That's human capital…Dropping AI in there, that's a massive cost savings.” – Carolyn (05:32)

• Creative Generation & Personalization
  • AI-driven tools are facilitating the assessment and creation of diverse ad variations (lengths, versions, translations), moving from "one ad for many" to "many ads for many" approaches, enabling real-time adaptation to context or audience segment.

    “One of the great things about being able to test all those different versions is being able to create them…We now have the ability to not just create one ad for many, but many ads for many.” – Todd (04:38)

• Measurement & Attribution
  • AI is closing the loop by providing deeper insights into business outcomes, enhancing media effectiveness and proving ROI to CFOs/CEOs.

Notable Timestamp:

• [02:39] Jonathan introduces key AI impact areas: “optimized buying” and operational efficiency
• [03:26] Caroline on optimization and measurement

2. Addressing the Hype: AI's 'Sexy' vs. ‘Boring’ Innovations

• Despite public fascination with “sexy” AI (like generative video), the most transformative gains so far have come from the “boring” aspects—audience targeting, bidding optimization, and backend measurement.

  “The things in CTV that are really winning right now are somewhat more boring. Audience and bidding optimization…measurement and attribution piece…like closing that loop on outcomes.” – Caroline (03:26)

• Business Outcomes Over Hype
  • Panelists agree: True value for marketers isn’t in flashy case studies, but in incremental improvements and business metrics enabled by AI.

3. AI Personalization: New Frontier or Old Wine?

• Evolution, Not Revolution
  • Many personalization techniques described as “AI-powered” today build on established digital optimization, albeit at new levels of scale and nuance.

    “I don't think it's new…It's the fact that it's not just [local tagging], but it's also being able to swap different elements of ads to make them feel more personalized…” – Todd (08:45)

• Customization vs. Creepiness
  • The ability to swap ad elements (visuals, voiceovers) for individuals or cohorts is real—but if it’s overdone or inaccurate, it risks backfiring and making the brand feel invasive.

    "The challenge…is when you try to do dco from the perspective of truly being dynamic…it looks terrible if you get it wrong…because imagine you're directing it to Nate and it's actually Sharon…So you've got to have a really strong confidence in your deterministic identity." – Carolyn (09:40)

• Brands Cautious of Over-Personalization in CTV
  • TV environments carry more risk for hyper-targeting than digital or social due to higher stakes and visibility.

    “…that level of personalization…increases the risk…in a TV environment…CTV will be slower to really address the dream of AI personalization as fast as some of the other channels...” – Caroline (10:50)

4. The Quality & Emotional Resonance of AI-Generated Ads

• Creative Quality: Uncanny Valley Still a Concern
  • Panelists cite examples like Coke’s AI-generated Christmas ad as technological feats that may lack emotional draw or authenticity.

    “It's amazing you can do this…But it doesn't necessarily mean it was an effective ad, or something that people enjoyed watching." – Nate (14:29)

• Human Connection Still Reigns Supreme
  • Despite advances, AI cannot replace the emotional link good ads make; the best AI is invisible and serves the story.

    “You cannot replace the human emotion…That's that real connection between ad and viewer.” – Todd (18:42)

• Human Oversight Is Vital
  • People often forget AI is guided and quality-checked by humans behind the scenes.

    “People have a feeling about AI, but then they forget that. Also, there's a human behind the AI, like Geppetto with Pinocchio.” – Caroline (17:16)

5. Disclosure, Regulation, and Governance of AI in Ad Creative

• Should Ads Disclose AI Involvement?
  • IAB is working with industry to develop balanced disclosure standards, motivated by consumer trust, regulatory patchwork, and risk of misleading viewers.

    “We have convened a working group…to discuss do we disclose AI usage in advertising Creative. The answer is a few different things: consumer trust…a fragmented regulatory environment…and where we think the industry should go.” – Caroline (20:18)

• Self-Governance Better Than Regulation
  • Proactivity is encouraged to avoid ill-fitting government rules.

    “We do better as an industry when we lead through self governance versus relying on regulation to come in.” – Jonathan (22:44)

• Challenges of Implementation
  • Difficulty in identifying AI creative, establishing who’s responsible, and fair enforcement—especially given how ubiquitous AI tools have become (e.g., integrated into Photoshop).

    “If you're Todd and you know exactly what was put into the sauce, then you know what's in the sauce. But if you're eating the pizza, how do you know what somebody put in the sauce?” – Caroline (25:56)

  • Future may bring AI-detection tools; social platforms and publishers will need protection.

6. Looking to the Future: The Next 5 Years

• Predictions for 2030:
  • Jonathan:
    • More seamless native ad integration into content
    • Brand “retro” backlash: marketers may tout “shot with real people” for differentiation

      “I think Gen AI potentially can make native video advertising more possible…and some marketers will lean into the retro, ‘we shot this with real people’ approach.” (29:04)

  • Caroline:
    • AI becomes invisible, just another part of production
    • CTV finally catches up with digital on personalization and shoppability

      “AI will be invisible…CTV will hopefully finally catch up to digital and being as personalized as digital content is and as shoppable…” (30:11)

  • Todd:
    • AI will be seamlessly integrated, expectations of real-time shoppable, personalized video will be met

      “I think it's going to be a middle…goal of ‘shop right then and there’…we'll look back and this will all just feel normal.” (30:57)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• The Invisible Hand of AI

  "If it's done well, the AI is invisible." – Caroline, [19:35]

• The Human Element

  "You cannot replace the human emotion. That's that real connection between ad and viewer." – Todd, [18:42]

• On Regulation and Industry Responsibility

  “If we haven't set the right standard, then we'll end up with a standard that doesn't actually work well for either side, including the consumer.” – Jonathan, [22:44]

• The Coke Ad as Case Study

  "[The Coke ad] lost the emotion that a normal Coca Cola ad has…You're not going to get credit for using technology." – Todd, [18:42]

Timeline of Important Segments

• [02:39] – Jonathan on existing AI impact areas (optimization, operational overhead)
• [03:26] – Caroline on “boring but essential” AI functions (bidding, measurement)
• [05:32] – Carolyn on operational pain points and AI value
• [08:45] – Todd & Carolyn on AI personalization and DCO evolution
• [12:54–15:07] – Nate, Todd, and panel critique AI-generated creative (Coke example, "uncanny valley" problem)
• [17:16] – Caroline on the human role in AI-driven ad creation
• [19:35–24:06] – Disclosure debate: Should consumers know about AI creative? Who’s responsible? (IAB approach, challenges)
• [29:04–31:35] – Panel’s predictions for AI and CTV advertising in 2030

Summary

This episode dispels AI’s mystique in the CTV and streaming ad world, rooting big promises in current realities. AI is enhancing operational efficiency, creative versioning, and measurement, but true creative breakthroughs require human oversight and a careful approach to trust, transparency, and regulation. Personalization, if executed with responsibility, promises to achieve what marketers have long envisaged—a real connection with the right consumer, at the right moment, in the right context. The future, according to these experts, is a world where AI is simply another tool—powerful, but invisible unless deliberately called out, and always in service to the creative vision and business results that matter most.