If 2023 taught advertisers anything, it’s that the pace of change in media, marketing and ad tech is only quickening. AI continues to take over marketing roles. Social media apps are rising and falling. There are TikTok trends to follow, shopping ads on apps and connected TV. The ad tech landscape is more complex than ever, and Google is marching toward cookie deprecation in 2024. Meanwhile, Gen Z is reshaping the marketing playbook.

With all these marketing changes, Ad Age embarked on a search for the top tech leaders in the industry with the inaugural Tech Power List. And the Jan. 31 deadline for entries is fast approaching.

The Ad Age Tech Power List is taking a broad look at how brands are adopting new practices—using generative AI; launching virtual experiences in Roblox; and figuring out shopping on social media. The Tech Power List is for any leaders who are rising at brands, ad agencies, platforms, ad tech firms and beyond.

Ahead of dishing out the honors, Ad Age looked at some trends that shaped the industry in 2023 and are sure to remain influential in the year ahead.

Generative AI bosses

The industry has concerns about AI replacing jobs in digital media, but there also is opportunity in the AI transformation. Major ad agencies and tech companies are looking for people who can work with AI. This year, Coca-Cola became perhaps the first major global brand to appoint a head of generative AI, Pratik Thakar. Coca-Cola has been on a marketing expedition with its use of AI in transforming the brand.

Marketers are using generative AI to write ad copy, handle internet ad campaigns, and create new artistic concepts. Google, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, TikTok and others have developed AI ad products. Google, for instance, has been pushing Performance Max, a performance marketing engine, as its main AI ad template. Brands such as Mondelēz are interested in Google’s Demand Gen AI ad product, which was made for reaching new customers and social media style advertising.

Still, marketers and brands will have to take care in the AI landscape, as there have been concerns that too much automation takes away their control of the ad levers. Plus, ad agencies and brands are being bombarded with offers for ad products that promise AI, when they are not really using AI, as Ad Age warned in December.

Streaming TV battle

With Apple building its ad business, and Amazon launching Prime Video ads, there is plenty to watch in connected TV. Media buyers must keep up with the developments. Disney, for instance, is hosting its annual Tech and Data Showcase during CES in Las Vegas on Jan. 10, Ad Age reported.

Rita Ferro, president of global advertising at Disney, told Ad Age’s Parker Herren recently that the platform, mostly known for Disney+, Hulu and ESPN, is focused on shoppable ads, “social extensions,” and “gamification of the advertising experience.”

Shopping, social media and gaming are all hot topics. Amazon hosted the first Black Friday NFL game in November, and brands from Bose to State Farm were interested in connecting ads to shopping on the e-commerce site.

Roku, NBCUniversal, Amazon and others will also be at CES in January to showcase ad tech.

Brands and gaming

Even if Web3 and the metaverse ran into stumbling blocks in 2023, brands are still running into digital worlds such as Roblox. Some of the most innovative brand activations have been in video games.

How brands build loyalty with Gen Z in VR

In fact, Liquid Death just released a Fortnite map to a destination it dubbed “Murder Mountain,” Ad Age Creativity Editor Tim Nudd reported. The campaign is a play on Liquid Death’s slogan: “Murder your thirst.”

However, brands need to hone their gaming skills to make the most out of popular virtual reality worlds, Ad Age’s Asa Hiken recently reported. In Roblox, brands are feeling pressure to develop experiences to hook Gen Z, but then worry their creations could become digital ghost towns, Hiken wrote.

Meanwhile, Meta and Apple are set to have dueling mixed reality headsets in 2024. Meta Quest 3 launched in October and Apple Vision Pro is expected in the first quarter. So, the metaverse is still coming, even if not everyone wants to call it that. Apple, for instance, calls its headset a “mixed reality” device—but, under any name, brands and developers are working on apps and commerce in VR and beyond.

Enter the Ad Age Tech Power List here