• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer, Yesterday

OpenAI has hired David Dugan, a former ads lead at Meta, as the AI firm's vice president and head of global ad solutions.

The move identifies the impact that large language models (LLMs) will have on advertising and website traffic.

Dugan announced his departure from Meta Platforms -- where served as vice president of global clients and agencies -- earlier this month.

The move highlights OpenAI’s push to generate new revenue streams to support funding requirements for its extensive artificial intelligence (AI) projects and computing needs.

Earlier this year, OpenAI began testing advertising in ChatGPT for its free product and less expensive subscription tier.

New rules are being defined in the world of online advertising. Generative AI has transformed the online experience from navigation to conversation.

LLMs are learning to address requests by humans and machines -- in a way that is similar to the way humans are changing their behavior to accept requirements.

In the past, people had to go to websites for information. Now information will come to humans.

“The AI agent can find your brand, the products and market the selection of products,” said Adrien Menard, CEO at Botify, which has been building AI agents since June 2025.

On Monday, Menard told MediaPost that data collected by LLMs in the future will become important for media buys.

It’s not a capability today, but as LLMs develop a memory they will have the ability to identify what consumers like and dislike.

“We will be exposed to more granular and segmented data,” he said, given consumers will allow the technology based on privacy controls. He said LLMs will analyze what consumers do and make suggestions.

“LLMs are designed to generate the answers within the applications,” he said, adding that for marketers, this zero-click era represents a major shift for marketing and advertising.

Prices, product availability, reviews, SKUs and other content on a web page are critical pieces of information to send to LLMs.

Benchmarking, optimization, and other data will come from automated processes that can feed into the LLM, which will determine the media buy.

Menard said travel companies, hotels and destinations are using AI agents to benchmark their websites. These agents tell brands and companies the information needed to improve content on their websites for the agents to refer their destination to consumers as they plan summer travel.

Consumers will have more control over the types of ads they see. But if consumers can restrict the advertisements that the LLMs serve, how do companies launch a new brand and share that information?

Menard said brands need to take a closer look at personalization and what consumers want to see.

Brands take an “incredible risk” when they do not adapt, he said.