IAB Tech Lab Announces Agentic RTB Framework (ARTF) v1.0 For Public Comment

IAB Tech Lab, the global digital advertising technical standard-setting body, has released the Agentic RTB Framework (ARTF) v1.0 for public comment. The new specification introduces a standardized approach to interoperability across the programmatic advertising ecosystem, using containerized architecture to enable faster communication and more efficient data exchange between technologies operating within the same data center. An extended public comment on the proposal will remain open until Jan. 15, 2026.

“Agentic RTB Framework v1.0 represents a fundamental step toward modernizing how systems interact in real time,” said Anthony Katsur, CEO, IAB Tech Lab. “By allowing agents and other real-time technologies to operate within the same virtual environment, we’re creating a foundation for agentic workflows and near-instantaneous media trading. This is the groundwork for an interoperable, high-performance ecosystem.”

Katsur continued: “In real-time systems, time is every bit as precious a resource as processing power, energy, or high-speed memory. Agentic workflows, constantly engaged in high-speed bi-directional conversations, demand architectures that treat time as a first-class asset. A container-based design does exactly that, minimizing latency, optimizing execution windows, and freeing systems from legacy time constraints so agents can think, act, and transact without delay.”

The ARTF v1.0 framework is designed to reduce the current time for bid requests and responses up to 80%, dramatically increasing opportunities for bid enrichment and real-time decisioning using third-party specialist technologies. This performance leap is achieved by enabling technologies to interact within the same data center, server, or even virtual machine rather than across networks, thereby accelerating the entire auction process while reducing compute overhead and energy use. The result is a system optimized for speed, cost efficiency, and sustainability, IAB Tech Lab said.

Katsur added that the release builds directly on months of engineering and collaboration across the industry. “We’ve been working toward this for some time. What we’re doing here is building the real-time control plane for agentic collaboration, where DSPs, SSPs, enrichment partners, measurement solutions, and other services, including agents, can communicate at high speed within the same virtual machine.”

Industry leaders are already highlighting the impact of this development:

“At Index, we’ve spent the past year advancing agentic services through partner container integrations. Agentic RTB Framework v1.0 marks a major milestone for our industry, bringing robust, production-tested agentic standards to OpenRTB,” said Joshua Prismon, chief architect at Index Exchange. “With agentic standards applied through ARTF and powered by OpenRTB, companies can seamlessly unlock the full potential of sell-side decisioning, enabling precise, real-time, per-impression choices based on what matters most to them and their customers.”

“This new standard will change how we think about the use of AI in real-time programmatic,” added Adam Heimlich, CEO, Chalice. “We look forward to greater interoperability for custom optimization of media campaigns, not just between companies but between agents, too.”

“After developing and testing a custom container-based bidstream augmentation solution with Chalice, which was a simple precursor to IAB Tech Lab’s new agentic spec, I’ve been very pleased to witness this spec take shape during and between our discussions,” said Arpad Miklos, staff software engineer, The Trade Desk. “It is a sensible and empowering approach to opening up the augmentation space that will enable brand new ways to add collaborative value to the bidding pipeline, and we are looking to implement it for the above project we are actively working on at The Trade Desk in the near future.”

Beyond performance gains, Agentic RTB Framework v1.0 also establishes the domain foundations for agentic trading, supporting frameworks such as Model Context Protocol (MCP) and Agent-to-Agent (A2A) communication. These standards, combined with IAB Tech Lab’s open-source infrastructure and GitHub collaboration model, allow participants to experiment and contribute to the specification at any time.

To participate in the public comment process or to review the complete specification, visit  https://iabtechlab.com/standards/artf/

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