On the 25th and 26th of May, IAB Europe will host its flagship event Interact in Madrid. In partnership with IAB Spain, we will be hosting two days of keynote speeches, panel discussions, and networking opportunities. From the attention economy, CTV, and retail media, through to premium publisher’s advertising models, sustainability, the latest policy and regulatory developments, and more, no stone will be left unturned as we take a deep dive into the next era of digital advertising.
In the run-up to the event, we will be introducing you to some of the leading speakers that will be discussing and debating how we can Drive the Next Digital Decade.
We are pleased to introduce Artur Semioniov, Director of Product & Innovation at Xaxis EMEA.
Q. Firstly, thank you for supporting Interact 2022. So, apart from your own session, what are you most looking forward to seeing at Interact?
There are a lot of great sessions this year on the agenda. I’m particularly looking forward to the attention economy presentation and panel discussion on the 25th of May. Attention as a topic, and as a metric, has been around for a very long time but hasn’t been incorporated more deeply into wider campaign planning, activation and reporting processes. I’m excited to hear more about the topic and hopefully learn how we can utilise it more effectively in the future.
Q. What is your role at Xaxis and what’s been your focus so far this year?
I’m Director of Product & Innovation at Xaxis EMEA. Xaxis is the outcome media company and GroupM’s advanced programmatic arm. We utilise our proprietary Artificial Intelligence technology and custom algorithms to deliver outcomes to our clients from their media investments.
My team is working closely with our agencies and clients to improve and develop new programmatic capabilities across display, video, audio, digital out of home (dooh) and new-emerging opportunities like in-game. This year a lot of our focus is dedicated to finding ways to connect different formats and platforms to work together as one unified advertising strategy.
Q. You will be presenting a keynote on how we can reboot our thinking of AI and connect the dots between platforms, channels, media and creativity. What steps do you think we need to take as an industry to make this happen?
Education is an important stepping stone. To bring the best out of the AI tech, we as an industry need to collectively raise a general understanding of AI capabilities and its possible application of it in digital advertising.
As a capability, machine learning has been around for some time now. In the last few years, the application of machine learning has developed and matured in the programmatic buy-side. However, as a technology, I think it has a much bigger role to play in the future of digital advertising. We see an opportunity for a much wider application of AI going forward as a means to connect media buying with creative execution and establish a connection between different platforms and channels to work together in unison.
This however requires a lot of different teams and stakeholders to work together. And therefore, raising awareness and understanding of AI capabilities across the industry is an important step forward.
Q. What most excites you about the use of AI and its potential for the future of digital advertising?
I see multiple applications of AI in the future. Some of these applications will be easier to achieve than others.
In the short term, AI can help us evolve KPIs that we are using to plan, optimise and measure the success of digital advertising campaigns. In a lot of cases, we are still relying on metrics that have been established a long time ago and need a refresher to be more aligned with the current state of the digital landscape.
In the long-term, I hope that with the use of AI technology we will be able to break some of the siloes and bring unified cross-platform and cross-channel campaign execution to fruition.
Q. A bit more about you - what do you most enjoy doing in your free time?
Travelling is my favourite go-to option when I have free time. After a long period of no travel possibilities due to the pandemic, I’m trying to make the most of it now. Even if it’s a small local trip outside the city, it feels like a big treat.
Q. Why do you think people should attend Interact this year?
We are part of a very dynamic industry. There will be a lot of changes happening in the upcoming years, but this also opens doors for new innovative ideas. I think Interact is a great place to share and discuss ideas and learnings across the industry and how to bring them to life.