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More than 3,500 media agency professionals can’t be wrong: They all voted for the best media sales execs and teams in Australia – with the top guns awarded last night at a sold out Ivy Ballroom in Sydney. Here’s the full list of winners.

Seven's new leadership has had to align fast following a major clear out, though some agency chiefs suggest they’re not quite there – yet – as a cohesive unit. Meanwhile, a dialled-down upfront had the network promising to be a “better partner” instead of “obsessing” purely about winning overnight ratings; repositioning its streamed content as SVOD, not BVOD; and claiming its new tech can predict audience behaviour 28 days out with 95 per cent accuracy – and maybe even keep them from switching channel. Plus, it’s wooing smaller advertisers with $10m worth of inventory to prove total TV’s effectiveness.

In an era where generative AI is reshaping business operations, three Australian giants - Telstra, ANZ and KPMG - are leading the charge in harnessing the gen AI based co-pilots to enhance efficiency and customer engagement. Telstra has implemented innovative tools that significantly improve customer service agent effectiveness, resulting in faster resolution of queries and a smoother onboarding process for new staff. Meanwhile, ANZ says it is fostering a culture of AI adoption through its AI Immersion Centre, aiming to equip its leadership with the skills to leverage generative AI across all facets of the bank's operations for improved service delivery and compliance. KPMG is also at the forefront, utilising generative AI to streamline compliance assessments with its ESG Comply AI platform, drastically reducing the time spent on manual evaluations while enhancing collaboration and productivity among its teams. In each case, the firms are using Microsoft's Copilot technology in their solutions.

Cummins & Partners is without a CEO after Michael McConville's departure from the indie creative shop. It is not yet clear whether his role will be replaced. The former Adam&EveDDB boss had attempted to put creative effectiveness and econometric modelling at the heart of the agency's model, arguing it could reset fee structures based on results. How far McConville managed to implement that change is open to question – but at least he tried.

Commbank’s push for high margin ad revenues from its owned media and data will likely see more banks, telcos, utilities, petrol-convenience stores and travel companies break cover – and could spur further acquisitions in the mould of Woolworths $150m swoop for screen network Shopper Media. Owned media specialist Sonder has just polled 50 global marketers across brands including Accor, BP, BT Group, Citibank, Emirates, Hertz, Hilton, ING, KFC, Marriott, Mastercard, NAB, Nokia, Shell, Tesco, Turkish Airlines, Verizon, Visa, Vodafone and Western Union – and their answers imply a doubling of owned media and first party data monetisation within two years. But the report also suggests some amateurish approaches could prove costly – especially if owned-retail-paid media converge.

Technology service providers were given a briefing into an Age Authentication Technology Trial designed to support the Federal Government's proposed ban on social media access for users under 16. Allocating $6.5 million for this trial, officials hope to mitigate online harms such as bullying, stalking, and exposure to inappropriate content. However, critics warn implementing age verification measures creates significant cybersecurity risks and privacy concerns, potentially creating a "honey pot" for cyberhackers.  

Top digital marketing and customer execs at the fancied $22bn New Zealand appliances giant Fisher & Paykel are quick to acknowledge they were “just very lucky” to have had colleagues “passionate about getting the data right early on”. Because as AI deployments gather pace – along with corporate frustration – Fisher & Paykel has been able to test, adapt and deploy fast from bots to co-pilots and now autonomous AI agents. The business has been “hot” on clean data for some time, says Chief Digital Officer Rudi Khoury and General Manager of Digital Sarah Lukins, underpinning their confidence in early trials that autonomous AI agents powered by Salesforce’s “reasoning engine” will ultimately solve “80-90 per cent” of the company’s customer contact volumes at much higher satisfaction levels than today. It’s only part of the Fisher & Paykel plan for AI across marketing, customer service and ecommerce, but it’s where some of the early learning and gains are being made. 

Expect more structural upheaval in the $14bn ad market in the next 12-18 months as more corporates like Commonwealth Bank’s move this week to monetise owned media assets join retailers in carving out new touchpoints to customers, says Coles360 boss Paul Brooks. Broad consensus has retailer media growing 10-20 per cent at present and will exceed forecasts of a $1.6bn to $1.9bn pool by 2025.

Brands and publishers were put on notice yesterday that policing, fines and infringement notices are coming over the use, disclosure and consent required for tracking pixels on websites – and the likelihood that some user details in data matching and cleanroom processing is "personal information" and breaches current privacy legislation. The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), which houses Australia's Privacy Commissioner, this week published new advice on pixels and personal information, ahead of an enforcement crackdown flagged last month in Mi3's podcast with Privacy Commissioner Carly Kind. The OAIC now has powers to impose substantial fines – up to $330,000 – and has signalled more aggressive policing. Privacy specialists urge brands and publishers to heed the warnings ahead of the new year.