The Trade Desk Preps Agentic AI Plans for Second Half of 2026
According to a leaked product roadmap obtained by Adweek, The Trade Desk is building a centralized, AI-driven conversational interface that routes media buyers to a growing set of specialized AI agents. The system, called 'Ask Koa,' is being developed alongside the company's Kokai Zuma release and is meant to give advertisers access, through a single conversational interface, to AI agents that handle different parts of the programmatic workflow — audience building, campaign creation, pulling analytics, troubleshooting, plus support and search functions.
Per the leaked roadmap, the interface is moving from alpha to closed beta testing this week, with additional agents planned for the future.
The move reflects a broader trend among major programmatic advertising platforms: simplifying ad buying by handing off many stages of campaign management to dedicated AI agents. If tools like 'Ask Koa' see wide adoption, they could lower the technical bar required of media buyers and make programmatic ad management more accessible to smaller teams.
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