Rob Beeler + Michal Nissenson, VP Marketing at Intent IQ, Rebecca Aliab Deng, Principal Board Member & Regional Activation Lead at The Women in Programmatic Network
In this episode, Rob starts to unpack the beautiful mess that is today’s adtech and AI landscape, with Michal Nissenson, VP Marketing at Intent IQ; and Rebecca Aliab Deng, Principal Board Member & Regional Activation Lead at The Women in Programmatic Network.
From agentic AI hype to the cookie apocalypse that never happened, they dig into what’s real, what’s noise, and who’s actually still in charge. (Spoiler: Maybe no one?)
Here are a few of our conversation highlights
Agentic AI is here… sort of
Rebecca discusses the rise of AI-powered agents in sales and support, and how companies are scrambling to build infrastructure fast enough to make it actually useful (and not just another shiny object).
Efficiency is the name of the game
Whether it’s doubling seller productivity or guiding customers through a website, AI is all about doing more with less. Because who wants to hire more humans (for non-strategic tasks)?
Creative work is under siege
Michal warns that AI-generated ads might be fast and scalable, but most of it is still glorified clip art. As Rob says, “just good enough” is becoming the new norm, and we need to stop that in its tracks.
Personalization is powerful, until it’s creepy
Hyper-targeting is now possible like never before, but it only works if it feels inspired, not robotic or stalker-y.
Agencies vs. brands (a game of musical chairs)
As AI gets smarter and more in-house tools emerge, brands may start calling the creative shots, leaving agencies wondering what their role even is anymore.
The SSP/DSP identity crisis
Adtech players are all trying to do each other’s jobs now. Again, everyone’s pivoting, optimizing, and desperately trying to stay relevant.
Cookies are undead
The big cookie phase-out never quite happened, but the industry is already living in a post-cookie world anyway, thanks to signal loss from iOS, CTV, and more.
Identity matters more than ever
Without strong ID solutions, targeting is a guessing game. And nobody wants to waste their budget on “mystery bag” audiences.
The conclusion?
It’s a three-way balancing act, says Michal. Publishers need revenue, advertisers need performance, and users need privacy and relevance. Try pleasing all three at once - good luck.