Save the Date: AdEF Returns to NYC in 2026
The Advertising Economic Forum returns to New York City for two days in 2026. Building on the success of previous New York forums at The New York Times Center, this next edition will expand in both scale and ambition. Over two days, AdEF New York will convene executives, investors, and analysts from across the global advertising economy to examine where capital, innovation, and strategy intersect, and what those shifts mean for the future of the industry.
New York has always been where the AdEF story advances, from its debut in 2024 to its expanded 2025 forum that captured M&A interest and industry-wide acclaim. This time, the conversations will get bigger, the stakes higher, and the opportunities even more tangible.
What is the Advertising Economic Forum?
The Advertising Economic Forum (AdEF) is where the people doing the work in advertising come together to make sense of the chaos, and start fixing it. This is a working session for practitioners across the entire ecosystem (from publishers and SSPs to buyers, DSPs, and everyone in between) who are tired of broken promises and ready to talk about what actually works.
Two Days, Two Strategic Formats
In March 2026, AdEF New York will combine both of its signature formats for the first time: the Founder/Investor Pitch and the Finance Continuum (“Davos”). Together, they create a dynamic, high-stakes environment where capital meets innovation and strategy meets execution.
Day 1 (March 18)
Founder & Investor Pitch
Building on the success of London 2025, AdEF brings its acclaimed pitch format to New York, hosted at Horizon Media. Founders will present bold theses across agentic commerce, creative, and agency models to a panel of leading investors, all competing for the AdEF Charging Bull. Each pitch opens with a two-page “Jeff Bezos” memo to ground the audience in the company’s vision, followed by live debate and investor evaluation. It’s a fast-paced, high-intensity day designed to filter the best ideas in AI-driven advertising and commerce through the sharpest financial minds in the industry.
Day 2 (March 19)
“Davos” Finance Continuum
The second day marks the return of AdEF’s marquee event: the closed-door Finance Continuum forum at The New York Times Center. Here, 400 of the industry’s most influential investors, analysts, and C-suite executives gather to examine where media and investor capital is flowing, and why. The agenda weaves company-level insights into a broader economic narrative, surfacing the trends, incentives, and structural shifts shaping advertising’s trillion-dollar future. The conversations are candid, unscripted, and analytical. They will push you to challenge assumptions and rethink where growth will emerge next.
The Principles That Drive AdEF
AdEF is candid, collaborative, and built for people who want to move the industry forward, not just talk about it. These four principles guide how we show up, how we talk to each other, and what we build next through our work together. This is how real progress begins.
Clarity
Clarity means being honest about where we are, what’s broken, and why. It’s about understanding how the economic and technical systems really work, not how people say they should work.
Collaboration
The ad tech ecosystem is notoriously fragmented. Collaboration means getting everyone (publishers, SSPs, DSPs, vendors) in the same room to do the work and solve problems together.
Communication
Saying the quiet part out loud is necessary at AdEF. Real progress in our industry requires honest conversations between all players. We ask questions, share what’s working, and push for change.
Commitment
If you’re at AdEF, it means you’re ready to move from conversations to execution, to take what you learn and put it to work. We’re not here to admire the problem. We’re here to make real, lasting progress.
The Advertising Economic Forum is Produced by
