Why Goodway Group Is Testing Agentic Buyers Against SPO Rules
The advertising industry has a new infatuation: AI agents that can negotiate and buy media. But Andrea Kwiatek, director of strategic partnerships at independent agency Goodway Group, says the industry cannot move "full steam ahead on a shiny new object" without first ensuring that AI follows the guidelines assigned to it. Goodway Group is now testing agentic media buying, feeding buyer agents client campaign briefs and assessing which audiences and inventory sources seller agents recommend.
Those tests sit alongside a supply-path optimization strategy that has evolved from cutting out intermediaries to validating them more deeply. Kwiatek says value for advertisers means achieving business outcomes while maintaining transparency and confidence that budgets are spent sensibly. Goodway Group treats partner vetting as a client service: it requires third-party vendors to open up their methodologies, pricing and customization options, then uses verification platforms to check that approved partners continue to follow the rules.
Agentic AI adds a new layer of complexity because buyer and seller agents have their own goals. The risk Kwiatek identifies is that a seller agent could curate inventory that does not optimize value for the advertiser, or that AI could become another media-buying black box that makes transactions harder to understand. Goodway Group says it will share more about how the tests are going soon.
Inside the Transparency and Validation Demands Agentic AI Adds
Why Goodway Group Treats Partner Vetting as a Client Service
Kwiatek frames SPO as a way to understand what partners can support in terms of outcomes and sustainable growth, not as a process of cutting partners. The interview confirms that Goodway Group positions itself as a knowledge leader that vets third-party partners for brand clients. That posture, she argues, is a different model from holding companies where decisions are often communicated top-down; at Goodway the agency expects to inspect partner methodologies directly rather than simply trust them.
What Changes When Buyer and Seller Agents Enter the Supply Path
The introduction of buyer and seller agents creates a new transparency problem. Both agents have separate objectives, and Kwiatek says there must be clarity between them so they can follow the same instructions in the client's interest. Without that, agentic buying could become another walled garden, making it harder for agencies to reconstruct which buying paths actually worked and replicate them in future campaigns.
The Tests That Will Show Whether Agentic Buying Can Match Programmatic Performance
Goodway Group's current tests are designed to answer a specific question: can agentic infrastructure work as effectively as programmatic buying when agents are directed to buy only through agency-approved paths? The company has not yet released results, and no performance metrics are provided in the interview. That makes the tests an early signal rather than proof, but the design reflects a clear concern that AI agents must earn their place inside existing supply-path controls before they are trusted with client budgets.
What Agencies and Advertisers Should Demand Before Agentic Buying Scales
- For brand clients: ask your agency to show the approved supply paths and verification reports behind any AI-assisted buy, not just the final cost or outcome summary.
- For agencies testing agentic buying: require buyer and seller agents to transact only through pre-approved paths, and log seller-agent recommendations against campaign outcomes before scaling spend.
- For ad-tech and verification vendors: expect to open up methodology, pricing and customization controls, because Goodway Group treats an unwillingness to provide that transparency as a reason to drop a partner.
- Watch Goodway Group's promised test results for an early read on whether agentic buying can match programmatic performance and shift more budget toward working media.
Risk & Opportunity Assessment
| Commercial Risk | Medium | Agentic AI could become another media-buying black box, creating budget leakage and making it harder to prove which paths drive advertiser outcomes. |
| Competitive Risk | Medium | Independent agencies that validate AI buying paths can differentiate themselves from holding companies, while agencies that fail to control agent behavior may lose advertiser trust. |
| Regulatory Risk | Low | The discussion centers on commercial transparency and client expectations rather than any specific regulatory or policy change. |
| Reputation Risk | Medium | If seller agents curate inventory that does not optimize value for advertisers, agencies could be blamed for poor outcomes and opaque buying practices. |
| Technology Disruption | High | Agentic AI represents yet another way to transact media, adding complexity to a programmatic supply chain already seen as fragmented and friction-heavy. |
| Commercial Opportunity | High | If agentic infrastructure follows approved paths, it can help clients save money and allocate more budget toward working media rather than intermediary costs. |
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