Brian Wieser is senior analyst at Pivotal Research, where he covers advertising-related securities including media owners, agencies, data and marketing technology companies. Prior to joining Pivotal, Brian was CMO for ad tech company Simulmedia and spent 8 years as the global head of forecasting for Interpublic’s Magna Global, and spent several years in investment banking and equity research at Lehman Brothers and Deutsche Bank. Brian is also a CFA charterholder.
Ari Paparo is the CEO of Beeswax, the industry's first Bidder-as-a-Service platform, based out of New York. Ari has held a number of product leadership positions in the ad-tech and marketing tech sectors and is well regarded for his contribution to the advancement of programmatic advertising. Previously, he served as a VP at DoubleClick and a Director of Product Management at Google, where he led the buy-side product suite. More recently he was the SVP, Product Management at Appnexus and the EVP, Product Management at publicly-traded Bazaarvoice. Ari is well known in the online advertising community for his authorship of the VAST (Video Ad Serving Template) specification for online video and his development of an online gross ratings point (GRP) model for Nielsen. He is a frequent contributor to AdExchanger and other industry publications.
Dr. Boris’s career has uniquely evolved to encompass success in both academia as well as business. With a doctorate in Theoretical Physics, Dr. Boris held research and professorial positions at both Cambridge University and the University of Warwick in the UK for more than 10 years. His research in the field of physics is well cited, and he has presented his work at numerous international conferences. After being attracted to the challenges and opportunities in software development, Dr. Boris founded IPONWEB in 2001, bringing his unique background and perspective to computational problem solving and probability modelling in the digital advertising space. Today, his company IPONWEB is a world leader in the Engineering & Operation of highly customised, real-time media trading platforms and technologies. They have pioneered the development of both buy and sell-side programmatic, technology platforms solutions for hundreds of companies globally across the display, mobile, video, DOOH and TV ecosystems. Fifteen years later, Dr Boris is still intimately involved in all aspects of the business from consulting and customer solution definition, to his on-going passion as Chief Scientist and Architect of the company’s flagship Machine Learning, decisioning and algorithm technologies.
Andrew joined the leading solution for high-impact non-intrusive digital advertising, Sublime Skinz in May 2017 with 20 years’ experience in international internet environments and specialisms in ad tech, search, start-up creations, and turnaround management in e-commerce. In his role as EMEA MD at Sublime Skinz, Andrew is instrumental in meeting growing demand in the region, forming strategic partnerships and promoting the adoption of new impacting and non-intrusive ad solutions and technologies. One of his main missions is to drive future developments in key European markets such as Spain, Italy, and Germany. Previously, Andrew was EMEA MD at OpenX, where he was responsible for accelerating adoption of the advertising platform throughout the EMEA region. Prior to this, Andrew’s extensive experience in the ad tech industry has included high-profile roles at Tradedoubler, where he advanced the scale, profitability, and reputation of the company, and Yahoo!, where he took the lead on multiple sizeable European projects. Based in the UK, Andrew is half French and bilingual, having previously lived in France with his young family. As well as being a keen endurance sportsman, Andrew likes to practice card tricks on any willing audience.
Belinda J. Smith is the Global Director, Media at Electronic Arts – leading paid media strategy, planning and buying across all EA titles and businesses, Globally. Previously Smith was the Director of Programmatic Strategy at 360i. Leading 360i’s trading desk she oversaw strategy and buying across all programmatic accounts and client teams. Prior to 360i, Smith was the Director of Industry Initiatives at the IAB and led product management and marketing for several entities at AT&T – including the AT&T Advertising & Analytics division (formerly AdWorks).
A serial entrepreneur, Amar founded PubMatic in 2006, serving as the company’s first CEO until his brother, Rajeev Goel, took the helm as the company’s current CEO. As Chief Growth Officer, Founder and Chairman of the Board, Amar runs PubMatic’s marketplace group, which is focused on increasing liquidity and driving monetization for the publishers on PubMatic’s platform. As part of this role, Amar is responsible for the machine learning team and runs the EMEA and APAC regions. As Chairman of the Board he is responsible for helping PubMatic’s Board and management team drive the company’s overall strategy. In addition to PubMatic, Amar also founded several other companies, including Komli Media, the leading independent advertising technology platform in the APAC region. Amar served as Founder and Chairman of Komli from 2006 through 2013. As a 19-year-old student at Harvard University, Amar co-founded Chipshot.com. Over five years he grew the business to approximately $30M in annual sales, making Chipshot.com the fastest-growing ecommerce website at that time. As an entrepreneur, Amar raised over $100M in venture capital and hired more than 1,000 employees around the globe, generating several hundred million dollars per year in revenue at peak. He holds a master’s degree in Computer Science and a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Harvard University.
Lara O'Reilly is a reporter at The Wall Street Journal. She covers the media, advertising and marketing industries. Lara also writes the daily CMO Today newsletter. She joined the Journal in 2017 from Business Insider, where she was a senior editor, covering the advertising sector. Prior to that, she was a senior news reporter at Marketing Week. In 2017 Lara won the London Press Club "digital journalist of the year" award. In 2014 she was named by MHP Communications as one of the "30 under 30 to watch" in British journalism at its annual awards.
As UK General Manager at The Trade Desk, Anna Forbes oversees all UK activity, growing the company’s portfolio of partnerships and ensuring that the platform continues to provide advertisers with the most cutting-edge technology to manage their campaigns. Anna brings a wealth of experience with her to the role, having spent the last 15 years leading sales teams at innovative advertising technology companies. Before joining The Trade Desk, Anna held the role of UK Managing Director at mobile advertising analytics company Marchex, where she grew the footprint across EMEA in Sales, Marketing and Client Engagement. Prior to this, Anna served as the EMEA Sales Director at AppNexus, and as COO at Brainient (now Teads Studio). Anna is a regular speaker at industry events with the IAB and the Digital Advertising Women’s Network. Anna has a BSc (Hons) in International Management from University of Manchester, Institute of Science and Technology.
Rick Jones serves as Adform‘s SVP Global Revenue Development. Before joining Adform, Rick spent five years at Google DoubleClick, where he was Head of Business Development and lead consulting for UK and Global businesses on programmatic and data-driven marketing strategies. A digital veteran, Rick has twenty years experience in the industry, which began with web auction pioneer, QXL.com, where he was responsible for UK business development. Later Rick joined Camelot, the National Lottery operator, as commercial lead for the world's first transactional lottery web site, and later John Lewis, as Head of Marketing for Financial Services, before working at Sony as Head of Multi-channel Retailing.
Since 1999 Matt has been working on the front line of digital advertising in an industry-facing capacity. Most recently he has taken on the role of European General Manager for The Media Trust, a US-based digital security and advertising quality assurance company. Matt has consistently strived to generate industry consensus from senior leaders and drive innovation through collaboration. He is a frequent speaker, panelist, and chair at industry conferences including Digiday, IAB, dmexco, The Guardian, AOP (UK), Admangerforum, and corporate-operated events. He is an active advisor and investor for advertising and marketing technology start-up enterprises and a senior partner at AtlanticLeap.
Léon Siotis is Managing Director, UK and Southern Europe for SpotX, the trusted platform for video advertising. He works with leading publishers and broadcasters across the region to help them manage their video inventory and maximise advertising revenue. Siotis has ten years of digital advertising experience from companies including BrightRoll – which was acquired by Yahoo! in October 2014 – Rubicon Project, MySpace and AOL’s Advertising.com. He joined BrightRoll in 2011 and helped build the team and client portfolio on the buy and sell-side. Prior to that, he worked with Demand-Side Platforms (DSPs) and agencies across EMEA at Rubicon Project to monetise display inventory on Europe’s leading publishers, including launching programmatic buying across the region. This followed two years at MySpace and a stint at Advertising.com. Based in London, Siotis holds a BA in Industrial Relations from the University of McGill in Montreal Canada.
With extensive experience across client-service, ad technology and digital marketing consulting, Kelly is responsible for delivering market leading data and technology enabled trading solutions for Publicis Media across the EMEA region. Her previous role as EVP/MD of Global Client Development for Publicis Media’s Data Sciences practice saw her lead client strategy and go to market activities for Publicis PeopleCloud, a transformational platform that provides Publicis Groupe clients with a seamless, end-to-end experience for driving growth. Prior to this, Kelly was Global MD for RUN, a Publicis owned cross-device DMP and DSP. She was responsible for launching the product in EMEA and APAC, including the consultation on operational structures, data partnerships and inventory sources to ensure the product was fit-for-purpose for a global audience. A 14 year veteran of Publicis Media, Kelly spent 7 years managing Samsung Mobile’s Communication strategy and central activation for Starcom across 80+ countries. She holds a dual MBA from London Business School and Columbia University.
Bobi Carley is currently head of AV and partnerships at the7stars driving forward swiftly growing teams. Bobi served as the UK Commercial Director of The Walt Disney Company from 2010 to 2017. Bobi is responsible for significantly accelerating commercial growth across all platforms. She has extensive Marketing and Commercial experience, understanding the value of IP and brands, as well as multi-platform sales experience particularly in TV and digital. She led a successful integration of several high-profile partnerships with brands such as O2, Sky, Unilever and Compare The Market. Bobi previously held a number of senior positions in a ten-year career at Viacom where she was part of the leadership team that took the sales house Viacom Brand Solutions on its very successful growth journey. She started her career at Sky Media in 1993. Bobi excels in leadership, relationships and developing teams that perform to the highest standards. She is extremely respected by her peers, agencies and clients alike. She has very close relationships with senior agency leaders as well as Marketing Directors and CMOs. For the last 18 months Bobi has held a Non-Exec Director role at the creative agency Red Brick Road supporting their strategic positioning. Bobi embraces innovation and change, and uses her extensive background in the industry to deliver the best solutions. She is currently studying ‘systemic practice’ and has implemented this into her work at the7stars.
Shalom is the Director of Publisher Development Europe at Fyber, he has been with the company for 6 years leading the global supply activities. In the past two years, Shalom has been leading the London supply team and contributing to the growth of the UK hub. Shalom has extensive experience in programmatic gaming, utilities and comScore publishers using mediation. He holds a B.A in Business Management from Ben Gurion University and received the Dean’s honor for excellence.
Jodie Collins is the founder and managing director of Re/Digital, a digital strategy and training firm which works with companies across Asia to develop their digital marketing approaches and team capabilities. This includes guiding companies on developing programmatic and data strategies to link in with their overall offline and online marketing and customer experiences. She has been working in marketing, advertising and digital for 20 years, with 9 years in China and Singapore. She has worked for some of the world's leading agencies and media companies including OMD, M&C Saatchi and News Corporation, and with clients including McDonald's, Johnson & Johnson, Intel, Hilton, the BBC and Estee Laude.
Dan began his adtech career at a publisher managing subscription and ad revenues before moving to the buy side. Dan managed the supply relationships at MediaMath and consulted with Trading Desks on how best to setup their programmatic trading strategies and onboard new partners. He now heads up Infectious Media’s global solutions team which ensures campaigns make use of the latest features, capabilities, inventory and data through the management of preferred partner relationships.
Mia Mulch is a Managing Partner across Omnicom Media Group UK’s Programmatic Division, OMG Programmatic. 
Ronan Shields is a staff writer on Adweek where he focuses on ad tech, helping to articulate the application of such technologies to the wider marketing and advertising industry. He has covered the digital media sector for almost a decade with first-hand experience of the market on three continents. Prior to joining Adweek he held similar roles for titles including The Drum, ExchangeWire and Marketing Week.
Charles Manning is the founder and CEO of Kochava, the leading mobile attribution analytics platform serving tier-one advertisers worldwide. For nearly 20 years Charles has been creating technologies that use data for system optimization, ranging from business service management (BSM) to information technology (IT) to attribution analytics, and most recently blockchain. Charles began his career at Oracle, and later held executive and C-Level positions at M-Code, Managed Objects, and PLAYXPERT. Prior to founding Kochava, Charles founded PLAYXPERT – which started as a gaming technology platform. After licensing the PLAYXPERT technology to Razer, Charles built a team that focused its time on building engagement platforms for entrepreneurs and agencies. Upon realizing that there were no standard platforms providing effective attribution or post-install analytics in mobile – Charles and his team built one, and Kochava was born. The Kochava technology is now integrated with more than 3,500 networks and publishers and is trusted by hundreds of brands including the biggest names in mobile gaming, news and media, and consumer goods.
Jourdain grew up with computers long before they entered everyone’s lives. He was self-taught in several programming languages as a teenager, had already started building websites in 1994, and created a full enterprise-grade CMS at 19. Jourdain brings a diverse background to Index Exchange, including an enduring interest for marketing and strategy. He participated in some of the world’s first large-scale, global web-based procurement automation initiatives, and was an early adopter of financial technology for algorithmic trading in futures and equities. Jourdain was involved in the design and scaling of the technology platform for the exchange, throughout its more than a decade of evolution. Jourdain has a longtrack record of involvement in groundbreaking technologies since his tenure at Hewlett-Packard where he was platform architect for a multi-billion-dollar global enterprise purchasing system. Since joining the company full-time in 2003, Jourdain has held positions in many areas of the business with a focus on Engineering and Publishing. He currently oversees the future of the Header Tag product group, spending much of his time on video products and large brand buyers. When he’s not leading the header tag movement, Jourdain enjoys the suburban life with his wife and three children.
Shula is Global Head of Strategy at Spark Foundry, where her brief is to harness the tech and data capability of Publicis Media in service of Spark’s creative, startup ethos. A proudly hybrid strategist, she is a firm believer in breaking down siloes across creative, media and tech disciplines in service of an intuitive consumer experience. After a stint in military intelligence, she began her career at M&C Saatchi and has worked at advertising agencies such as FCB and JWT, as a client at Barclaycard and in recent years as a Global Strategy Partner at Wavemaker. She has won awards for both her brand and media strategic work and is an advisory board member for London Film Academy.
Lindsay Rowntree is head of content at ExchangeWire, where her responsibilities include curating and developing content around emerging models and technology within programmatic, ad tech and martech, as well as growing the depth of content and reach of ExchangeWire’s global audience. Having joined ExchangeWire in January 2016, she previously held the role of director of search, UK at Starcom MediaVest Group, where she spent six years, providing her with extensive experience in digital advertising, performance marketing, data, technology, client servicing and media planning/buying.
Ciaran O'Kane is the CEO of ExchangeWire, the leading global digital advertising trade publication and research firm. He has worked in digital advertising over the last ten years as a developer, digital marketer, ad operations provider, media monetisation specialist and senior sales executive. He continues to write editorial for ExchangeWire on advertising technology, marketing technology and programmatic - and acts as an advisor to a number of leading digital media companies in Europe.
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