AdTech AI Files

#31 | Attention Drives Intention

ATTENTION drives Intention. Think about the last time you walked through a store. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of products sat on shelves within arm’s reach. You walked past most of them without even noticing. Not because they were bad products. Not because you had something against them. They simply never earned your Attention. Only the items that interrupt your autopilot, that visually stand out, that connect to a need or spark curiosity, have a chance to influence what ends up in your cart. ATTENTION is the gateway. Without it, INTENTION never forms. Now think about the media landscape we operate in every day. Endless scroll on a phone. Ads below the fold on a desktop page. Muted autoplay video competing with five other open tabs. Technically, those impressions exist. But are they truly seen, let alone have your attention? Compare that to the experience of watching television. A large screen. Leaned back. Sound on. Fewer competing stimuli. The content fills your field of vision. Naturally, attention is higher. This is why CTV is so powerful. It commands presence. It creates an environment where your message is not fighting for a single thumb swipe. It earns a moment. And that moment is the foundation of intention. But placement alone is not enough. Once you have the screen, what are you doing with it? Is your creative designed to capture and hold attention? Or does it the signal for someone to pick up their phone during the commercial break? Great CTV creative understands the stakes. The first seconds matter. Visuals matter. Story matters. Relevance matters. If you fail to hold Attention, you lose the opportunity to shape Intention. Attention drives Intention. Not impressions. Not frequency. Not viewability percentages on a dashboard. Attention. When your media environment earns it and your creative sustains it, intention follows. And intention is what ultimately moves behavior.

#31 | Outcomes & AI

In this episode of AdTech AI Files, we unpack the hottest topics from the past few months and explain why they all point to the same conclusion: outcomes matter more than ever, and most AI failures start with weak data foundations. We break down what it actually takes to make “chat with data” work in an enterprise environment. Spoiler: it’s not the model. Live data connectivity, a true semantic layer, and proper governance determine whether AI becomes a decisioning engine or just a confident demo. We also explore why most optimization problems in advertising are really measurement problems, how autonomous systems depend on trusted outcome signals, and why automation without outcome visibility simply scales assumptions faster. From platform measurability and operationalizing intelligence to why outcomes turn automation into learning, this episode connects the dots between AI, data infrastructure, and modern programmatic advertising. If you’re thinking about autonomous advertising, AI-driven analytics, or preparing your data stack for what’s coming next, this episode is for you.

#30 | Viant’s Q1 2025 Earnings Recap

Based solely on Viant’s Q1 2025 earnings transcript. Revenue YoY: 32% CxT: 25%

#29 | Rethinking CTV Measurement for the Streaming Age

𝗟𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴’𝘀 𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗕𝗶𝗴 𝗔𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗮 | Jon Schulz https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jon-schulz-4780ba4_upfronts-ctv-livesports-activity-7318655564027215873-qDIg?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAOMQksB5Fgbm_qk5Eeo-7X6VF7Vp2IJNg8 Bold #Upfronts [https://www.linkedin.com/search/results/all/?keywords=%23upfronts&origin=HASH_TAG_FROM_FEED] Predictions from an #IndustryVeteran [https://www.linkedin.com/search/results/all/?keywords=%23industryveteran&origin=HASH_TAG_FROM_FEED] — With a Twist | Tom Wolfe https://www.linkedin.com/posts/tomhwolfe_upfronts-industryveteran-upfronts-activity-7315732919719784448-b_Ct?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAOMQksB5Fgbm_qk5Eeo-7X6VF7Vp2IJNg8 Rethinking CTV Measurement for the Streaming Age | Steven Ohrnstein

#28 | The Man, The Myth, The Legend

Pod dedicated to the one and only, Mikhail Berylant People, Process, and Tools For any company to be successful, it takes these three things. Rarely is there a person that embodies all 3, Mikhail Berlyant [https://www.linkedin.com/in/berlyant/] is one of the greats that does. I wanted to take a moment to honor Mikhail for the #contribution [https://www.linkedin.com/feed/hashtag/?keywords=contribution&highlightedUpdateUrns=urn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7308472402370273280] he has had in my professional career. It was through Mikhail creating Potens.io [http://potens.io/], a software that sits on top of Google BigQuery, that makes it easy for someone like myself, a non-engineer who knows the business but otherwise no way to bring data to life, to automate & create solutions that empower internal employees to do their jobs and make the lives of our clients a bit easier. This Tool has been used across Viant for the last decade plus, not just Product and Engineering, but nearly every other department across the org, including Operations, Marketing, Accounting, Finance, and Sales. This same tool is the underpinning of Viant's Data Platform, which nobody in our industry can come even come close to competing with. Mikhail is on my shortlist of unsung heroes from which Viant would not exist today without. Without him, I assuredly would have attempted taking on a full-time blogging career a long time ago. Let's continue... When I first started reading Google BigQuery books around 2014-2015, the very first one I purchased was co-authored by Mikhail to my surprise. I’ve never met anyone so PASSIONATE about what they do and so DRIVEN towards excellence. His unrelenting enthusiasm on every call or meeting is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced, and I believe that’s a big part of his success. Mikhail is one of the top contributors on Stack Overflow [https://www.linkedin.com/company/stack-overflow/], with a reputation score of 173,230 (no idea what this means, but for comparison, my reputation is 29). He is one of the top contributors in the world in his field which speaks volumes to his expertise. But more than anything, the only thing that gets him more excited than his work is his family, especially when he talks about his grandchildren. And that is a beautiful thing. While we work in different offices and don’t get to see each other all that often, he’s one of the few people that requires a bear hug every time I do. Thank you, Mikhail, for everything you do. I am forever indebted to your life's work. CALL TO ACTION: For anyone else that was impacted my Mikhail, whether a colleague, friend, or one of the 14.9 million people he's helped on Stack Overflow, share your gratitude in the comments and we'll memorialize this post with an AdTech AI Files pod cast a week from today. Mikhail's Stack Overflow link for the record: https://lnkd.in/gS_sZQDC [https://lnkd.in/gS_sZQDC] #AdTech [https://www.linkedin.com/feed/hashtag/?keywords=adtech&highlightedUpdateUrns=urn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7308472402370273280] #BigData [https://www.linkedin.com/feed/hashtag/?keywords=bigdata&highlightedUpdateUrns=urn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7308472402370273280] #DataEngineering [https://www.linkedin.com/feed/hashtag/?keywords=dataengineering&highlightedUpdateUrns=urn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7308472402370273280] #AI [https://www.linkedin.com/feed/hashtag/?keywords=ai&highlightedUpdateUrns=urn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7308472402370273280] #Innovation [https://www.linkedin.com/feed/hashtag/?keywords=innovation&highlightedUpdateUrns=urn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7308472402370273280] #TechVisionary [https://www.linkedin.com/feed/hashtag/?keywords=techvisionary&highlightedUpdateUrns=urn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7308472402370273280] #GoogleBigQuery [https://www.linkedin.com/feed/hashtag/?keywords=googlebigquery&highlightedUpdateUrns=urn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7308472402370273280] #Viant [https://www.linkedin.com/feed/hashtag/?keywords=viant&highlightedUpdateUrns=urn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7308472402370273280] #Passion [https://www.linkedin.com/feed/hashtag/?keywords=passion&highlightedUpdateUrns=urn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7308472402370273280] #Gratitude [https://www.linkedin.com/feed/hashtag/?keywords=gratitude&highlightedUpdateUrns=urn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7308472402370273280]