Data strength & AI power: tech highlights at GACon 2026
Management Summary
Photo credit: Jennifer Fetz
GA4 becomes the “Superhuman Teammate”
Rising user numbers in GA4 are a reason to be happy. But the most important question usually follows immediately: “What exactly was the trigger?”. Until now, answering this question meant poring over data, comparing segments and investing a lot of time. This is now a thing of the past. At the Google Analytics Conference, the two top Google speakers Anjali and Fabian gave us exclusive insights into the roadmap in their deep dives. In the intensive discussions with the experts on site, it became clear that GA4 is becoming a real interactive partner with features such as the Analytics Advisor.
AI as a child: why leadership is important
One thing became clear from all the presentations: AI will not replace our work as analysts and marketers. It is more likely to take on the role of an extremely fast intern. Although it can sift through mountains of data in seconds, it often does not yet understand the business context on its own.
You have to treat the AI like a child: You have to tell it exactly what it may and may not do (keyword: “just look, don’t touch” with the data). Human quality control remains essential to rule out errors. The strategy remains with you, the hard work is done by the assistant.
Data Strength: The food for your assistant
A trainee can only work as well as the instruction they receive. With AI, this is data strength. Only if your database is clean and in-depth can the AI make meaningful recommendations. According to exclusive insights from our Google experts, three clear steps are crucial for this:
- Link data,
- Maximize signals and
- Activate data.
Your only real competitive advantage over the competition is your own first-party data.
The tracking fortress: server-side tracking
To ensure the right data quality, you need to bypass browser restrictions and the ban on third-party cookies. The solution is high-end server-side tracking. Using a same-origin architecture, you load tracking scripts via your own domain. To the browser, this looks like your own content, which drastically extends the cookie runtime. In practical tests, up to 12% more data quality was recorded in GA4. You also retain full data sovereignty and decide for yourself which data is hashed or filtered before it flows to third-party providers.
You can also massively enhance your data via the server-side setup: tools such as the GTM Pantheon can be used to enrich data directly. For example, it is possible to transmit real profit margins or the CLV via server-side GTM or Cloud Functions.
Practical check: AI agents in detective work
The Zurich/DA Direkt case shows what this looks like in everyday life. The AI agent “Anni” developed by us answers the difficult “why question”.
Anni automatically links GA4 data with external factors:
- Weather data: Is it raining? Then perhaps more people will take out insurance online.
- Holidays & Google Trends: Are there seasonal effects?
- Marketing spend: Was there a parallel campaign?
The agent completes the analysis, which used to take hours, in seconds. This saves the team time for the really important decisions.
Conclusion: the strategy remains human, the work becomes digital
GACon 2026 made one thing unmistakably clear: the era of manual “data pushing” is coming to an end. GA4 is becoming an interactive partner that delivers complex analyses in seconds. But even the best AI is worthless if the foundations are crumbling. Your success in the age of AI is defined by your data strength. Only those who invest in a clean first-party database and a secure tracking architecture today will turn the “fast intern” into a real competitive advantage. AI will do the hard work, but you will continue to ask the smart questions and provide the strategic guidance.
