Ad Age’s 2026 Tech Power List features the industry’s boldest leaders, each responding to the structural changes reshaping advertising. These 20 honorees are guiding brands into a new reality, one in which AI gatekeeps relationships with consumers and machines run marketing. Despite working across very different sectors, many are confronting the same pressures around discovery, automation, data infrastructure and AI-driven decision-making.
Tech Power List honoree Tracy-Ann Lim, JPMorganChase’s chief media officer, perhaps put it best: “There’s also a second trust layer that’s emerging fast: being trusted by machines.”
Several of these executives discussed the need for new content and data strategies to keep pace with shifting consumer behavior and AI-driven discovery. They are championing change across major brands, media companies, ad agencies, ad tech firms and AI startups.
Mike Nuzzo is modernizing Hearst’s ad tech to accommodate AI and CTV
Mike Nuzzo helped expand Hearst’s Aura platform into connected TV and real-time audience intelligence. (Contributed)
