AI may be reshaping media planning and buying, but not every business problem requires an AI solution. In this episode of Media Monitor: Conversations at Cannes, Guideline Chief Product Officer Steve Silvers speaks with Drew Kane, Chief Product Officer for Prisma at Mediaocean, about media workflow automation, agentic buying, and why trusted systems of record become even more valuable as machines make more decisions. The conversation begins with Prisma’s role as a financial, contractual, and workflow system supporting the media industry from planning through payment. Drew explains how Mediaocean’s wider portfolio—including Prisma, Innovid, and Protected Media—helps agencies and advertisers manage creative workflows, buying, verification, and financial accountability. Steve and Drew then discuss the new integration between Guideline’s MediaTools and Prisma. While information has moved between the two platforms for years, the new API integration reduces manual work and helps keep planning and execution data synchronised. Objectives and budgets can flow more directly from MediaTools into Prisma, with actualised results moving back through the workflow. The result is less friction, fewer manual errors, and more time for teams to focus on business outcomes. Their discussion then turns to AI. At Cannes, many companies are trying to apply AI to nearly every workflow. Drew argues for a more disciplined approach: begin with the business outcome, then choose the appropriate technology. Sometimes that means an AI agent. Sometimes it means an MCP-enabled workflow. And sometimes a deterministic API is still the better answer. Steve and Drew also examine the emerging world of buyer and seller agents, where systems could identify inventory, exchange campaign requirements, and accelerate media transactions. But as the number and speed of automated decisions increase, so does the need for governance. Someone still has to track what was approved, where the money went, what changed, and whether the advertiser received the expected value. That is where systems of record become essential. In this conversation: • What Prisma does across the media planning-to-payment workflow • The partnership between Guideline and Prisma • How the MediaTools and Prisma API integration reduces manual work • Why business outcomes should determine the technology used • Why not every form of automation needs AI • The difference between APIs, MCP connections, and AI agents • How buying and selling agents could change media transactions • Why agent orchestration may matter more than individual agents • The continued role of human approval in automated workflows • Why auditability becomes more important as AI scales decision-making • How systems of record track media spend, approvals, and outcomes • The convergence of linear television, digital video, and broader video investment • Why media efficiency must ultimately translate into effectiveness Media Monitor: Conversations at Cannes is a special series featuring leaders across advertising, media, measurement, and technology discussing the ideas shaping the future of the industry. If you’d like access to the benchmark report or want to suggest a topic for the next part of the programmatic series, reach out to press@guideline.ai. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to follow or subscribe so you don’t miss future conversations on advertising, media strategy, and cultural marketing moments. And if you’re listening on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, a quick rating or review helps more people discover the show.
