The energy in the room was electric as the Interact 2025 mainstage opened on 21st May 2025 in Brussels with a powerful series of keynote presentations that set the tone for the day. Bringing together influential voices from across the digital advertising ecosystem and beyond, the morning sessions delivered fresh perspectives on the economic, technological, and regulatory forces reshaping our industry.
From unpacking the latest ad spend trends and hearing brand and publisher reactions to the AdEx results, to exploring the real-world impact of AI, the next evolution of Retail Media, and what it means to build a trusted digital roadmap, the morning was packed with thought leadership that challenged, inspired, and informed.
Capping off the morning sessions, we also had a powerful and deeply moving keynote from Anastasiya Baydachenko, CEO of IAB Ukraine, who delivered a sobering and necessary perspective with "Destroying Modern War Illusions".
Check out the mainstage morning highlights below:
In this opening keynote presentation, our Chief Economist, Dr. Daniel Knapp, set the scene on European Digital Advertising investment. Daniel revealed the top-level results from our hotly anticipated AdEx Benchmark Results for 2024, which now covers 30 European markets, to show where future advertising growth will come from.
Key highlights included:
Following Daniel’s presentation, we heard an advertiser’s perspective on digital investment and innovations. In this fireside chat Alison shared her insights on what Kraft Heinz is prioritising, detailing the channels and formats that are fuelling their growth and innovation. She addressed diverse critical issues such as creativity and brand building, the evolution of media spend and Metrics, while touching upon measurement, targeting, and attribution.
Next, we heard a publisher’s perspective. In his keynote address, Bernard covered key strategy pillars, such as content, distribution, and monetisation, while outlining the fundamental elements of a successful advertising strategy for premium publishers.
After a short coffee break, we came back to the mainstage to dive into the fascinating world of AI. This session demystified the AI space by covering trends, opportunities, myths, and misconceptions, as well as getting into practicalities. Forget the fluff. Dominique talked about real examples of companies using AI in new ways, and shared a live AI multi-tooling demonstration on smarter, faster, more creative work to reveal what the future of work looks like. Attendees learned how to bring AI into an organisation and drive transformation.
Next we turned to Retail Media, where Colin draw from his direct experience working with brands and retailers around the globe such as Barilla, Fonterra, Optimum Nutrition, Superdrug, Very Group Ocado (UK), Migros (Turkey), Cencosud (Chile), Terry White Chemmart (Australia) and the Warehouse Group (New Zealand) to address the hottest topics in this space today, including creativity, effectiveness, collaboration, and performance.
The IAB Tech Lab then took us through a deep dive into the highlights of its 2025 strategy and product roadmap, with a closer look at its Trusted Server Open Source Initiative. As browsers tighten their grip on the open web, the IAB Tech Lab’s Trusted Server Framework offers publishers a path to reclaim control, shifting key ad operations server-side to restore transparency, privacy compliance, and revenue potential.
To round off the morning sessions, we had a powerful and deeply moving keynote from Anastasiya, who delivered a sobering and necessary perspective with "Destroying Modern War Illusions". Her talk reminded us of the real-world impact of war on society and business, urging the industry to stay grounded, resilient, and purposeful as we navigate both progress and crisis.
