AI: What we owe the team
I'm clocking two kinds of advertising executives right now: Ones who treat AI like a procurement decision, and the ones treating it like a leadership test. One buys tools. The other builds teams that know how to use them.
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Do not pivot to programmatic
Classic programmatic media is a great education. Real career growth in ad tech right now is agentic, and the people who get in early on both sides of that transition will be hard to replace.
The skills that survive
You cannot automate a decade of being trustworthy. You can't prompt your way to someone wanting to work with you for the next year.
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AI: What we owe the team
I'm clocking two kinds of advertising executives right now: Ones who treat AI like a procurement decision, and the ones treating it like a leadership test. One buys tools. The other builds teams that know how to use them.
Do not pivot to programmatic
Classic programmatic media is a great education. Real career growth in ad tech right now is agentic, and the people who get in early on both sides of that transition will be hard to replace.
The skills that survive
You cannot automate a decade of being trustworthy. You can't prompt your way to someone wanting to work with you for the next year.
News
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Could Bill Gates daughter face prison time for cookie stuffing?
Phoebe Gates, daughter of Bill and Melinda Gates, is in the press lately for an alleged "Cookie stuffing" operation. If charged and convicted, penalties could include actual jail time. Do you know how it works?
The RFP Oracle
The ad tech sales season is wrapping up for 2026. AI dominated everything the market responded to this year, and it was the most predictable trend ever. All we had to do was pay attention to what the agencies were asking.
Was (is) LiveRamp the Switzerland of data?
Can RAMP still be independent if it is owned by a major holding company? {insert awkward silence here}
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The 2026 upfront runs on shape, not size
Supply is outpacing demand. Scarcity has collapsed into sports. And the most useful phrase in the market right now isn't volume or price. It's "the shape of the deal."
The Handoff: Sell-side AdCP joins Prebid.org
Prebid now owns the sell-side agent code for AdCP. A natural outcome that I think all of us expected to see.
Teach the Machine: The CMO’s AI Challenge
If you feel like your brand is in an AI adoption doom-loop where nothing is meaningfully taking hold, reframe the challenge. You do not have a technology problem, you just lack brand knowledge architecture.
Fibonacci Velocity Framework: A guide for ad tech sales
None of the most famous SaaS sales frameworks hit the mark when it comes to ad tech sales. I've been trained on dozens of them. They each have some great ideas, but nothing that pulls it all together. Until now. The FvF Framework is a mashup of the best sales frameworks for ad tech sellers.
2026: The Trillion-Dollar Algorithmic Era
Over the past few weeks, I've been thinking about "focus" for 2026. What do I want to focus ADLINGO on next year? What deserves more attention and coverage, and what deserves less? What tech deserves immediate attention, and what can we afford to set aside for now?
News
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Why the most profitable agency of 2026 will fit in a coffee shop
Clearly, the advertising agencies are consolidating. Hard. Every couple of weeks we see new headlines about workforce optimization and efficiencies. The "Rule of Three" is what's next.