Prebid has open sourced AdCP’s sell-side AI agent stack, giving publishers a free, GitHub-downloadable Sales Agent to automate programmatic deals without vendor lock-in.
Prebid has taken ownership of the sell-side AI agent code built on the Ad Context Protocol (AdCP), open sourcing the stack and releasing it to publishers as the Prebid Sales Agent, a GitHub-downloadable reference implementation designed to automate programmatic ad sales.
The move shifts development responsibility from AgenticAdvertising.org (AAO) to Prebid specifically to make the software open, community-driven and broadly accessible. Publishers can download, modify and contribute to the code regardless of Prebid membership, avoiding the cost and complexity of building proprietary AI agents from scratch.
The Sales Agent enables autonomous, publisher-side agents to manage campaign execution and negotiations, while promoting interoperability across the ecosystem. Rather than a fixed product, it serves as a customisable framework that prevents bespoke integrations and vendor lock-in.
Prebid will maintain the software much like Prebid.js and Prebid Server, form a dedicated working group, host education sessions and rely on community testing to refine development. The longer-term goal is to extend agentic AI beyond direct and programmatic guaranteed deals into open-auction trading.
AdCP, launched in October by a consortium including Scope3, Triton Digital, Yahoo, PubMatic, Optable and Swivel, remains governed by AAO. Prebid leads software, not standards.
“We’re not a standards org; we’re a software org,” said Garrett McGrath, SVP of product management at Magnite and chairman of the Prebid board.
“Prebid.org is a natural home for people to collaborate to support agents as they enter the yield picture,” said Patrick McCann, SVP of research for publisher ad network Raptive and chair of Prebid.js.
“Publishers gain a clear path to agentic advertising capabilities without needing to build from scratch or adopt vendor-specific solutions,” added Phil Bohn, SVP of demand at Freestar. “It democratizes choice for publishers and accelerates ecosystem-wide adoption.”
