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Smartclip launches agentic AI platform for cross-media workflows

Smartclip launches agentic AI platform for cross-media workflows
Sidekicks: Belmas (left) and Servatius

Smartclip, RTL Group’s adtech business, has launched Sidekicks, an agentic AI platform that combines media intelligence and process automation to improve cross-media workflows. The company is emphasising how Sidekicks keeps critical, proprietary business knowledge secure in what it calls a black-box AI era.

Sidekicks supports operational teams with a portfolio of focused AI agents (the so-called “sidekicks”) that are designed to address practical challenges and support concrete use cases in the media industry. These span campaign briefing, planning, delivery, monitoring and reporting.

“Using GenAI for general purposes is normally very intuitive, but it is surprisingly complex to get it to work reliably in complex business environments,” declared Thomas Servatius, co-CEO at Smartclip. “Our goal is to achieve meaningful outcomes for operational teams in and outside the media industry.”

Sidekicks is being evaluated for pilot integration within RTL Deutschland and AdAlliance — two key parts of RTL — to explore AI-driven automation in campaign management and cross-media planning.

Close collaboration

Sidekicks was developed in close collaboration with Smartclip subsidiary Realytics, which provides deep media intelligence to help brands and agencies measure, analyse and optimise TV campaign performance.

The platform will be made available to Smartclip and Realytics clients initially, with broader access for the media industry planned.

“Our vision for Sidekicks is grounded in the day-to-day realities of media professionals,” said Guillaume Belmas, CEO of Realytics. “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.”

While initially focused on digital advertising workflows, Sidekicks is also being developed in collaboration with the Bertelsmann AI hub.

Rhys Nölke, chief data officer at Bertelsmann, parent of RTL, explained: “Generative AI and agentic workflows hold enormous potential for Bertelsmann and the industries we serve. With our AI hub, we are backing AI developments with group-wide adoption potential across key domains within Bertelsmann.

“Sidekicks stands out as a concrete, hands-on approach, with strong potential for cross-domain application. It’s not only relevant for the media and adtech industry, but for any business looking to embed smart automation into daily operations in a secure and sustainable way.”

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