{"slug": "why-agentic-media-buying-is-becoming-a-client-by-client-configuration-job", "title": "Why agentic media buying is becoming a client-by-client configuration job", "summary": "Butler/Till, an independent media agency, has completed at least half a dozen tests of agentic media buying since May, expanding from CTV to online video, display, and streaming audio, but each client requires customized guardrails, according to chief strategy officer Scott Ensign. The agency's clients, including pharmaceutical, financial services, agriculture, and alcohol companies, demand error-free work and have different risk tolerances, so current ad spend through AI agents remains in the low single digits, though Ensign expects it to grow to double digits.", "body_md": "Join us Sept. 14-18 in Miami to connect with top publishing leaders\n\n[SECURE YOUR SEAT](https://digiday.com/events/digiday-publishing-summit-sep-26/?source=display&utm-source=display)\n\n# Why agentic media buying is becoming a client-by-client configuration job\n\nSubscribe: [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-digiday-podcast/id962605432) • [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/21TOeNMf1BLdSlQEdJ2rYY)\n\nThere’s a lot of promise in agentic media buying. The issue is in the governance.\n\nButler/Till should know. The independent media agency [has been testing](https://digiday.com/media-buying/butler-tills-first-agentic-media-buying-tests-cut-media-and-supply-chain-costs/) programmatic media buying agents for months now, concluding at least half a dozen new tests since May, Scott Ensign, chief strategy officer at Butler/Till, told Digiday.\n\nExperiments started with CTV now include online video, display and streaming audio. But with each new client, LLM platform or channel expansion, the guardrails change.\n\n“The future is going to be an enterprise layer of AI in general, but specifically with agentic,” Ensign said. “Those environments are going to have to be controlled on a client by client basis.” The agency exec recently joined the Digiday Podcast to share updates about Butler/Till’s agentic ad buying initiatives.\n\nButler/Till’s client roster includes pharmaceutical and medical device companies, financial services as well as agriculture and alcohol — all of which have different levels of risk aversion, and all of which expect “completely error-free work,” Ensign said.\n\nClients are approaching with caution before handing over their ad budgets to AI agents, and Butler/Till is still building guardrails. That’s apparent in the amount of ad dollars, which is “low, single-digital in terms of the amount of spend going through this right now,” Ensign said, who declined to offer specific spend figures.\n\nBut if you ask Ensign, it’s only a matter of time before that spend figure grows to double digits.\n\n“If we all work together and share this stuff about what’s working, what’s making things better in our space, we could perhaps create a little wave of improvement instead of just racing to the bottom,” he said.\n\n### More in Podcasts\n\n####\n[\nStagwell’s Curate launch puts agencies’ ad tech ambitions in focus ](https://digiday.com/podcasts/stagwells-curate-launch-puts-agencies-ad-tech-ambitions-in-focus/)\n\nAgencies want more control over the pipes of programmatic advertising. Stagwell’s Curate is the latest example.\n\n####\n[\nWTF is the IAB’s Redefining Media Types standard? ](https://digiday.com/podcasts/wtf-is-the-iabs-redefining-media-types-standard/)\n\nThe IAB is trying to solve one of digital advertising’s biggest labeling problems.\n\n####\n[\nAs AI automates media work, Omnicom Media is rethinking the agency business model ](https://digiday.com/podcasts/as-ai-automates-media-work-omnicom-media-is-rethinking-the-agency-business-model/)\n\nAI won’t eliminate agencies, but it is forcing them to reinvent themselves. Omnicom Media Group is betting the future lies in strategy, data and capability, not scale alone.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/why-agentic-media-buying-is-becoming-a-client-by-client-configuration-job", "canonical_source": "https://digiday.com/podcasts/why-agentic-media-buying-is-becoming-a-client-by-client-configuration-job/?utm_campaign=digidaydis&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=general-rss", "published_at": "2026-08-11 04:01:00+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-11 04:15:22.844124+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-agents", "ai-products"], "entities": ["Butler/Till", "Scott Ensign", "Digiday"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/why-agentic-media-buying-is-becoming-a-client-by-client-configuration-job", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/why-agentic-media-buying-is-becoming-a-client-by-client-configuration-job.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/why-agentic-media-buying-is-becoming-a-client-by-client-configuration-job.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/why-agentic-media-buying-is-becoming-a-client-by-client-configuration-job.jsonld"}}