Media Buying Briefing: Overheard at DMBS Spring 2026: AI from the top to the bottom of agencies.
At Digiday’s Media Buying Summit Spring 2026, one of the clearest themes was how AI in advertising is reshaping agency workflows from leadership strategy to day-to-day execution, with teams grappling with adoption, training, risk management, and the need for more practical integration across media and creative.
The piece underscores a growing industry reality: agencies need AI strategy, AI optimization, media planning, creative collaboration, and client education to work together if they want AI to drive smarter marketing outcomes rather than confusion or shortcuts.
As Lavall Chichester, EVP, SEO and AI optimization at BarkleyOKRP/MissionOne Media, put it: “AI is like fire — it could be used to cook food, or it could be used to burn your house down.”
That perspective reinforces BarkleyOKRP and MissionOne Media’s belief that the future of modern marketing, search, and media belongs to brands and agencies using AI with clarity, discipline, and human-centered judgment.