The Digiday Podcast Inside NBCUniversal’s test to use AI agents to sell ads against a live NFL game
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Feb 3, 2026 Ryan McConville, CPO and EVP of Ad Products and Solutions at NBCUniversal, led a proof-of-concept using AI agents to buy ads during a live NFL game. He describes how agentic automation accessed linear and streaming data, contrasted with programmatic buying. Short takes cover governance, human approvals, trusted registries, and future real-time creative possibilities.
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Agents Can Automate Full TV Buys
- Agentic AI can automate the full TV buying process across linear and streaming by exposing APIs to agents.
- This lets agents negotiate deals, forecast reach, and orchestrate orders without replacing programmatic entirely.
AI As The New UI
- AI becomes a new user interface by letting agents query existing planning and identity services via APIs.
- Agents surface answers in chat instead of through dashboards, speeding decisions.
Fix Data Foundations First
- Prioritize cleaning and standardizing underlying data before building agent workflows.
- Ensure product catalogs, forecasts, and APIs are accurate to prevent agent hallucinations.