Few could predict the specific ways that AI would show up in advertising in 2024—from a Sora-generated Toys R Us ad to viral campaigns for AI wearables. There were also plenty of milder developments, including scores of new AI-powered ad tech, partnerships between AI providers and agencies and some elaborations from regulators on best practices. 

As 2025 begins, the uncertainty in the AI space could be even more significant. A new administration is entering the White House, bringing with it new expectations for deregulation. Meanwhile, providers such as OpenAI, Perplexity and Google are moving headlong into AI-powered search, threatening to disrupt the model of traditional search advertising that marketers have practiced for years. And smaller players, from plucky startups to independent creatives posting their experiments on social media, are helping to usher in new ways of representing brand materials through AI generation.

To highlight what could be notable coming just over the horizon, experts gave Ad Age their top predictions for the AI marketing space in 2025. These touch on the first instances of true AI autonomy, the next stage of AI-powered search and how compliance could shape up in the new year. Most importantly, the following five developments indicate how marketing experts are thinking about AI technology as it continues its innovative run for a third year straight.

AI agents will become mainstream

Talk of AI agents, which are capable of handling complex tasks such as gathering data and providing insights without being explicitly told to do so by humans, was on the rise in the last half of last year. In 2025, these machines may finally pierce the mainstream.

“Currently, AI is able to generate a nice subject line, and a corresponding image to put inside a marketing email,” said Adam Brotman, co-founder and co-CEO of software lab Forum3. “But it’s still on the marketer to finalize the content, test it, choose the audiences and send it out. In 2025, autonomous AI will complete the task from start to finish—and be the one to hit the send button.”

Agents will find bespoke roles in a plethora of industries, from finance to health care, and could be used for activities of significant complexity, said Michael Olaye, executive VP and managing director at customer experience company Hero Digital.

“For instance, a product supply-chain tracking system could be seamlessly managed by such agents,” Olaye said.

Moreover, a group of agents could allow a business to achieve even more autonomous AI. “We’ll see the emergence of AI agents that can collaborate on behalf of humans,” Olaye said. “Open architectures with systems connected via APIs [application programming interfaces] will enable seamless interoperability and communication between these agents.”

AI will be used to simulate ad performance 

In 2025, AI will mature as a tool to help marketers improve advertising performance, according to experts. The technology’s ability to simulate scenarios based on different data inputs could lead to faster optimization, too. Adam Kline, CEO of advertising video platform Biddeo, thinks that this process could potentially execute all by itself.

“AI will analyze trends and behaviors to predict ad performance,” Kline said. “Campaigns will automatically adjust based on forecasts to optimize budgets.”

AI could be used as a mechanism for testing ads before they run, said Eric Lee, chief technology officer of agency Left Field Labs.

“AI models will create and test hundreds of creative variations simultaneously—think different scenes, people, music, messages—and optimize them in real-time, just like we do with text ads today,” Lee said. 

AI search will require marketers to shift strategy

AI-powered web search is in for a big year in 2025, and marketers will need to shift their strategies to meet growing usage from consumers, experts said.

“Rather than Googling or shopping on Amazon, consumers will simply ask AI what products to buy and receive a hyper-personalized recommendation tailored to their previous shopping history in seconds,” Forum3’s Brotman said. “This shift means marketers must start asking themselves a critical question: ‘How can I get ChatGPT to recommend me?’”

Perplexity is already starting to pitch brands with nascent ad offerings, and OpenAI is reportedly interested in doing the same. The growth of this space could change how marketers measure success in search advertising. 

“We’ll likely see a decline in traditional search click-through-rates as users increasingly interact with AI assistants directly on websites and apps for more personalized experiences,” said Michelle Weiskittel, head of media, creative and operations for Albertsons Media Collective, the grocer’s retail media arm.

More: B2B CMOs plan to boost AI spending in 2025

However, as with most AI uses, search will raise tough questions about user safety and protections. There could be issues surrounding data ownership and transparency, especially since AI-generated search will be used to personalize results, said Davi Ottenheimer, VP of trust and digital ethics for software firm Inrupt.

“To ensure a future that balances innovation with trust, advertisers and regulators must prioritize consumer privacy, empowering individuals to control their data while enabling brands to deliver personalized and accountable experiences,” Ottenheimer said.

Content will become even more personalized  

Speaking of personalized experiences: AI-powered custom content could reach new heights in 2025.

“AI will deliver tailored content and offers to customers based on their preferences, actions, and can even take into consideration their driving routes,” said Lisa Jillson, VP of marketing for data and analytics company Arity.

Brands have already begun using AI to deliver some of this bespoke material, such as Honda, which doled out personalized spots for its new electric SUV. But Jillson’s reference to driving routes is an indication that the degree to which content can be personalized will increase.

Oz Olivo, VP of product development at Inrupt, sees AI personalization happening through advancements that will require marketers to adopt a more customer-centric paradigm. “We’ll begin to see organizations embrace new AI technologies that help foster intentional personalization strategies and develop individual relationships with customers,” Olivo said.

As a result, organizations will need to think hard about their data strategies, specifically concerning the way they collect data from consumers. Empowering users by letting them maintain control over their data could be an essential move to build trust, and that could provide more opportunities to create personalized marketing.

“Businesses that embrace the shift toward consent-driven personalization will drive customer loyalty, cut down data costs and boost efficiency transforming personalization towards a mutually beneficial partnership,” Olivo said.

Recent news: The 5 biggest ad tech stories of 2024

Marketers will need to act on compliance

This year will also bring all kinds of AI-related uncertainties, and compliance is poised to mature as regulators get a better handle on the technology. As such, marketers need to be prepared to follow suit.

“It will be a necessity for marketers to ensure their content and outreach remain compliant with data privacy and transparency standards,” said Stefan Dunigan, VP of operations at management services company Gryphon.ai.

The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) is continuing to roll out new guidelines to help advertisers deploy AI ethically. Meanwhile, the incoming Trump administration has claimed it will fight for deregulation, which could mean marketers may receive mixed signals—one from industry groups, the other from the government. The incoming administration has already selected an AI and crypto czar, David Sacks, who is a big fan of emerging technologies. 

Those who fail to stay on top of the shifting scene in 2025 “may land themselves in greater danger of legal penalties and fees,” Dunigan said.

Compliance preparation is “a very high-stakes strategic exercise in technical and organizational change, rather than ‘a sky is falling’ moment,” said Michael Donnelly, executive VP of AI martech and marketing futures for the ANA.

Advertisers should start building trust by taking simple measures, including disclosing when they are using AI in marketing, said Josh Campo, CEO of the Publicis Groupe agency Razorfish. “The industry has been overthinking how to approach [AI ethics],” he said.