The Trade Desk and Salesforce face AI monetization scrutiny

The digital advertising and enterprise software sectors are facing scrutiny regarding the immediate monetization of artificial intelligence. The Trade Desk is experiencing stock pressure following disappointing quarterly results and a cautious outlook. This downturn is compounded by competition from OpenAI, which aims to reach $100 billion in advertising revenue by 2030, raising questions about the long-term relevance of existing programmatic advertising platforms.

Similarly, Salesforce is facing challenges with its AI platform, Agentforce. An investigation by TD Cowen suggests that while there is interest in the technology, sales partners in the US, Europe, and Asia have reported minimal revenue from the platform so far. While Salesforce reported a 14 percent increase in its current remaining performance obligation to $33.6 billion, partners indicate that customer adoption of AI agents is still in a maturing phase rather than driving immediate contract closures.