AI tools now sit at the center of television advertising sales pitches, and brands are buying — but a new Ad Age examination finds the technology still misses key marketer needs as often as it meets them.

The Ad Age report, titled "How AI innovations in TV are meeting brand needs—and how they're coming up short," surveys the current state of artificial intelligence across the TV ad ecosystem. Its core finding is a split verdict: real capability on some fronts, clear gaps on others.

What is actually shipping?

AI now touches nearly every part of the TV advertising workflow. Platforms and their technology partners use it to:

• Target audiences against programming and viewer data
• Automate media buying and optimization
• Generate and adapt creative variations at scale
• Measure campaign outcomes across screens

The Ad Age piece frames these functions as genuine answers to long-standing brand demands — particularly the demand for precision and efficiency that TV historically could not deliver.

Where does it come up short?

The "coming up short" half of the Ad Age assessment is the harder news for vendors. The report identifies persistent gaps between what AI products promise and what they deliver for brand needs. Ad Age does not let the industry off the hook here: the shortfall is the story's second headline clause, not a footnote.

For operators and agency buyers, the practical takeaway is straightforward. Treat AI claims in TV ad sales decks with the same scrutiny applied to any measurement vendor. Demand evidence that the tool solves a specific brand problem, not just that it uses AI.

What should buyers do?

The Ad Age framing suggests a two-part test for any AI-enabled TV product:

1. Does it meet a documented brand need — targeting, creative, measurement, efficiency?
2. Can the vendor show where it still falls short, and what they are doing about it?

Vendors who volunteer their own limitations, per the Ad Age analysis, are closer to the mark than those who claim AI has solved the problem outright.

The bottom line

AI in TV advertising is neither vaporware nor a finished product. Ad Age's assessment lands in the middle: the technology meets some brand needs today and demonstrably fails others. Buyers should price that split into every deal.

Note: This dispatch is based on the Ad Age report's published headline and framing. Mart Signal will update with specific figures, vendor names, and quoted executives as the full report circulates.