How StackAdapt Uses AI to Automate Media Buying Workflows (IVY Studios, Performance & Omnichannel Ads)

In this rerun episode of the Media Buying Podcast, Jim and Rob speak with Greg from StackAdapt, VP of Inventory Development, about how StackAdapt is using AI to improve agency workflows through automation, creative generation, and agentic decisioning.

Greg explains StackAdapt’s omnichannel DSP approach focused on the audience journey across screens, and introduces IVY Studios, an AI tool released in Q3 that can build media plans, recommend optimizations from historical data, and generate creatives across formats using only a website link, while supporting hybrid human QA needs.

The conversation covers AI’s impact on agency jobs, the shift toward performance-focused buying in Q4 amid midterm political spend and holiday demand, and future opportunities in live sports and real-time storytelling, including programmatic moments enabled by a Genius Sports integration.

Timestamps
00:00 Podcast Rerun Setup
00:23 US Ads and Billboards
01:08 Greg Role at StackAdapt
02:10 StackAdapt AI and Omnichannel
04:25 AI Valuations and Costs
07:29 Agency Jobs and Efficiency
12:36 Introducing IVY Studios
14:39 Creative Generation Workflow
17:10 QA and Hybrid Adoption
19:03 Meta Automation Frustrations
20:28 Amazon Recommendations Analogy
21:13 Adapting to AI Change
21:54 Q4 Outlook and Performance
23:19 Scaling Systems vs Vibe Coding
24:24 Channel Shifts Email vs Video
25:27 Deliverability Shakeups Example
26:21 2027 AI Sports Omnichannel
28:43 User Journey and Targeting
30:51 YouTube Monetization Trends
33:44 Storytelling Across Touchpoints
34:55 Real Time Sports Moments Ads
36:58 Programmatic Playoff Scramble
38:10 Closing Advice and Platform Models