Personalization at Scale Edges Closer With AI Interactive Ads

Flam, an AI content platform that recently announced a Series B funding round, is pushing its Flicks tool into the market to let brands build interactive ads that adapt to audience behavior in real time, head of sales Kumar Shah said during a Brandweek 2026 fireside chat co-hosted with Flam and ADWEEK. Shah said a 10-second ad can be built in 30 minutes or less using brand guidelines, a raw asset, and a prompt, with all creative variants pre-approved by a creative lead before a campaign goes live. Digitas chief solutions officer Melissa Berger said the technology could finally deliver "personalization at scale" that marketers have chased for 20 years, but warned that "you risk alienating with a bad experience" and that ensuring data is clean and used properly "is very difficult.

This post was created in partnership with Flam Is AI bringing us closer to a brand marketing world where the audience can act inside the content instead of just watching it? During a Brandweek 2026 fireside chat co-hosted with Flam, Ryan Joe, editor-in-chief of ADWEEK, sat down with Kumar Shah, Flam’s head of sales, and Melissa Berger, chief solutions officer at Digitas. They discussed whether a new AI interactive content format could turn the one-way ad-watching experience into responsive content. Ads powered by audiences Shah kicked off the discussion by describing how Flam’s AI content platform, fresh off a newly announced round of Series B funding, is bringing responsive ads into the marketplace. “We want to modernize the interaction that users have with ads and make it a two-way street,” he said. With Flicks, one of Flam’s core AI tools, brands can build interactive ads that use audience metrics and behaviors to determine what they see next. “In real time, this ad can learn about your intent across a particular product, and then deliver ads based on who you are, what you chose, and why you selected it,” explained Shah. Digitas’ Berger wondered whether this technology could help marketers finally achieve the coveted “personalization at scale” that’s dominated discussions for the last 20 years—but made the point that it has to be done well because “you risk alienating with a bad experience.” To answer that question, Shah explained how Flam Flicks actually works. The user uploads brand guidelines and a raw asset, and gives it a prompt. The AI then generates the creative. Within the ad experience, the user engages with multiple variants, and their choices and selections, along with the brand’s existing customer data, help determine what they will see next. Shah noted that if all goes well, a 10-second ad can be built in 30 minutes or less. “Speed to market is a key KPI right now,” said Berger, acknowledging that teams are always looking for ways to get ads out more quickly. Leaning into the learning curves The discussion turned to potential fears that brands may have about giving LLMs too much control—a very common topic for AI technologies today. “Actually ensuring the data is clean and being used properly is very difficult,” shared Berger, “so I don’t think it’s an easy problem to solve.” Shah countered that human oversight is embedded throughout the Flicks creation process to help protect brand integrity. “Everything is pre-approved before a campaign goes live,” he explained. “Those variants have all been blessed by a creative lead to ensure that those dynamic creatives continue to flow and are adaptive over time.” As to the question of whether brands will be hesitant to try interactive ads or similar AI-powered solutions, Berger said that may be the case for some. But she also sees many early adopters jumping at the opportunity. “I think mistakes are going to happen. But I think that a lot of brands are seeing that the risk is worth it because of the value that’s coming out of it,” said Berger. As Flam Flicks continues expanding its roster of clients, Shah said his team will keep listening, learning, and adapting. “I don’t know what I don’t know,” he admitted. “We are out in the market learning from who we’re speaking with, and we’re able to create a feedback loop for our internal team to ensure that there is a roadmap designed to align with what the market needs.”