AdTechGod Pod

Josef Najm, Principal Investor at Thomson Reuters Ventures, will discuss his career journey from MediaMath and global brands to venture investing. Josef shares what investors look for in founders, the technologies that stand out, the impact of AI on advertising, and where he sees the biggest opportunities for startups over the next five years.

Takeaways:

Josef Najm shares his journey from MediaMath, L'Oréal, and Diageo to Thomson Reuters Ventures.

Learn how venture investors evaluate founders, products, and market timing.

Discover why clean data, AI workflows, creator economy, and trust are shaping the future of ad tech.

Hear Josef's predictions for AI agents, industry consolidation, and startup opportunities over the next five years.

Chapters:00:00 Introduction00:17 Meet Josef Najm, Principal Investor at Thomson Reuters Ventures00:48 Josef's Career Journey into Ad Tech05:23 Transition into Venture Capital08:23 What Makes a Great Founder?11:10 Identifying Long-Term AI & Ad Tech Opportunities17:33 The Rise of the Creator Economy19:24 Separating Innovation from Industry Hype22:49 When Is the Right Time to Raise Funding?29:10 The Future of AI, Data & Ad Tech34:52 Final Thoughts

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jonathan Frohlinger, CEO of Big Happy, shares why creative remains advertising's biggest competitive advantage. From building high-impact 3D and CGI campaigns to discussing the future of mobile, digital out-of-home, and AI, Jonathan explains how brands can stand out in an increasingly crowded marketplace.

Takeaways

Jonathan shares his journey from Starcom and Verve to founding Big Happy.

Why creative is still the biggest driver of advertising effectiveness.

How CGI and 3D advertising help brands stand out and improve recall.

Why emotion is processed before logic and what that means for marketers.

The role of mobile and digital out-of-home in modern media strategies.

Why creative matters more than targeting once the right audience is reached.

How AI should enhance creativity instead of replacing it.

Why brands should focus on outcomes instead of simply being "AI-powered."

Leadership lessons from growing Big Happy over the past seven years.

Advice for marketers looking to build successful careers in advertising and technology.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Jonathan Frohlinger & Big Happy

01:08 Jonathan's journey into advertising and founding Big Happy

03:18 What Big Happy does and its unique value proposition

04:02 Why high-impact creative and CGI capture attention

06:45 The emotional science behind memorable advertising

08:03 Why brands buy on emotion but stay for performance

09:22 Mobile and digital out-of-home as growth channels

10:55 Creative vs. targeting: Which matters more?

12:20 The future of mobile advertising and media investment

15:25 What's next for mobile, DOOH, and ad tech

16:02 AI's impact on creativity and advertising workflows

19:40 AI hype versus real business value

24:20 Scaling Big Happy and building a strong company culture

27:02 Closing thoughts and farewell

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AdTechGod sits down with Tyler Denk, Co-Founder & CEO of beehiiv, to discuss how beehiiv evolved from a newsletter platform into a complete creator operating system. Tyler shares lessons from Morning Brew, why creators should own their audience, AI's role in publishing, and how beehiiv is reshaping newsletter and podcast monetization.
Takeaways:

Tyler shares how Morning Brew inspired the creation of beehiiv.

Learn why owning your audience matters more than relying on social platforms.

Discover how AI and automation are simplifying creator workflows.

Hear how beehiiv is expanding into podcasts, communities, and advertising.

Learn how the beehiiv Ad Network helps creators monetize newsletters of every size.

Chapters:00:00 Introduction to Tyler Denk & beehiiv00:41 Tyler's journey from Morning Brew to founding beehiiv05:13 Reinventing newsletter publishing and growth07:46 Website builder, SEO, and content automation09:42 AI tools, MCP, and creator workflows11:05 The future of AI for content creators13:03 Building an all-in-one creator operating system15:35 Why creators should own their audience18:14 Social media strategy and platform integrations19:49 Inside the beehiiv Ad Network and newsletter monetization22:59 Helping small publishers earn advertising revenue24:57 Final thoughts and Tyler's personal newsletter
Guests: AdTech God
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AdTechGod sits down with Andrew Swinand, CEO of Inspired Thinking Group (ITG) and former CEO of Publicis Groupe Creative U.S. and Leo Burnett.
Andrew shares how AI-powered content automation is helping global brands produce personalized creative at scale, reduce production costs by 50%, cut campaign timelines from 8 weeks to 2 weeks, and drive stronger marketing performance. They discuss operational AI vs generative AI, the future of agencies, creative effectiveness, personalization, and why the next decade may bring a creative renaissance instead of creative replacement.
Takeaways

AI-powered content automation is enabling brands to create personalized content at an unprecedented scale.

ITG helps global brands localize campaigns across languages, markets, and audiences using AI.

Brands are reducing production costs by roughly 50% while significantly speeding up go-to-market timelines.

Operational AI delivers more immediate ROI than purely generative AI use cases.

Most companies already possess valuable creative assets but struggle to find and utilize them efficiently.

Effective personalization is not about one-to-one marketing but identifying "meaningful breaks" within audiences.

Creative quality remains critical despite AI advancements.

The future agency model will focus more on strategy, insights, and creative concepts while automation handles production.

AI will eliminate repetitive production work but increase demand for higher-quality creative thinking.

Andrew predicts a creative renaissance driven by the abundance of AI-generated content.

Chapters00:00 Introduction & Welcome01:01 Andrew Swinand's Career Journey04:36 From Publicis & Leo Burnett to ITG06:20 What Inspired Thinking Group (ITG) Does07:43 How AI Transforms Content Production09:10 Cutting Costs, Speeding Up Campaigns & Personalization at Scale11:00 Why More Creative Variations Drive Better Performance12:42 Operational AI vs Generative AI15:18 AI-Powered Asset Organization & Content Discovery17:03 The Right Way to Personalize Advertising20:00 Why Creative Matters More Than Ever21:28 The Future of Agencies in an AI World23:28 AI Slop, Content Overload & Marketing Challenges26:36 What Marketers Are Overhyping About AI27:03 Andrew's Vision for Advertising in 5 Years28:23 Final Thoughts & Wrap-Up
Guests: AdTech God
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Entrepreneur and former Magnite Chief Product Officer, Adam Soroca, joins AdTechGod to discuss his journey building ad tech infrastructure, the evolution of programmatic advertising, lessons from Magnite's growth, and why AI-driven agentic workflows could fundamentally transform media buying over the next few years.

Takeaways

Adam shares his journey from Wall Street to founding nToggle and leading product at Magnite.

Learn why AI is shifting from workflow automation to completely rethinking advertising infrastructure.

Discover how proprietary data, buyer agents, and AI-powered orchestration will shape the future of ad tech.

Adam explains why proprietary data and supply position will become the biggest competitive advantages as AI transforms programmatic advertising.

Learn how future AI-powered buyer agents could replace traditional campaign workflows and create a more autonomous, outcome-driven advertising ecosystem.

Chapters:00:00 Introduction to Adam Soroca01:51 From Wall Street to Building Products05:40 The Birth of nToggle and Traffic Shaping08:18 Startup Lessons and Trusting Your Convictions10:52 Inside Magnite's Product Evolution and CTV Growth14:23 Cannes Lions: The Biggest AI Trends in Ad Tech17:35 Why Agentic AI Could Transform Media Buying20:53 Rethinking Advertising Beyond Human Workflows22:08 AI's Impact on Creative and Agencies24:50 What's Next for Adam Soroca25:58 The Future of Data, Buyer Agents, and New Media Lanes32:32 Where Ad Tech Is Heading Next
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices