Nicole LalevaOn 26th November, we hosted the latest edition of our Virtual Programmatic Day, the largest virtual gathering dedicated to programmatic advertising in Europe. This event brings together leading experts, innovators, and industry stakeholders to explore key trends, emerging opportunities, and the challenges shaping the future of programmatic trading.
To open the event, our Data Analyst & Sustainability Lead, Dimitris Beis, welcomed participants and introduced the mission and ongoing work of our Programmatic Working Group. He set the stage by highlighting the importance of collaboration and innovation. If you are interested in joining the working group, you can contact him at beis [@] iabeurope.eu.
Following Dimitris’ introduction, our event host Nick Welch, Senior Director, Programmatic and Sell-Side Development, IAS, took to the virtual stage. Nick outlined the themes for the day, set expectations for the interactive discussions ahead, and guided attendees into the first panel session.
Across three in-depth panel sessions, speakers from leading organisations shared practical knowledge, future-focused perspectives, and actionable guidance for navigating an increasingly complex programmatic landscape.
Below is an overview of each session, along with a link to watch the recordings on demand.
As sell-side platforms become more sophisticated, this session unpacked how SSPs, ad servers, and publishers are optimising yield, managing demand paths, and balancing commercial and quality signals in real time. The panel began by breaking down how sell-side decisioning works and the value it brings to both sellers and buyers. Speakers then explored whether the future of programmatic will be driven by ad-server-centric stacks or open, multi-SSP ecosystems, as publishers activate more first-party and contextual signals.
The discussion also covered what level of visibility buyers need into sell-side logic to build trust, before closing with how the sell side can better quantify and communicate the incremental value of smarter decisioning on buyer outcomes.
Moderator:
Speakers:
From creative optimisation to dynamic pricing and predictive modelling, AI is transforming every layer of programmatic media buying. This session explored how machine learning and AI are transforming programmatic, from creative optimisation to dynamic pricing and predictive outcomes.
Panellists discussed how AI has developed across their businesses over the past year and debated the role of generative models in creative optimisation - balancing efficiency with long-term brand impact. They then covered how much explainability buyers need from AI systems without exposing sensitive algorithms, and when human oversight is critical in automated bid strategies. The session closed with reflections on agentic advertising and its potential to address persistent supply chain challenges.
Moderator: Chloe Nicholls, Head of Ad Tech, IAB UK
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Panel 3: Building Trust and Transparency Across Programmatic Channels
To close the event, the final session focused on programmatic trust and transparency across the supply chain, highlighting how log-level clarity, auction mechanics, signal integrity, and fee transparency are shaping the future of the industry.
Speakers reflected on what transparency truly means and what information should be available to whom, how supply chain transparency has evolved, and the challenges that remain. They then covered the accessibility of log-level data for buyers across platforms. The discussion also addressed balancing transparency with commercial interests in the supply chain and concluded with actionable next steps for fostering trust and clarity across programmatic channels.
Moderator: Benjamin Lanfry, Chief Client and Partnerships Officer, Ogury
Speakers:
If you missed the live broadcast or want to revisit any of the discussions, the complete recordings are now available.
Watch the full session recording here.
Interested in joining our Advertising & Media Committee or Programmatic Working Group?
If you're a member of IAB Europe, or are looking to join, and would like to learn more about how you can get involved in our Advertising and Media Committee, please feel free to reach out to Marie-Clare Puffett at puffett [at] iabeurope.eu or if you are interested in the Programmatic working group, contact Dimitris Beis at beis [at] iabeurope.eu.
If you are not yet a member but would like to learn more about how to get involved, please reach out to membership [at] iabeurope.eu
