Response from Perplexity:
AI-enabled devices will fundamentally transform advertising over the next five years by acting as consumer gatekeepers and decision-makers, drastically accelerating personalization, and enabling always-on, contextually rich interactions at scale.
AI Agents as Consumer Gatekeepers
AI agents will increasingly act on behalf of people, making purchase recommendations, researching products, and even completing transactions autonomously. Marketers will need to understand and influence not just humans, but also these AI intermediaries—changing both messaging strategies and value propositions to sway AI “buyers”.
Hyper-Personalization at Scale
AI-powered devices will deliver ads tailored in real time to individual preferences, behaviors, and context, far beyond today’s capabilities. Creative assets—images, videos, offers—will be automatically customized and deployed across channels (including voice, connected TV, and immersive devices). This hyper-personalization will blur the lines between advertising and utility, making ads feel like helpful recommendations rather than interruptions.
Conversational and Interactive Advertising
AI-enabled devices will facilitate more natural, two-way interactions between consumers and brands through conversational ads, AI-powered chatbots, and immersive digital environments. Advertising will shift toward dialogue-based formats, enabling consumers to ask questions, receive recommendations, and complete purchases within the ad experience itself.
Predictive Analytics and Autonomous Optimization
Real-time AI analytics will allow for campaign optimizations on the fly—budgets will shift, creative will adapt, and placements will change dynamically in response to performance data across platforms. AI-powered devices will anticipate consumer needs, surfacing relevant ads at the perfect moment by predicting intent from ongoing behavioral signals.
Implications for Marketers and Agencies
The rise of AI agents will drive advertising agencies to focus on data strategy, AI consulting, and technology development as routine creative and media planning become automated. Budgets are expected to rise due to efficiency gains and better attribution, but the skills required will shift toward influencing both human and AI decision-makers.
Overall, AI-enabled devices will force a reimagining of the entire advertising funnel—from awareness to conversion—centered on influencing always-on, proactive AI systems alongside human consumers.
Sources: Little Black Book, eMarketer, Search Engine Journal, Bain and Deusens