Predictions are hard, especially now: inevitably some things will look obvious or outlandish in hindsight.
I ask that you only remember the predictions I got right.
The internet will split between humans and agents, and humans will be wildly outnumbered
Two-thirds of your global website or app traffic will be bots. We’re used to marketing to humans, but increasingly agents will be making the decisions.
Brands have invested billions learning how to get great at persuading humans. But what does our industry really know about persuading LLM models? There’s a lot we need to learn. Next year we will be talking about this a lot.
Brands will start competing in AI’s black box
Once, marketers cared where algorithms ranked them on a SERP (Search Engine Results Page).
But search will be redefined in 2026, and reputation — what real people say about you on recommendation sites — will matter more than ever.
This is because the battle for online presence will shift decisively to the LLM’s latent space.
Latent space is like a map inside an AI that arranges similar ideas so they sit closer together. The AI uses those relationships to understand patterns and generate language.
If you sell backpacks, you might believe your messaging shows that your product is among the “best backpacks for kids.” But what if the LLM doesn’t think about your brand’s messaging the way you do? What if buyers don’t see your website because the LLM decides there’s no reason for them to go there?
One or more LLMs will start an advertising business, and travel will be the first big category to advertise
ChatGPT’s Sam Altman has gone from “I kind of hate ads” in 2024 to “Okay, maybe ads don’t always suck” and “It’s something we’ll try” this year.
Why will travel be first? Because the connection between what the LLM recommends you buy and what you actually buy is very, very strong.
One of the remaining agency holding companies will be acquired or merge
We already know dentsu has lined up M&A partners to identify potential buyers for their international business. As Jay Pattisall, vp and principal analyst at Forrester put it: “Automation and AI are accelerating workforce reductions across agencies. This shift is not just about efficiency — it’s about transformation [agencies] will hasten the shift from service providers to solution purveyors.”
