New research shows unified, AI-driven strategies are separating marketing leaders from laggards as programmatic enters a defining transition
StackAdapt, the leading AI advertising and orchestration platform, released its annual State of Programmatic Advertising 2026 report, revealing that marketers who unify channels, consolidate their tech stacks, and adopt AI pragmatically are significantly outperforming peers across performance, efficiency, and growth.
Based on insights from 484 senior marketers across the US, Canada, and the UK, combined with platform data from more than 6,000 global advertisers, the report shows programmatic advertising is entering a defining transition, one where fragmented tools and siloed execution are becoming a competitive disadvantage. The report defines top performers as marketers reporting significantly stronger year-over-year performance compared to peers, highlighting a widening gap between leaders and laggards as programmatic matures.
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Despite widespread optimism, the data reveals a growing maturity gap: while 75% of marketers expect budgets to grow and 84% report stronger year-over-year performance, only top performers are operationalizing that momentum. These leaders are pulling ahead by unifying workflows, consolidating technology, and embedding AI into execution, connecting creative, data, and media across the funnel.
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“Programmatic has reached an inflection point,” said Yang Han, Co-Founder and CTO of StackAdapt. “The marketers seeing the strongest gains aren’t adding more tools—they’re consolidating around platforms that can connect channels, data, and AI in one system. That shift is unlocking faster learning, stronger performance, and more efficient growth.”
The report also highlights a disconnect between omnichannel ambition and operational reality. While 75% of marketers claim to run omnichannel campaigns, most lack the infrastructure and workflows needed to act on cross-channel insights consistently, resulting in fragmented activation, wasted spend, and uneven performance.
“Measurement has finally caught up, but execution hasn’t,” added Han. “In 2026, the advantage will belong to marketers who turn visibility into action, using AI to accelerate what’s slow, unify what’s fragmented, and elevate what already works.”
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