Published on: October 8, 2026
NEW YORK, NY — Oct 8, 2026 — Carat, FreeWheel, NBCUniversal and Newton today announced the launch of a programmatic agentic media solution built to optimize upfront investment, enabling advertisers to balance brand analytics and automated reporting across NBCUniversal buys, including premium video and audience-first activations. Built in partnership with Newton, the solution provides bespoke, custom-built agents for clients. It will debut with a Carat client in the Luxury Retail space as the first advertiser to deploy an agent built specifically for its needs as part of an upfront investment, and is interoperable with a major media network.
The capability brings together AI-powered intelligence and audience insights from dentsu, audiences and NBCUniversal’s ID graph, unified through the FreeWheel Identity Network, and combines them with performance signals and market context to efficiently optimize media activation, helping advertisers maximize the value of upfront investments across all inventoryby balancing performance without sacrificing high attention, premium brand opportunities. By surfacing actionable recommendations informed by campaign performance, search lift, trends and competitive signals, the custom buying agent enables faster, smarter decision-making while keeping human expertise at the center of strategy and activation.
“We are relentlessly pushing the boundaries of what’s possible to help our clients make their media investments work smarter and harder,” said Carrie Drinkwater, Chief Investment Officer, Carat. “What we’ve built with NBCUniversal and FreeWheel is a powerful example of that commitment. By combining the craft, strategic expertise, and relationships that have always defined our approach with AI-powered intelligence, real-time market insights, contextual data, and channel signals, we’re creating new bespoke opportunities for clients to unlock greater value, drive stronger outcomes, and maximize the impact of every investment.”
“As agentic AI moves from experimentation to real-world application, success will depend on an open ecosystem where intelligence can move seamlessly across partners and platforms,” said Ryan McConville, EVP & Chief Product Officer, NBCUniversal Advertising & Partnerships. “By combining NBCUniversal’s premium inventory, audience intelligence, and identity foundation with dentsu’s buying expertise and Newton’s technology, we’re helping build a more connected marketplace that empowers advertisers to get more value from their media investments.”
Built on FreeWheel Buyer Cloud, dentsu’s secure environment , incorporates Newton’s technology directly into dentsu’s operating framework. This embedded approach enables teams to seamlessly access insights, optimization recommendations and contextual intelligence within existing workflows, accelerating activation and unlocking a more sophisticated approach to upfront optimization across NBCUniversal inventory.
This launch underscores Carat’s commitment to delivering AI-powered growth through solutions that are client-first, innovative and built for today’s dynamic marketplace. By combining the agility of advanced technology with the strategic intelligence of its people, Carat continues to create first-to-market capabilities that drive stronger outcomes, accelerate decision-making and unlock new value for clients. Carat is already building custom-buying agents matched to specific client KPIs, which is now live, with plans to expand into more brands, video networks, and verticals soon. The offering will ultimately be available to dentsu clients and prospects across its media agency brands.
“For years, the industry has talked about making premium video buying more automated and efficient, but the complexity has often stood in the way,” said David Dworin, Chief Product Officer, FreeWheel. “Together, NBCUniversal, Carat, Newton and FreeWheel are helping move the industry forward by applying agentic AI within the ad-serving infrastructure where media is activated. That direct connection creates a more seamless path from planning and optimization to execution, reducing friction while keeping buyers and sellers in control.”
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