By Marie-Lou Penin, CMO at DanAds

I’ve recently returned from the CMO Summit in London on December 2nd, one of those rare events where you can actually feel the industry shifting under your feet. The conversations, the energy, the honest admissions over coffee… it all pointed in the same direction:

2024 was experimentation.
2025 was acceleration – and let’s be honest, exhaustion.
2026 will be the year we stop reacting and start deciding.

And if you’re in advertising, publishing, or media?
This isn’t just a prediction, it’s a survival strategy.

Before we get into the big industry shifts, let me tell you what this means for those of us building the future of advertising at DanAds.

What this means for Publishers & Advertisers entering 2026

In London, I kept hearing the same thing from CMOs: “We need more control, more transparency, and way less friction.” Advertisers are tired of slow processes, unclear pricing, and endless back-and-forth. Publishers are tired of heavy ops, shrinking margins, and being overly dependent on platforms they don’t control.

And honestly? They’re both right.

That’s exactly why the self-serve model is about to hit its peak.

Advertisers want control.

Not in six days.
Not after a five-email chain.
Now.

  • Full transparency
  • Real-time insights
  • No middlemen
  • Clear costs
  • Fast campaigns
  • And the freedom to optimize on their terms

Publishers want efficiency.

Not more headcount.
Not more operational risk.
Not more tech debt.

They want:

  • automated workflows
  • predictable revenue
  • first-party data ownership
  • direct advertiser relationships
  • better yield from premium inventory

And guess what – both sides want the same thing: a clean, intuitive, transparent buying experience they can trust.

That’s exactly what self-serve delivers. And it’s why the model is rapidly becoming the backbone of the modern ad ecosystem.

The data backs it up too. In the Future of Marketing 2025 Report, 73.4% of marketers said privacy regulations are significantly impacting their strategy (page 68) – which makes direct, automated,  privacy-safe buying more valuable than ever.

AI is only going to accelerate this.
Not replace us, accelerate us.

Which brings me back to the three big shifts I believe will define 2026.

1. Leadership-led marketing will matter more than brand-led marketing

One of the most interesting discussions at the Summit was how trust has migrated away from companies and toward the people who run them.

Executives outperformed brands on every channel – not because they’re polished, but because they’re human. People want to hear from the CEO about the vision. From the CTO about the product decisions. From the CRO about what’s actually working in the field.

And from the CMO?
Well… from us, they want clarity, honesty, and a point of view.

This shift isn’t about ego or personal branding.
It’s about rebuilding trust in a world where everyone is exhausted by corporate polish and AI-generated sameness.

For publishers and advertisers, this is huge:

  • Publishers with visible leadership attract direct spend.
  • Advertisers trust platforms where real humans stand behind the message.
  • Authentic communication becomes a revenue driver, not a “nice-to-have.”

Marketing becomes the amplifier of leadership – not the filter.

2. AI isn’t a tool anymore: It’s the operating system

Let me be blunt:
2024 – 2025 were AI chaos.
Everyone tried everything. Some of it was brilliant. Some… less so.

But 2026?
This is the year AI becomes the invisible infrastructure behind every touchpoint of the go-to-market engine.

At the Summit, every CMO I spoke to shared the same tension: “Where do we let AI run, and where do we protect the human craft?”

And they’re right to ask.
Because AI can accelerate but it can also flatten everything into the same tone, the same structure, the same safe middle.

That’s why I love the idea of AI-less Tuesday, which a few teams have started using. One day a week without drafts, prompts, or AI shortcuts. A day to think, write, feel, and use the muscles that atrophy when everything becomes automated.

AI for speed.
Humans for sense-making.
Both for impact.

And when you combine that balance with self-serve advertising, something really interesting happens:

  • faster onboarding
  • predictive campaign recommendations
  • privacy-first audience creation
  • automated insights
  • creative suggestions
  • brand-safe guardrails

Self-serve gets smarter.
Advertisers get more value.
Publishers get more margin.

Everyone wins as long as humans stay in the driver’s seat.

3. Brand Becomes the Only Real Differentiator Again

When AI can generate unlimited content, unlimited targeting options, and unlimited versions of the same idea… What actually makes a brand stand out?

Not the logo.
Not the tagline.
Not even the strategy deck.

Emotion.
Intent.
Point of view.
Imperfection.
Human texture.

Gartner’s prediction that 80% of content will be AI-generated by 2026 isn’t a warning; it’s reality. And honestly, audiences already feel it. They feel the sameness. They feel the safe, bland, optimized-to-death messaging.

Brands that win in 2026 will be the ones that make people stop, think, feel, or smile, even for one second.

For publishers, this is an opportunity: Premium environments with editorial identity become more valuable when everything else feels synthetic.

For advertisers: Brand storytelling becomes the hardest – and most important – competitive advantage.

For CMOs: Our job becomes choosing what should scale with AI… and what should stay beautifully, intentionally human.

So where does this leave us going into 2026?

If I had to sum it up in one sentence: 2026 belongs to companies that are human-led and AI-accelerated.

Not one or the other.
Both. Together.

  • Advertisers will move faster than ever before.
  • Publishers will reclaim control with automation and first-party data.
  • CMOs will balance revenue pressure with narrative leadership.
  • Brands will rediscover their emotional edge.
  • AI will run the machine – but humans will choose the direction.

And the infrastructure enabling all of this – truly enabling it – is the shift toward self-serve, transparent, automation-powered advertising.

It’s no longer the future.
It’s the operating system of a healthier, more open, more efficient advertising world.

And at DanAds, we’re building it with you.