'The Role of Humans Is Critical to AI,' Says Xaxis President

Xaxis, the programmatic media buying platform for WPP's GroupM media agency network, is celebrating its tenth anniversary this June. The milestone comes almost two years after it increased its commitments to transparency and follows a year of pandemic layoffs. Adweek caught up with Xaxis U.S. president Gila Wilensky for an interview looking back on Xaxis' first ten years and the evolution and future of programmatic advertising. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Adweek: How would you characterize Xaxis' evolution over the course of the past decade? What differentiates Xaxis' approach? Wilensky: Programmatic has come so far over the past decade. When the company was founded back in June 2011, we were the first agency-owned programmatic trading specialist. At the time, programmatic advertising accounted for just 10% of digital display ad budgets and only 500 million people were online in the countries we operated in. Ten years later, more than 72% of the $389 billion in digital advertising globally will be spent on ads delivered programmatically to a global audience of more than four billion people. What sets us apart is our belief that media investment can and should be tied to real business outcomes. Our ambition is to tie media, data, channels and partners together for a real-time, complete picture for a brand. In a world of increased connectivity and increased data, AI and programmatic are central to delivering real-time outcomes–something both brands and consumers are increasingly coming to expect–whether that’s online or off. How has the role of programmatic advertising evolved more broadly across the industry? Recent history proves that wherever media can be traded programmatically, it will be. The benefits–addressability, automation, data-informed creative and real time optimizations–are just too compelling. At its best, programmatic media has the potential to make advertising better for everyone, including consumers. As audio, TV and outdoor all go through their own programmatic transformation, it is clear that programmatic is rapidly becoming synonymous with digital. I think we are sitting at the next wave of programmatic–one where formally traditional channels become available programmatically and emerging screens are built into the ecosystem from the beginning. It’s impressive to think about all the progress we have made over the past 10 years as an industry–and equally impressive to think of where we still want to go. For the years ahead, we identified what we see as the biggest trends in programmatic as ecommerce, gaming, talent, DOOH, identity, outcomes, omnichannel, creative, AI and video. Each one of these trends will have significant impact on the industry in both the short and long term and we want to help brands embrace the opportunities associated with each now. Can you speak on the role of AI in the future of Xaxis and programmatic? Copilot is our proprietary AI platform built to help brands optimize to their real business outcomes. Our team customizes algorithms integrating multi-metric key performance indicators and offline data inputs to give brands a competitive advantage. For us, AI doesn’t just stand for artificial intelligence and automation, it means amplified intelligence. The role of humans is critical to AI success, especially when delivering human-centric strategies and messages. Xaxis is already working towards holistic decisioning, where all layers work together while taking in even more data to find the absolute best ad opportunity for all parties involved. Very quickly, we expect AI to help tackle modern marketing priorities for more synchronized, omnichannel capabilities. In the shorter-term, AI will increasingly free up people to focus on creative and strategic work, leading to even more unique applications of AI in advertising. As AI starts being utilized for more holistic decisions, we can bring in more of the human, creative elements that really connect brands to their customers. Start thinking beyond media or advertising data–how can brand values and more people-first data be tapped, and ultimately optimized? Some of the good data and goals that could be considered are the World Happiness Report, UN data, environmental inputs and diversity standards. How will data privacy and data ethics concerns impact the future of Xaxis and programmatic? We expect to see an explosion in new types of data, as our lives become even more connected. Some examples include: Biometrics–Face, Voice, Gait, DNA, IoT Data–Connected Car, Connected Home and VR/AR. How we choose to use and protect identity over the next 10 years will be felt in everything we do–from government to advertising. AI is fundamental to successfully sorting through all this data. Today, we are at a key inflection point. We need to mindfully and purposefully get the relationship between AI and ethics right. It is our collective commitment to making advertising work better for everyone, and AI is central to making that happen. If it doesn’t, we have failed. Media put out in the world really does shape it, and it’s our responsibility to push a more ethical addressability. How do you think Xaxis and programmatic will evolve over the course of the next 10 years? We will continue to focus on innovation and bringing value to our clients. For us, that means making advertising work better for everyone by tying media investments to client outcomes by connecting data, AI, and technology across all channels. We are seeing clear trends that siloed planning, activation and reporting will continue to give way to a truly integrated approach. In 10 years, we imagine consumers will be able to convert at many more touchpoints across existing and future technologies. What this means is more, not less, immediate gratification. Programmatic will increasingly need to connect media data to new data feeds like retail supply chains, continue to deliver customization at scale and finds ways to reduce friction in real time. Where would you like Xaxis to be a decade from now and what will it take to get there? A few years ago, we were talking about our vision for a world where an ad served is measurable to a car sold in real time. I don’t think that's changed, but the skills and people needed to get there will. We must continue to invest in both data science and engineering alongside the human-centric skills of psychology, communication and strategy. Marketing will always need both sides to be successful. 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'Sitting at the Next Wave of Programmatic:' Gila Wilensky on Xaxis' 10th Anniversary

The Xaxis president caught up with Adweek as the company celebrates its 10th anniversary

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Erik Oster