As media planning resets, the skills that define a strong planner in 2026

In 2026, the global advertising revenue is projected to hit US $1 trillion in 2026 and will account for more than half of total entertainment and media industry growth through the decade. Internet-based formats continue to drive much of this expansion, projected to grow faster than traditional channels and to capture the bulk of incremental spend.

WARC’s latest forecast suggests that global ad spend could grow as much as 9.1 % in 2026, reaching around $1.3 trillion, with nearly 80 % of that flow directed into digital ecosystems such as retail media, paid search and social platforms. This shift reflects something deeper: audiences are fragmenting their attention across an ever-expanding orbit of screens, formats, and devices, and planners must adapt accordingly.

Closer home, advertising spend was projected to have grown by 7.8% in 2025 and grow by 8.6% in 2026, reaching $15.2 billion.

Meanwhile, media reports show exponential growth in Connected TV (CTV), retail media, and social formats, even as traditional linear television and legacy formats continue to lose share.

Cumulatively, these factors are reshaping the function of media planning itself. To understand what skills this new reality demands, we spoke with senior media leaders. Together, their perspectives reveal the contours of a skill set built for 2026.

From reach and frequency to non-linear reality

Industry outlooks from WARC and global agency networks have repeatedly highlighted the breakdown of linear consumer journeys. Audiences no longer move predictably from awareness to consideration to purchase. Instead, they jump between platforms, formats and intent states, often simultaneously.

Roopali Sharma, President North & East, Havas Media India, sees this shift play out daily in planning conversations.

“Today's times are not about reach and frequency anymore. It is about catching the consumers at the right time and right platforms and therefore it is neither Offline or online planners but Integrated Planners. Planners who know which medium works best at what time and which platform.”

She adds that the classic customer decision journey has given way to a far more fluid behavioural loop.

“Consumer journey is absolutely non-linear now and thus rather than the classic CDJ, nowadays it is more about 4S. Scrolling, Searching, Streaming, Shopping and again not necessarily in that order.”

Nandini Dias, Independent Media Advisor, shares that the shift is structural and irreversible.

“In this new world, the job of the media planner is no longer linear. It is no longer about allocating budgets across channels in a predictable flowchart. It is far closer to the role of a PMS fund manager, dynamically allocating capital across assets, continuously reading signals, managing risk, optimising for returns, and rebalancing in real time, with AI as the core decision engine.”

Industry frameworks are now formalising the idea that planning must be built around behaviour, not channels, and around systems, not silos. When planners think in this integrated way they can better align strategy with varied attention pathways and emerging commerce experiences.

AI is not optional 

Artificial Intelligence is no longer a “nice-to-have” tool in media planning, it’s becoming foundational to audience discovery, optimisation and workflow automation. This aligns with industry forecasts anticipating that generative technologies will transform advertising delivery and decision support, even as brands and agencies grapple with how to integrate AI judiciously without eroding strategic oversight.

Amita Srivastava, Senior Vice President - Account Management at Carat India, says, “The smartest media planning teams aren’t choosing between AI and experience. They’re using AI to give younger planners speed, and experienced leaders sharper judgment. The real advantage is when technology accelerates decisions, but humans still own the consequences.”

She notes that the industry often misreads this transition as a generational clash.

“The evolution of media planning is often framed as a generational shift, young, tech-native planners on one side, experienced business leaders on the other. In reality, it is not a battle for relevance; it’s a reset of roles.”

Dias echoes this view, describing AI not as a support tool but as a foundational shift.

“AI is not a tool, but a tectonic shift. AI has fundamentally changed how audiences are discovered, how patterns are detected, how predictions are made, and how decisions are optimised.”

For planners, this means AI literacy is now baseline, but accountability remains human.

Data is everywhere

With retail media, connected TV and shoppable content collapsing the funnel, industry measurement bodies have flagged growing complexity around attribution, signal loss and outcome measurement. Data abundance has not simplified planning, it has made interpretation more critical.

Srivastava points out that younger planners are already wired differently. She says, “Planners with five to seven years of experience are the first generation to treat technology and AI as the default operating system of planning. They move faster, test more, and optimise continuously. Data is not something they ‘pull’; it’s something they live with.”

But speed alone is not enough.

“Senior business leaders, however, bring something AI still cannot replicate: memory. They carry an understanding of brands across cycles, categories across disruptions, and consumers beyond dashboards,” says Sharma.

She sees this balance reflected in how planners must now defend decisions across platforms and outcomes.

Her emphasis on understanding when and why a medium works highlights the need for planners who can read data contextually and not mechanically.

What still can’t be automated

Despite automation and predictive modelling, the planners agree that some skills remain distinctly human.

For Srivastava, it is long-term judgment. She says, “Their instinct is shaped by having seen what works, what breaks, and what quietly erodes long-term value even when short-term numbers look strong.”

For Sharma, it is cultural and behavioural understanding, the ability to interpret consumer habits beyond dashboards and apply them meaningfully across media.

For Dias, it is strategic stewardship, the capacity to manage risk, defend decisions and recalibrate continuously in volatile environments.

Industry forecasts suggest advertising will continue to grow, but growth will come with greater scrutiny, complexity and accountability. In that environment, the role of the media planner has expanded, from executor to orchestrator, from buyer to decision-maker.

“The future of media planning will belong to organisations that intentionally pair execution velocity with judgment, automation with accountability, and data-led insight with human context.”

- Amita Srivastava

In 2026, the media planner’s value will lie not in mastering one channel or tool, but in navigating systems, interpreting signals, and making decisions that endure beyond the next optimisation cycle.