Simplifying cross-media advertising, unlocking data insights and boosting performance – these are the areas ‘Sidekicks’, a new agentic AI platform from RTL Group’s ad-tech business Smartclip, is designed to address in the media industry.

Developed in close collaboration with Smartclip subsidiary Realytics, as well as backing from the Bertelsmann AI Hub, the platform combines Realytics’ deep media intelligence with Smartclip’s strength in process and workflow automation.

Agentic AI refers to artificial intelligence systems that can operate autonomously to achieve specific goals with minimal human supervision. With ‘Sidekicks’, advertising professionals will get support from a portfolio of focused AI agents – ‘sidekicks’ – along the entire advertising value chain. Meanwhile, the platform will ensure that proprietary business knowledge stays securely within the organisation.

Thomas Servatius, Co-CEO at Smartclip, says: “While using GenAI (Generative AI) for general purposes normally is very intuitive, it is surprisingly complex to get it to work reliably in complex business environments. Our goal is to achieve meaningful outcomes for operational teams in and outside the media industry. The ‘Sidekicks’ approach is also engineered to protect what makes an organisation competitive and to keep critical knowledge inhouse.”

Guillaume Belmas, CEO of Realytics, adds: “Our vision for ‘Sidekicks’ is grounded in the day-to-day realities of media professionals. By embedding intelligence where it’s needed most – in the actual flow of work – we can help teams move faster, smarter and with greater confidence in a world where complexity and fragmentation are only increasing.”

‘Sidekicks’ will initially be accessible to Smartclip and Realytics clients, with plans to extend availability to the wider media industry. Additionally, it is being considered for pilot integration within RTL Deutschland and its advertising sales house Ad Alliance to explore AI-driven automation in campaign management and cross-media planning.