AI in Advertising: Adoption, Risks & Governance

New Research: How Advertisers Are Using AI — And Where Governance Is Falling Short

Aymara partnered with the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) to survey 125 senior advertising executives on AI adoption, brand safety incidents, and readiness for governance frameworks.

The findings reveal surging AI adoption across marketing and advertising, but also rising brand safety risks and a critical lack of structured governance.

The State of AI in Advertising

Advertisers are in an AI arms race rapidly embedding generative AI into creative workflows, audience targeting, personalization, and campaign optimization to gain an edge. But adoption is moving faster than governance, and most organizations don’t yet have the guardrails to manage the risks that come with it.

The result? Brands are increasingly exposed to unsafe outputs, hidden biases, misinformation, and reputational damage — often without realizing it until it’s too late. As AI becomes a core part of the advertising ecosystem, responsible deployment isn’t optional; it’s the difference between building trust and losing it overnight.

Key Findings at a Glance

• AI Adoption Is Exploding
  94% of surveyed brands are already using GenAI for creative, personalization, and ad optimization.

• Brand Safety Incidents Are Rising
  4 in 5 brands reported at least one AI-related brand safety or reputational incident in the last 12 months.

• Governance Is Lagging
  Despite the risks, 72% of advertisers lack formal AI governance policies — leaving adoption faster than oversight.

AI-related incidents experienced by advertising executives

As advertisers accelerate generative AI adoption, risks are already materializing. Nearly every category — from misinformation to brand misalignment and compliance violations — has seen significant incident rates. The data underscores a growing gap between AI adoption and the governance required to deploy it safely.

Enterprise Impacts: What Leaders Need to Know

AI is rewriting the playbook for marketing and advertising. But without proper oversight, it introduces new risks to brand integrity, customer trust, and regulatory readiness. Enterprises in the advertising ecosystem must:

• Protect brand reputation with automated, auditable evaluations of AI-generated content.

• Select vendors responsibly, ensuring AI-driven tools align with brand safety and compliance frameworks.

• Prepare for emerging governance standards, including AIUC-1, ISO 42001, and the EU AI Act.

Aymara’s automated evaluation platform helps advertisers, agencies, and publishers measure and mitigate AI-driven risks — supporting safer, brand-aligned, and compliant AI deployments.

Put The Data to Work

Dive into the full industry report to learn how 125 advertisers are using AI, and where the gaps are. Book a demo to see how Aymara helps operationalize Responsible AI for creative and adtech workflows.