Explore every episode of the podcast Leadership In

Greg and Geoff explore how AI agents could reshape the advertising agency business model, from how agencies get paid to who controls media buying decisions.

If AI can plan, buy, and optimize advertising, what value do agencies bring? And could DSPs eventually cut out the middleman and work directly with brands?

Have a perspective, a topic, or a story you think belongs on Leadership In? Email us at leadershipinpodcast (at) gmail (dot) com.

Nick Jordan, founder of Narrative, joins Greg and Geoff for a candid conversation about building a company, finding the right people, and recognizing when it's time to bring in a leader with complementary strengths.

Plus, how programmatic advertising inspired Narrative's approach to data, and why companies have gone from saying they have too much data to struggling to make sense of it.

Feedback or guest suggestions? Leadershipinpodcast (at) gmail (dot) com

Disclosure: Leadership In hosts and guests may hold financial interests in companies discussed in this episode, including Receptiv.

Mathieu Roche, co-founder and CEO of ID5, joins Greg and Geoff to talk about building a company around trust.

Mathieu shares why ID5 has stayed fully remote, why he believes in action over risk avoidance, and what he’s learned about stepping back as a founder and trusting his leadership team.

Plus, a spirited debate about identity, informed consent, and the value exchange that keeps the open web open.

Feedback or guest suggestions? Leadershipinpodcast (at) gmail (dot) com.

Greg and Geoff unpack Google's latest ad tech remedies and what they could mean for competition, interoperability, and the future of programmatic.

Does an "open" exchange actually create more competition? And what does Google's continued dominance tell us about where the market is heading?

Have a perspective, a topic, or a story you think belongs on Leadership In? Email us leadershipinpodcast (at) gmail (dot) com. 

Ken Rona, Chief AI Officer at JWX, joins Greg and Geoff to share a glimpse under the hood of JWX's AI transformation.

Ken shares how projects that once took a year are now taking four weeks, why getting people to work differently is the harder part, and where he thinks AI is taking the ad tech stack.

Plus a quick look at Ken's unlikely path from rock-band sound engineer to Chief AI Officer.

And check out Ken's Refacto newsletter.

If you’re thinking about becoming an independent  consultant, this episode is for you.

Geoff and Greg trade the usual interview format for a three-way roundtable with fellow independent consultant James Deaker, aka The Yield Doctor, founder of Korukea Media. James spent decades in pricing and yield leadership roles at Yahoo, Verizon, and Microsoft before going independent, and he currently splits his time consulting for clients including Lyft.

Solo or team? Consultant, advisor, or fractional? How is AI impacting consulting? The three compare notes and share their honest pros, cons, and best advice for anyone thinking about making the leap.

Resources mentioned:

• David A. Fields Consulting

• MyLance / Bradley Jacobs

• Fractionals United

In every guest interview, Greg and Geoff ask guests what they want their legacy to be. 

This week, they reflect on the life and legacy of Dolly Parton, a talented musician, actor, comedian, entrepreneur and philanthropist. And someone who wanted to be remembered for books. 

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library - https://imaginationlibrary.com/

Geoff and Greg sit down with Pamela Slea, Chief Executive Officer at Boltive, a digital security and privacy compliance company, who took the top job after building a career across Google, Criteo, AppNexus, Index Exchange, and InMobi.

Pamela shares how she built her career starting from a Google temp job, how she never really had a mentor pulling her through the ranks, and how she's steering a small, AI-native team through the shift from programmatic to agentic transactions. Plus her take on where the industry got consumer privacy wrong the first time, and why she's not afraid to hire her own best friend.

The Open Exchange welcomes our first guest: adtech executive, investor and advisor Lewis Rothkopf joins Greg and Geoff to make the case that the best technology is invisible, and that the industry should spend less time on the plumbing and more on the outcomes it enables.

Follow the show and subscribe to our newsletter at leadershipinpodcast.com. Questions or feedback: leadershipinpodcast@gmail.com.

With VideoAmp and Nielsen One's departure from Media Rating Council (MRC) accreditation, Greg and Geoff trace the MRC's roots back to the 1963 Harris Committee hearings and ask what its self-regulatory model means today, in a market where measurement companies increasingly resemble media businesses and AI raises new questions about who (or what) gets audited.

Follow the show and subscribe to our newsletter at leadershipinpodcast.com. Questions or feedback: leadershipinpodcast@gmail.com.

Greg and Geoff unpack Walmart's acquisition of Vibe.co and what it signals about the race to build and scale commerce media marketplaces across formats, advertiser segments and geographies.

Follow the show and subscribe to our newsletter at leadershipinpodcast.com. Questions or feedback: leadershipinpodcast@gmail.com.

Greg and Geoff sit down with Ali Manning, Chief Operating Officer at Chalice, who co-founded one of adtech's hottest AI companies after senior roles at Google and Snap.

Ali shares how being underestimated became her edge, why she rejected advice to smile less and talk slower, and what it means to build a company culture where people can show up as themselves. Plus her take on why the industry needs to stop talking about what AI will do and start showing what it already has.

Greg and Geoff talk non-traditional owners circling media assets, the tension between content investment and financial metrics, and what PE is about to find out.

Walmart Connect, Bending Spoons, and People Inc. are rewriting who owns the system. The metric translation problem every CMO already knows is now PE's problem too.

Follow the show and subscribe to our newsletter at leadershipinpodcast.com. Questions or feedback: leadershipinpodcast@gmail.com

When your content shapes culture, the pressure to keep leading never lets up. Jill Steinhauser, Group SVP of Platform Monetization & Parnterships at Warner Brothers Discovery knows that better than most. With media disruption that isn't slowing down. her advice is simpler than you'd expect: keep your goals in front of you and keep calm.

Greg and Geoff sit down with Jill to talk about leading without a roadmap, why the best leaders aren't always the smartest people in the room, and why she'd take 80% performance for 120% humanity any day of the week.

Greg and Geoff on agentic AI hype, the workflows actually delivering, and where to stop outsourcing your thinking.

In this episode:

The WPP exec's "teenage sex" take on agentic AI.

One real workflow win helping a partner close business faster.

The case for writing your own three-line emails.

Get in touch: leadershipinpodcast@gmail.com

Greg and Geoff revisit Pooja Midha's standout episode and unpack POSSIBLE 2026 in Miami Beach. In this episode:

The "never play scared" story from Pooja's episode, and why it's advice that holds up across leadership and life.

Themes POSSIBLE 2026: the shift toward demand and data, and AI for the sake of AI vs. AI that solves real problems.

Get in touch: leadershipinpodcast@gmail.com

What does it take to lead with high standards without playing scared? 

Greg and Geoff sit down with Pooja Midha, board member, advisor, and Executive-in-Residence (EIR) at LUMA Partners, and a leader who has run sales and operating businesses at Dow Jones, Viacom, Disney/ABC, true[X], and Comcast Advertising.

The conversation explores how high standards, deep listening, and making others successful become the engine of leadership at scale. From opening doors as an unqualified intern to leading a 3,200-person transformation at Comcast, Pooja shares what it takes to drive change inside legacy businesses, why humanity and performance are the same thing, and the lesson her daughter taught her about taking smart risks and not playing scared.

Season 2 of Leadership In is here!

Greg and Geoff preview what's ahead: new guests from industry giants and emerging adtech players, and a new rhythm of short and long episodes.

What's new this season:

• A great lineup of new guests from industry giants and emerging players
• Alternating episode formats: full-length feature interviews (~30 min) and shorter Open Exchange episodes (5–10 min)
• Now on YouTube, in addition to every major audio platform

Follow on Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts or visit us at www.leadershipinpodcast.com.

Greg and Geoff wrap up Season 1 of Leadership In reflecting on the themes, lessons, and leadership perspectives that emerged across eight episodes.

They revisit the core questions asked of every guest, discuss what stood out across different leaders and backgrounds, and share their own views on authenticity, diversity of thought, incentives, AI, and the legacies leaders aim to leave behind.

Greg and Geoff sit down with GumGum’s Kerel Cooper (CMO) and Katy Loria (CRO) to discuss the importance of embracing vulnerabilities, managing personal brands, and the difference in dynamics between large and small organizations. The conversation delves into GumGum’s approach to contextual advertising, the role of consumer mindset in targeted ads, and how AI and machine learning influence their strategies. 

Link: Minority Report Podcast, co-hosted by Kerel Cooper

https://www.minorityreportpodcast.com/

01:45 Early Career Advice

02:51 Personal Branding and Goal Setting

05:44 Influential Leaders and Mentors

08:58 Navigating Different Organizational Sizes

11:36 GumGum

12:45 Contextual Advertising and Mindset

17:27 Balancing Leadership and Innovation

18:33 AI and Human Touch in Customer Engagement

21:29 Emotional Connection in Branding

32:12 Looking Ahead

What if the key to better advertising isn’t more data, but more attention?

Geoff and Greg sit down with Dave Jacobs, President and CEO of Receptiv, a company with a fresh take on driving performance by focusing on when people are most receptive.

The conversation explores how leadership, focus, and accountability drive both innovation and impact in adtech. From leading teams at startups and global corporations, Dave shares how he’s scaling performance, culture, and outcomes, without losing sight of what matters most.

Disclosure: Leadership In hosts and guests may hold financial interests in companies discussed in this episode, including Receptiv.

In a market obsessed with results, true leadership means knowing how to deliver them, again and again.

Nick Cote, VP and Head of Supply at TV Scientific, shares how he leads through hyper-growth and constant change in the connected-TV space. He breaks down outcome-based television, how to drive measurable performance at scale, and why clarity and accountability are the ultimate competitive advantages in ad tech’s next chapter.

01:55 Early lessons

03:17 Culture that drives growth 

07:25 How TV Scientific redefines performance 

09:14 Innovation in CTV

11:25 The shift to outcome-based advertising

18:25 Leading through hyper-growth 

26:21 Looking ahead

⁠Amanda Forrester, SVP of Marketing at ⁠OpenX⁠, discusses what it means to win the right way. She shares how empathy, integrity and doing things the right way, even when it’s hard, have shapred her leadership and the company’s culture. 

She also unpacks the future of AI and infrastructure in programmatic advertising, the myth of limitless supply, and the power of believing you belong in every room.

00:44  Amanda’s Path from The New York Times to OpenX

05:17  Leadership and Accountability in Action

07:11  Diversity and Belonging in Ad Tech

11:26  Leading Innovation at OpenX

15:37  Sustainability and Ethical Leadership

17:43  Balancing Agility with Responsibility

18:28  Permission to Pay: Ethical Dilemmas in Ad Tech

21:00  Supply-Side Targeting and Market Education

22:53  AI’s Impact on Programmatic Advertising

30:25  Mentorship and Leaving Ad Tech Better Than You Found It

Nolan Johnson, SVP of Media Partnerships at Grocery TV has helped turn grocery stores into one of advertising’s most powerful new frontiers. In this episode, he shares how leading with curiosity and courage helped him scale a startup into a national network, why 85% of grocery purchases still happen in-store, and what it takes to build both a category and a culture from the ground up.

03:19 The Importance of Taking Initiative

04:42 Advice for Early Career Professionals

06:47 Grocery TV: Leading in Digital Out-of-Home Media

10:23 Navigating Advertising Ecosystems and Measurement

12:53 The People Behind Grocery TV's Success

14:08 Hiring Entrepreneurial Talent

14:52 Balancing Agility and Focus

16:16 Building a Market from Scratch

17:27 Driving Innovation in Leadership

21:37 Challenges of Leading a Unique Market

25:32 Embracing Vulnerability in Leadership

28:41 Legacy and Mentorship

Priti Ohri, CEO of Advertible, has built her career, and her company, on one principle: do the right thing, even when it’s hard. In this episode, she shares how authenticity and values drive better business, why trust matters more than speed, and how she’s redefining leadership in the fast-moving world of ad tech.

Links from this episode:

DesiUS

Fast Company: The Brand Called You

Geoff’s Substack

00:28 Meet Priti Ohri: CEO at Advertible

02:33 Insights on Leadership and Career Growth

08:46 Building and Leading Advertible

13:53 Challenges and Responsibilities in Native Advertising

19:31 Values and Decision-Making at Advertible

21:30 The Importance of Values in Business

22:43 Navigating Customer Expectations

24:34 Advocating for Diversity and Inclusion

27:41 Building a Supportive Community

30:28 Leadership and Personal Branding

32:40 The Future of Leadership and Industry

Scott Ensign, Chief Strategy Officer at Butler/Till, a leading independent advertising agency, joins us to discuss leadership in a rapidly evolving industry. Scott shares insights on Butler/Till's unique Employee Share Ownership Plan (ESOP) model, fostering transparency and engagement, and creating a results driven culture where everyone feels invested in the company's success. The conversation delves into Scott's career journey, the impact of intellectual curiosity, and the importance of aligning strategy with core business values. Scott also highlights the balance of consensus decision-making and long-term vision in leadership.

01:19 Scott's Career Journey

06:31 Advice and Leadership Insights

08:51 Butler Till's Unique Culture

09:46 Employee Ownership and Its Impact

14:49 Challenges and Benefits of the ESOP Structure

23:31 Leadership Decisions and Strategy

34:55 Future Vision and Legacy

Veteran adtech reporter Ronan Shields from Digiday joins Greg MacDonald and Geoff Wolinetz to explore leadership in advertising, media, and technology. The conversation covers Ronan's career journey as a journalist across three continents, insights on the relationship between media and industry figures, and the essential role of fact-checking in digital journalism. Ronan also talks about the potential benefits and challenges posed by AI in journalism.

01:00 Ronan's Global Journey in Journalism

01:45 Navigating Media and Industry Dynamics

05:59 The Role of Journalism in Shaping Leadership

09:12 Engagement and Storytelling in Journalism

12:44 Notable Leaders in Media and Tech

15:26 The Role of Fact-Checking in Digital Media

17:22 The Influence of Corporate Communications

21:01 The Impact of AI on Journalism

22:29 Leadership Trends in the Media Industry

23:59 The Role of CEOs in Shaping Company Culture

This episode was recorded at Podstream Studios in New York City.

Leadership isn’t about titles, it’s choices, lessons, and turning points.

Leadership In is hosted by adtech industry veterans and consultants Greg MacDonald and Geoff Wolinetz, featuring candid conversations with senior leaders in advertising, media, and tech.

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