Why WPP’s AI boss believes agents are still in the ‘teenage sex’ stage of development

May 22, 2026 Presented by WPP’s chief AI officer has a theory about agentic AI. It is, Dr Daniel Hulm told attendees at the IAB U.K. ‘s AI growth summit in the “teenage sex phase” — everyone thinks everyone else is doing it but when they actually look, they’re not. It’s a crude metaphor. It’s also probably accurate. Advertisement TOP STORY The Business of AI Why WPP’s AI boss believes agents are still in the 'teenage sex' stage of development Agents are merely the latest technology to earn the dubious distinction. OTHER THINGS TO KNOW There’s more information than ever. We separate the signal from the noise, so you know what to act on. Get 35% off a full year of Digiday+. Offer ends May 29. The agentic era is moving quickly — from concept to live campaigns in record time. Publishers who are agent-ready gain a competitive edge with more RFPs, more direct business wins and higher CPMs. Partner insights from Optable. AI gives marketers speed. Landing pages that used to take weeks to build now take minutes. But people with disabilities stop buying from brands whose AI-built sites make it impossible to complete a purchase. Partner insights from AudioEye. MARKETING Member exclusive Future of Marketing Briefing: Agentic advertising is closer than you think and further than you hope The gap between agentic advertising’s promise and its reality.  PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM GOOGLE AD MANAGER How publishers are overcoming challenges to capture the $4 billion global live streaming market If publishers want to nail a borderless live event, the tech must guarantee a seamless viewing experience — a single, central ad server can’t handle millions of concurrent requests. Edge-based models help minimize latency for efficient scale. A MESSAGE FROM DIRECTV ADVERTISING Welcome to the week-long metaphor for DirecTV For one week in New York, the best of TV comes together in one place. Some call it the upfronts, but we know what they really are. It’s basically a metaphor for what DirecTV does every day. Learn more MODERN RETAIL Navigating Economic Instability Walmart warns it may have to raise prices due to fuel costs The possibility comes as higher fuel prices are already putting pressure on household budgets. Retail Media Rewritten TikTok Shop says sales from U.S. small businesses climbed 66% in 2025 U.S. small businesses on TikTok Shop increased sales by 66% in 2025 compared to the year before. PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM CONTENTFUL How AI is impacting content marketing According to a new survey from Contentful and Benchmarker, AI hasn’t replaced content outsourcing, but it is used most heavily in ideation, writing and editing. Advertisement PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM NEXXEN Native CTV is evolving into a scalable, full-funnel play As programmatic infrastructure matures across smart TV environments, native placements are becoming easier to activate alongside in-stream, display and mobile within the same audience and measurement frameworks. ICYMI AI Revenue Generation ‘Identity is the qualifier for AI’: Publicis' $2.2 billion LiveRamp deal is a bet that whoever controls the data owns the AI era Publicis just bought the infrastructure its rivals depend on. Now it has to convince them nothing will change. Managing Through Crisis WTF is back button hijacking? Google is cracking down on “back button hijacking,” which some publishers use to offset declining referral traffic and monetization pressure. Written by Jim Cooper and Sara Jerde Were you forwarded this email? Sign up to get it daily. Advertise | Digiday+ | Events | Awards Update your email | Unsubscribe | Privacy policy