The Trade Desk bets bigger on agentic AI with Kokai Zuma

The Trade Desk is putting agentic AI at the centre of its next Kokai upgrade, as advertisers face growing pressure to manage increasingly fragmented digital campaigns.

The advertising technology company has launched Kokai Zuma, the latest release of its media buying platform. It combines AI-powered campaign assistance with upgraded forecasting, simpler measurement tools and a redesigned user experience.

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The Trade Desk said initial results from Zuma's improved modelling and forecasting delivered an average 32 per cent improvement in cost-per-acquisition performance. The company did not provide a sample size, campaign mix or methodology for the figure.

AI moves deeper into campaign management

Zuma expands the role of Koa, The Trade Desk's AI system, with new agentic capabilities designed to automate campaign tasks and identify opportunities for advertisers.

Koa analyses more than 20 million ad impressions every second, according to The Trade Desk. Its new Koa Assistant gives traders a conversational interface for campaign creation, audience building, troubleshooting and performance analysis.

The platform can also identify additional relevant audiences and optimise campaign frequency based on objectives and performance. Advertisers can use the tools to reduce manual campaign changes and focus on broader strategy.

Jeff Green, founder and CEO of The Trade Desk, said Zuma was designed to make Kokai "faster, simpler and smarter".

“AI is helping our customers move faster than ever, while making measurement more intuitive and actionable,” Green said.

“We’re continuing to build the platform that advertisers deserve – one that removes friction from the work, puts agentic AI to practical use and gives them a clearer view of the outcomes their media dollars are driving.”

The investment behind the interface

While Zuma introduces a redesigned interface, The Trade Desk said a larger share of its investment has gone into the technology behind the platform.

That includes upgrades to Kokai's forecasting engine and AI infrastructure. The systems predict available inventory, model campaign outcomes and power Koa's agentic functions in real time.

The company described the investment as a strategic shift, with the underlying AI and forecasting infrastructure becoming foundational to future Kokai development.

Karsten Weide, principal and chief analyst at W Media Research, said the performance results were encouraging.

“It's great to see The Trade Desk go full-bore on agentic, and the performance gains are real numbers,” Weide said. “That's encouraging – this is real change.”

Measurement and reporting get an overhaul

Zuma also introduces changes to how advertisers measure and report campaign results.

Conversion Lift has been updated to simplify the launch of lift studies and add reporting dimensions. A redesigned reporting homepage provides faster access to frequently used reports, templates and previously generated reports.

The Report Builder has also been updated to give users more control over report customisation and the dimensions they analyse.

A simpler Kokai workflow

The platform's interface has been redesigned across advertiser, campaign and ad group views. The Trade Desk said the changes aim to surface key metrics and trends more clearly.

A new Applied Settings View consolidates targeting parameters in one place. Updated bulk-editing tools also allow traders to preview the potential effect of changes before applying them across campaigns.

Kokai Zuma is rolling out globally from 27 August. The Trade Desk said features are being released across general availability, open beta and closed beta, with further capabilities expected over time.