Inside the Stack

AI can build a marketing mix model in days, not months. But can you trust what it tells you? In this episode of AdExchanger's Inside the Stack, Madan Bharadwaj, founder and CEO of M-Squared, explains why faster modeling makes human judgment more important. With 20 years in the attribution space, Bharadwaj walks through why no single method is the truth and why causal attribution means triangulating MMM and incrementality testing. He also argues that a go-to-market thesis tells you whether a model is credible, and that a marketing accounting framework gives marketing and finance a shared language for outcomes like contribution margin. And then there's the story of how a beauty brand's AI-built model recommended cutting $30 million from its Amazon ad spend, and how SKU-level modeling led to a very different investment thesis and 5–7% top-line growth. Plus: why he thinks the future of measurement is super cognition.

Supply path optimization (SPO) has become industry shorthand for aggressive fee-cutting and stripping out intermediaries, but according to Tom Wolfe, Senior Vice President of Programmatic Strategy and Partnerships at Locality, that's only half the equation .

In this episode of AdExchanger's Inside the Stack, Wolfe explains why a shorter path is better—and even better when premium inventory sits on the other side. While reducing the tech tax matters, a hyper-focus on cutting hops often ignores signal degradation and data loss across fragmented systems . Wolfe argues that buyers need to pair SPO with "data path optimization" to ensure rich signals survive the trip and actually reach a destination worth going .

Key topics covered in this episode include:

• Why local advertising requires a bottom-up strategy, and how consumer behavior varies drastically between the dense, brick-lined streets of Philadelphia and the dirt roads of Dothan, Alabama .

• The hidden costs of fragmented supply, including data loss and signal degradation as information moves through multiple systems .

• Why AI's true competitive advantage lies in the quality of data feeding the models, comparing today's AI hype to everyone suddenly gaining access to Microsoft Excel in the 90s .

• Why Wolfe says the current state of the converging TV ecosystem is about maturing, recovering, and collaboration.

ChatGPT has officially entered the advertising business. But launching ads is the easy part. In this episode of Inside the Stack, Mary Gabrielyan, Chief Strategy Officer at AI Digital, explains why measurement, attribution and transparency remain the biggest challenge for determining whether ChatGPT becomes a meaningful media channel. She also shares why ChatGPT ads are likely to be contextual, intent-based, and performance-driven. The episode also dives into what the rise of another walled garden means for marketers, the Open Garden approach, why Google may still have the edge and why AI still needs human judgment.

Tatari CRO Andy Schonfeld argues that programmatic isn't a TV strategy. It's simply one tool in a much bigger stack. He talks about why DSP-only buying misses a huge chunk of the TV marketplace, including live sports and linear. Schonfeld also explains Tatari's Upstream technology for automating direct IO buying with major networks and shares how AI is used within the platform — from media planning to creative compliance. Plus, we talk about why he thinks the future of TV comes down to three words: direct, automation, and convergence.

On this episode of Inside the Stack, Cynopsis' Lynn Leahey sits down with Benjamin Heaton, Senior Director of Product Management at Tatari, to talk about why TV ad measurement is breaking down, and what it will take to fix it.

They dig into signal loss, why traditional identifiers no longer work, and why most clean rooms weren't built for TV workflows in the first place. Heaton explains how Tatari's Vault was designed to support privacy-first infrastructure that works across publishers and advertisers. No double-counting or black boxes.

If you're trying to measure TV performance in an ad tech world with fewer signals and higher expectations, this conversation is for you.

On this episode of Inside the Stack, we sit down with Brian Gleason, CEO of Seedtag, to talk about the future of contextual advertising.

We dig into neuro-contextual advertising, how Seedtag's AI understands tone, emotion, and environment across web and CTV, and why the industry needs to move from relevance to resonance.

We also unpack what this shift means for brands chasing impact, agencies planning in a privacy-first world, and publishers seeking to have their quality content rewarded again.

The future of contextual is less about targeting people and more about what content surrounds an ad and how it makes people feel.

Most marketers obsess over online conversions — but 85–90% of transactions still happen in physical retail. So why isn't in-store media getting the same attention?

On this episode of Inside the Stack, Grocery TV CEO Marlow Nickell tells us why in-store retail media is "inevitable" and what brands miss when they overlook the influence happening at the shelf.

We get into: • Why in-store screens are becoming a core part of retail media • How context and placement shape shopper behavior • What brands can realistically expect when it comes to measurement • Why attribution doesn't need to mirror digital to prove value • The shift toward true omnichannel planning

As Nickell asks: "Do you really need that level of granularity — or do you just want to understand how your campaign performed?"

Here's a fresh look at the channel hiding in plain sight.

On this episode of Inside the Stack, AdExchanger's Lynne d Johnson sits down with Yieldmo founder and CEO Mike Yavonditte to talk about why programmatic isn't broken—it just needs new plumbing. From radical transparency to the comeback of contextual targeting, Yavonditte outlines why creative still matters, how buyers can regain control, and what it takes to move beyond the "race to the bottom." His three words for the future of programmatic? Contextual. Safe. Performant.

In this episode of AdExchanger's Inside the Stack podcast. Meredith Brace, CMO of TripleLift, sits down with our Head of Communities Lynne d Johnson to discuss strategic planning for the holiday season, informed by TripleLift's Retail Media Guide. Learn about tips for early holiday prep, the importance of creative execution, and effective measurement approaches. Discover how brands can use key periods like Amazon Prime Day to test strategies that will maximize holiday campaign success.