[Watch on Demand] IAB Europe's The Great Debate: AI

On 30th October 2025, we hosted our Great Debate on AI, a thought-provoking virtual event that explored the transformative impact of Artificial Intelligence on digital advertising.

The session brought together experts from across the industry to discuss how AI is shaping business strategies, driving innovation, and challenging long-held assumptions about creativity, measurement, and governance.

If you missed it live, here’s your chance to catch up on all the sessions and key takeaways - and watch them on demand below.

Our host for the day, Tobias Kellner, Industry Relations Manager, Google Germany and newly appointed IAB Europe’s AI WG lead , opened the debate by setting the tone for the discussions ahead, introducing our Data Analyst & Sustainability Lead, Dimitris Beis, who presented IAB Europe’s latest research, “The Impact of AI on Digital Advertising.” Now in its first year, the study gathered nearly 100 responses from advertisers, agencies, ad tech companies, and publishers across multiple European markets.

Watch the presentation below:

Panel 1: The User Journey in the Age of AI

The first panel took a closer look at how AI is reshaping user behaviour, creativity, and content engagement. Experts explored how brands and publishers are navigating this new landscape, and what responsible innovation should look like as AI becomes central to marketing strategies.

Key takeaways:

• AI as Both Disruption and Opportunity: While AI is transforming the way users search, discover, and interact with brands, it also unlocks opportunities for deeper personalisation and more efficient storytelling.
• Search and Discovery Are Evolving: AI-driven interfaces are expanding the role of search beyond lower-funnel actions, influencing upper and mid-funnel engagement and reshaping the user journey.
• The Human Factor Remains Essential: Despite rapid automation, human creativity, strategic thinking, and ethical oversight will continue to define meaningful and trustworthy brand experiences.

Moderator: Liz Salway, Managing Principal, Marketing Solutions, Empathy Lab by EPAM, Speakers included:

• Simon Davis, Global Client Transformation, Mindshare, WPP Media
• Tracey Pilon, EMEA & LATAM AI Acceleration Director, Microsoft 
• Kay Schneider, President, ShowHeroes

Panel 2: AI-Powered Everything

We then moved on to our second dynamic panel explored how AI is being woven into the fabric of advertising - from campaign optimisation to programmatic innovation. The discussion questioned whether AI’s hype sometimes distracts from its true purpose: delivering real, measurable business outcomes.

Key takeaways:

• Transformation Requires Accountability: As AI continues to evolve, ethical application and transparent processes will be crucial to building long-term trust.
• Substance Over Spectacle: The industry must focus on AI’s tangible value rather than treating it as a “magic trick” or buzzword.
• Programmatic Evolution: ADCP (Agentic Digital Channel Protocol) emerged as an exciting development - a new framework designed to simplify and standardise communication between brands and publishers.

The session was moderated by Patrick Hann, Ad Tech Manager, Iab UK, with panelists including:

• Matina Thomaidou, VP, Head of Data Science at Dataseat, part of Verve
• Mohsin Pervez, Senior Director, Platform Solutions and Operations, EMEA, PubMatic
• Tim Collier, Chief Commercial Officer, Scope3

Fire-side chat: Publisher Strategy in a Conversational Web

To close the event, we heard from Jacqui Merrington, Director of AI, Mail Metro Media, who shared a publisher’s perspective on the future of content, discovery, and monetisation in an AI-driven world.

Key takeaways:

• Changing Discovery Patterns: As conversational and AI-driven search tools emerge, traditional traffic flows are shifting - prompting publishers to rethink distribution strategies.
• Editorial Integrity Is Paramount: With the growth of AI-generated content, maintaining accuracy and trust is more important than ever.
• Regulation and Standards Ahead: The industry needs clear frameworks to manage transparency, attribution, and misinformation risks.

IAB Europe’s Great Debate: AI shed light on how artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming digital advertising - from creative workflows and targeting strategies to governance and ethics.

The overarching message? AI isn’t just a tool - it’s an inflection point. Its success will depend on how collaboratively and responsibly the industry can harness its power for sustainable growth.

Watch the full session recording here. 

Interested in joining the Advertising & Media Committee or the AI Working Group?

If you're a member of IAB Europe, or are looking to join, and would like to learn more about how you can get involved in our Advertising and Media Committee, please feel free to reach out to Marie-Clare Puffett at puffett(@)iabeurope.eu or if you are interested in the AI working group, contact Dimitris Beis at beis(@)iabeurope.eu.