The AI takeover of advertising: Inside the new holding company playbook

A deeper transformation is unfolding across the global advertising industry—one that goes far beyond influencer marketing. Agency holding companies are rapidly evolving into owners of AI-powered marketing operating systems, driven by the need to manage identity, data, and decision-making in a privacy-first world. As cookies decline and digital ecosystems fragment, success is increasingly tied to how effectively organisations can unify data, enable secure collaboration, and deploy AI to optimise marketing in real time.Also read: Influencer marketing: How ad holding companies are building creator empiresPublicis GroupePublicis Groupe has made one of the most decisive moves in this race with its May 2026 announcement to acquire LiveRamp, a leading data collaboration platform. The platform connects thousands of publishers, data providers, and technology partners, enabling companies to unify and activate data across the digital ecosystem in a secure, privacy-compliant manner.This builds dir