Butler/Till and Pubmatic Pilot Agentic Media Buying to Slash Supply Chain Costs
Key Takeaways
- Independent agency Butler/Till has successfully completed initial tests of agentic media buying in partnership with Pubmatic, demonstrating significant reductions in media and supply chain costs.
- The pilot marks a pivotal shift toward autonomous AI agents capable of optimizing programmatic workflows and reclaiming operational efficiency for brands.
Key Intelligence
Key Facts
- 1Butler/Till and Pubmatic successfully piloted agentic media buying workflows in live campaigns.
- 2The tests resulted in measurable reductions in both media costs and supply chain overhead.
- 3AI agents demonstrated the ability to autonomously optimize supply paths (SPO) without manual intervention.
- 4Significant time savings were recorded for agency personnel, allowing for a shift toward strategic tasks.
- 5The pilot highlights a transition from rule-based programmatic trading to autonomous AI orchestration.
Who's Affected
Analysis
The emergence of agentic media buying marks a significant evolution from the rule-based automation that has defined programmatic advertising for the last decade. Independent agency Butler/Till, in partnership with supply-side platform (SSP) Pubmatic, has released results from its first pilot tests of autonomous AI agents tasked with media procurement. The results indicate a double-edged success: a notable reduction in both media costs and supply chain overhead, alongside a significant decrease in the manual hours required to manage complex programmatic campaigns. This development suggests that the industry is moving beyond simple automation toward systems that possess the agency to reason and act on behalf of the advertiser.
Unlike traditional programmatic systems that follow rigid, pre-set parameters, agentic AI operates with a degree of autonomy, making real-time decisions based on high-level goals rather than granular manual inputs. In the Butler/Till pilot, these agents were able to navigate the fragmented supply chain more efficiently than human traders, identifying the most direct and cost-effective paths to premium inventory. This is essentially Supply Path Optimization (SPO) on autopilot, where the AI does not just suggest a path but actively executes the buy across the most efficient nodes. By removing the friction of manual path selection, the agents were able to bypass high-fee intermediaries that often bloat programmatic budgets.
Independent agency Butler/Till, in partnership with supply-side platform (SSP) Pubmatic, has released results from its first pilot tests of autonomous AI agents tasked with media procurement.
The reduction in supply chain costs is particularly noteworthy for an industry currently obsessed with transparency and tech tax mitigation. By using agents to bypass redundant intermediaries and optimize for lower-fee paths, Butler/Till is demonstrating how agencies can reclaim value for their clients without sacrificing reach or quality. For Pubmatic, this partnership signals a shift in the SSP's role from a passive inventory aggregator to an active participant in an agentic ecosystem, providing the necessary infrastructure and data signals that these AI agents require to function effectively. It positions the supply side as a critical partner in the autonomous execution of media strategies.
What to Watch
However, the success of these tests inevitably introduces a new set of challenges for the industry. As media buying becomes increasingly autonomous, the black box problem—a long-standing criticism of programmatic advertising—could intensify. If an agent makes a buying decision that results in lower costs but questionable alignment with brand values, the question of accountability becomes paramount. The pilot results suggest that while the efficiency gains are undeniable, the need for robust guardrail technologies and human oversight has never been higher. Agencies will likely transition from traders to agent orchestrators, focusing on setting strategic objectives and monitoring the ethical and brand-safety boundaries within which the AI operates.
Looking forward, the Butler/Till and Pubmatic collaboration is likely the first of many as the industry enters what many are calling the Year of the Agent. We can expect a surge in agent-ready infrastructure from other major SSPs and DSPs, as well as a push for standardized protocols that allow different AI agents to communicate and transact across the adtech stack. For brands, the promise is clear: a more efficient, less wasteful media supply chain. For the workforce, the shift necessitates a rapid upskilling in AI management and strategic oversight as the manual mechanics of the buy are increasingly handed over to autonomous systems. The focus will shift from how to buy to what to achieve, with agents handling the tactical complexity in between.
Sources
Sources
Based on 2 source articles- digiday.comButler/Till’s first agentic media buying tests cut media and supply chain costsMar 17, 2026
- DigidayButler/Till’s first agentic media buying tests cut media and supply chain costsMar 17, 2026