Digiday Daily
February 18, 2026
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Something counterintuitive is happening in advertising: AI is moving fast. Marketers are not.

That mismatch — speed in the systems, drag in the humans — has quietly become one of the defining patterns of the year so far. For most marketers, AI still sits closer to an assistant on probation than an operator with authority.

“That’s the client preference at the moment,” said Wesley ter Haar, co-founder and chief AI officer at S4 Capital.

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TOP STORY

Generative AI
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'Agentic with a small a': CMOs are adopting AI more slowly than it's evolving

And the caution isn’t confined to large language models or flashy generative tools. It bubbles up just as clearly in decisions about agentic workflows.

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MARKETING

The Creator Economy
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'Creators as the new storytellers': Over 10,000 apply to be part of Dick's Sporting Goods creator program

Dick’s Sporting Goods is boosting its creator roster as it looks to play a bigger role in culture, events and social-media trends.

PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM NEXXEN

What advertisers can learn from the 2026 World Cup

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PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM PADSQUAD

Why advertisers are recentering creative in a precision-driven industry