Open Market

Founders explain why vibe-coding UIs will not topple systems-of-record and why DSPs need payments, partnerships, and heavy infrastructure. They dive into data and infrastructure as real moats protecting adtech. The conversation covers autonomous advertising, agentic workflows, and how AI shifts value toward quality supply and automated services.

Michael Kaminsky, Founder and CEO of Recast, a marketing measurement company with roots in statistical modeling. He explores why marketing analytics is unusually hard, the internal politics that shape measurement adoption, why upper-funnel channels get overlooked, and how AI is reshaping measurement tools and product development.

Cody Schneider, CEO and co-founder of Graphed, builds an AI data analyst that unifies data and automates GTM workflows. He recounts launching AI agents for outreach that scaled podcast bookings. They explore what marketing and sales tasks agents can automate, tradeoffs like authenticity and detection, and practical starter stacks to deploy reliable, iterative automations.

They unpack how AI is woven into daily workflows like investment analysis, creative production, and CEO-level strategy. They discuss using LLMs to speed decision-making, leverage networks, and draft people communications. They react to large AI-driven layoffs and debate the societal and incentive implications. They also explore cultural backlash and historical tech cycles that mirror today.

Sam Khoury, Chief Strategy Officer at Marketecture who leads events and content, walks through designing and scaling an advertising event. He discusses choosing themes and audience sizing. He covers programming, speaker curation, sponsorship economics, logistics, marketing channels, and the role of social events in building community.

A tactical guide to which advertising events are worth your time. The six big gatherings are compared by purpose, scale, and who benefits most. Practical advice on picking events by company stage and avoiding common mistakes. Tips for planning meetings, speaking decisions, and building an outcomes-focused event calendar.

Founders worrying the 'adtech' label could hurt fundraising get a reality check. The conversation covers how AI is changing advertising, from better ad performance to new ad-supported products. They explore autonomous AI traders, positioning between adtech and other markets, and practical fundraising and rebranding strategies for companies shifting categories.

Adam Epstein, CEO of Gigi — an ad-tech founder who built Perpetua and now leads a verticalized AI media manager for Amazon DSP. He explains why focusing on Amazon matters. Short takes cover selling agents versus SaaS, framing agents as job-focused tools, pricing and piloting AI, change management for longer pilots, and how account teams and prompting skills enable adoption.

Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa dive into the implications of tvScientific's acquisition by Pinterest. They explore the powerful narrative of performance TV and its wide industry appeal. The duo also discusses the significance of CEO evangelism in marketing strategies, highlighting effective thought leadership and distribution methods. They analyze investor insights, emphasizing the potential of non-consensus markets. Lastly, the conversation touches on Pinterest's broader ambitions in the ad space and the strategic fit of tvScientific's leadership.

Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa discuss four ideas for how adtech CEOs can crush it in 2026: overcommunicate direction until you’re sick of yourself; tell a story about the industry, not just your company; design the company for AI; and center outcomes in your storytelling. Plus, Joe talks about getting punched in the face, physically and metaphorically.