Viant Technology Inc., a leader in AI-driven programmatic advertising, has announced the acquisition of IRIS.TV, a global content data platform built specifically for Connected TV (CTV). The acquisition aims to expand IRIS’s CTV content identification capabilities, providing a unified content signal for marketers and enhancing the value of premium CTV content.

Key Highlights of the Acquisition

• Expansion of CTV Content Identification
  With over 1,400 integrations with video content owners, platforms, and content management systems, IRIS indexes over 60 million streaming video files, offering enhanced content classification for CTV. This acquisition will help Viant accelerate its efforts to scale content identification across premium publishers.

• AI-Powered Content Data Platform
  IRIS’s AI technology analyzes video content, offering insights on contextual, emotional, and brand suitability. This enables advertisers to target and measure campaigns more effectively, ensuring more accurate and meaningful content placements in CTV advertising.

• Seamless Integration with Viant’s Ecosystem
  IRIS’s technology sits at the intersection of CTV and the ad tech ecosystem, aligning perfectly with Viant’s vision for the future. The acquisition will enhance Viant’s ability to serve advertisers with more refined data, improving the monetization of CTV content in the bidstream.

• Commitment to Continued Innovation
  IRIS will operate independently under the leadership of co-founders Field Garthwaite and Richie Hyden. The platform will continue to provide its services across the entire ecosystem, with Viant’s backing to drive further growth and innovation in the CTV space.

Statements from Leadership

• Tim Vanderhook, CEO of Viant Technology:
  “We are excited to support IRIS’s mission and enhance the value of CTV content in the ad tech ecosystem. IRIS’s innovative platform addresses a major gap in content classification for CTV, and we’re thrilled to integrate their capabilities into our platform.”

• Field Garthwaite, Co-founder and CEO of IRIS.TV:
  “Joining Viant Technology will allow us to accelerate our global CTV content identification efforts. Viant’s leadership in AI and CTV innovation will provide us with the resources we need to expand our reach and continue supporting the industry.”

Viant’s acquisition of IRIS.TV is set to transform the landscape of CTV advertising, providing marketers with more precise targeting and measurement tools. The integration of IRIS’s AI-powered content data platform into Viant’s offerings will drive innovation and expand the potential of CTV advertising for premium content owners and marketers alike.

Certain, a leader in enterprise event management solutions, has announced the launch of its AI-powered event buying signals solution. This cutting-edge product suite is designed to address key challenges faced by B2B marketers, transforming event interactions into valuable, actionable buying signals that accelerate the buyer journey and increase conversions.

Key Features and Benefits of Certain’s AI-Powered Solutions

1. Enhanced Buying Signals
   Certain’s solution significantly improves the quality and quantity of signals captured from event attendees. By focusing on signals that help marketers understand the propensity to buy, Certain helps identify those who are most likely to convert, providing a competitive edge in lead generation.

2. Timely Buying Signals
   One of the core challenges in event marketing is the delay in capturing buying signals. Certain addresses this by making signals actionable in real-time, such as recommending sessions based on polling data gathered during the event. This allows marketers to act on insights immediately, advancing the buyer’s journey.

3. Scalable Signal Impact
   Certain’s AI-powered tools support data collection across large-scale, global events, allowing marketers to generate insights from thousands of first-party intent signals. This enables CMOs to scale their efforts and gain a clear advantage in competitive markets.

4. Signal Suite
   The suite of tools includes several innovative features designed for large enterprise marketers:

   • Signal: A real-time data orchestration solution that identifies opportunities for marketing and sales actions based on attendee engagement.

   • Session Advisor AI: This AI-powered tool recommends sessions to attendees based on their interests and aligns them with event sponsors’ offerings, enhancing the attendee experience while providing more data for marketers.

   • Content Hub: A comprehensive library of live and on-demand content that keeps attendees engaged and drives conversions by addressing their specific needs.

   • Touchpoint Ignite: This engagement tool uses generative AI to capture and analyze attendee interactions, delivering valuable data to marketers for future event optimization.

   • Certain Event Intelligence: This feature provides a holistic view of the event cycle, delivering AI-powered marketing insights to executives, enabling informed decision-making and strategy refinement.

Seamless Integration with Existing Event Tech Stacks
Certain’s AI-driven solutions integrate smoothly with existing event technologies, providing an end-to-end event management solution while also enhancing current tech stacks. This flexibility makes it easy for marketers to incorporate Certain’s tools into their existing workflows and derive immediate value.

Addressing a Critical Business Need

Peter Micciche, CEO of Certain, emphasized the importance of first-party buying signals in modern marketing. "Buying signals are the most important asset Certain can deliver to marketers. They communicate attendee sentiment and interest in doing business, and everything we do is designed to capture all relevant event activity, guiding marketing and sales executives toward more pipeline and closed deals."

Certain’s new suite of AI-powered event buying signals solutions provides B2B marketers with a powerful set of tools to optimize event interactions and convert attendee engagement into real sales opportunities. By leveraging AI to drive real-time insights, Certain helps marketers capture actionable signals and scale their event strategies to deliver more qualified leads and close more deals.

OpenX Technologies, Inc., a top omnichannel supply-side platform, has promoted Julie Rooney to Chief Privacy Officer and Deputy General Counsel. This move highlights OpenX's dedication to privacy-first strategies, positioning the company as a leader in data ethics within the adtech industry.

1. Commitment to Privacy-First Practices

   • OpenX aims to set a benchmark for privacy in adtech.
   • Focus on compliance with global privacy laws, including GDPR and CCPA.
   • Proactive in adopting privacy-first practices amid evolving privacy standards.

2. Rooney's Leadership in Privacy Initiatives

   • Spearheaded innovative compliance tools and data ethics practices.
   • Formed a Data Ethics & Privacy Council for focused oversight.
   • Conducts regular external audits to ensure robust privacy protocols.

3. Collaborative Leadership with New Data Protection Officer

   • Pawel Meus promoted to Data Protection Officer and Legal Director.
   • Rooney and Meus will jointly lead data ethics and privacy efforts, enhancing OpenX's reputation in adtech.

4. Industry Recognition and Ethical Standards

   • General Counsel Joshua Metzger commends Rooney's contributions to privacy.
   • Rooney’s experience and commitment have established OpenX as an ethical leader in responsible data use.

5. Rooney’s Vision for the Future of Privacy in Adtech

   • Plans to emphasize consumer transparency and control in OpenX’s offerings.
   • Believes privacy is not only legal compliance but a competitive advantage and ethical duty.
   • Looks forward to collaboration across the industry to build privacy-first solutions.

With Rooney’s promotion, OpenX solidifies its position as a trusted adtech leader in privacy. Rooney’s vision aligns with the company’s mission to foster transparency and consumer trust, setting new standards for privacy-first innovation in the digital advertising landscape.

AnswerLab, a leader in user experience research, announces Megan Malli as its new Chief Executive Officer as it nears its 20th anniversary. With founder Amy Buckner Chowdhry stepping into the role of Board Chair, this leadership shift emphasizes AnswerLab’s dedication to pioneering customer-centric brand experiences.

1. Megan Malli’s Leadership Background

   • Previously Global President at Huge, Malli has over 20 years in digital transformation.
   • Experienced in guiding major brands through complex digital innovations.
   • Her appointment marks a new chapter in AnswerLab’s journey to enhance user-centered design.

2. Amy Buckner Chowdhry’s Continued Vision

   • Founder and former CEO Chowdhry steps into a guiding role as Board Chair.
   • Chowdhry emphasizes Malli's alignment with AnswerLab's mission to empower brands through data-driven insights.

3. The Role of User Experience in Modern Brand Strategy

   • Rapid advancements in technology make user insights essential for competitive brands.
   • AnswerLab’s mission expands to shaping future interactions, leveraging behavioral insights to redefine engagement.

4. AnswerLab’s 20-Year Legacy in User-Centered Innovation

   • Approaching its 20th anniversary in 2025, AnswerLab reflects on two decades of impact.
   • Continues to help brands harness AI, data, and insights to create value and adapt to emerging user needs.

5. Megan Malli’s Vision for the Future

   • Sees user experience moving from reactive to proactive strategies.
   • Aims to empower brands to lead transformative UX initiatives.
   • Committed to driving impactful outcomes in user and brand experience.

6. AnswerLab’s Commitment to High-Impact Partnerships

   • Partners with leading brands like Google, Amex, and Meta.
   • Positioned as a key resource for brands aiming to drive growth through user-centered experiences.

AnswerLab’s leadership transition, with Megan Malli as CEO, reinforces its role as a strategic partner for brands aiming to innovate in customer experiences. As the company prepares for its milestone anniversary, it remains dedicated to advancing user-centric design, helping clients stay ahead in the rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Jasper, the leading AI marketing platform, introduced its revolutionary AI knowledge and context layer at the Web Summit. With the launch of Brand IQ and Marketing IQ technologies, Jasper empowers marketers to scale content and campaigns that are on-brand and optimized for best practices, ensuring seamless brand compliance across text and visual content.

1. Introducing Brand IQ and Marketing IQ

   • Jasper releases the first AI-powered platform specifically for marketing with Brand IQ and Marketing IQ technologies.
   • These technologies enhance content and campaign scalability, integrating marketing expertise into AI for better results.

2. Brand IQ: Advanced Brand Control

   • Brand IQ embeds a company’s brand guidelines directly into the AI model for both text and visual content.
   • Ensures consistency across formats without manual intervention, maintaining brand integrity even at scale.
   • Provides tools for fine-tuning voice, tone, style, and visual guidelines using a user-friendly UI.
   • Ideal for B2C companies managing large volumes of content, such as retail and media clients.

3. Marketing IQ: Enhanced Marketing Intelligence

   • Marketing IQ adds a marketing-specific knowledge layer to the AI, improving outputs like blog posts, email subject lines, and more.
   • Built-in marketing best practices for optimized search and engagement metrics.
   • Supports multimodal content, such as text-to-image and image-to-text conversion, for richer marketing outputs.
   • Reduces time spent on prompt engineering by embedding marketing intelligence into the AI model.

4. Jasper’s Role in AI Marketing Solutions

   • Jasper has become a leading AI solution for enterprise marketing, trusted by nearly 20% of the Fortune 500.
   • Sees rapid growth with a doubling of enterprise revenue year-over-year, serving clients like Prudential, Ulta Beauty, and Wayfair.
   • Offers AI solutions that scale content creation and ensure brand compliance at a fraction of the traditional time.

With the introduction of Brand IQ and Marketing IQ, Jasper revolutionizes AI for marketing, making it easier for companies to create scalable, on-brand content while maintaining brand integrity. The platform's built-in marketing knowledge and advanced capabilities position it as the go-to solution for enterprise marketing needs, empowering brands to deliver optimized, high-quality content at scale.

Comviva, a global leader in customer experience and data monetisation solutions, has announced a strategic collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to build a cloud-first, AI-driven strategy aimed at accelerating time to market and enabling non-linear revenue growth. This partnership will empower Communication Service Providers (CSPs) with next-generation software products and platforms delivered through a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model.

1. Collaboration Overview

   • Comviva joins forces with AWS to leverage cloud and AI-driven solutions for faster, scalable business transformation.
   • The partnership focuses on SaaS product offerings and modernisation of platforms across key sectors such as DigiTech, MarTech, RevTech, and FinTech.

2. Key Areas of Collaboration

   • The collaboration spans several key initiatives, including product modernisation, competency development, culture transformation, business growth, and the enablement of generative AI.
   • Comviva’s cloud-native solutions will help CSPs optimize costs, reduce risks, and drive more value for their customers.

3. AI and SaaS Enablement for CSPs

   • Comviva’s core platforms will integrate Amazon Bedrock to enhance product experiences with AI and generative AI capabilities, improving customer engagement and business operations.
   • The partnership also explores Amazon Q to boost developer productivity and optimize service management through AI-powered operations.

4. Workforce Upskilling on AWS Technologies

   • Over 2,000 Comviva employees are being trained and certified on AWS technologies to ensure the company’s workforce is well-equipped to drive digital transformation and modernization.
   • This emphasis on upskilling ensures that Comviva’s teams can fully leverage AWS’s secure, scalable, and innovative cloud solutions.

5. Statements from Leadership

   • Rajesh Chandiramani, CEO of Comviva, highlighted the value of cloud solutions in enabling telecom operators to experiment with new strategies and business models.
   • V.G. Sundar Ram, Head of AWS Business Development, India and South Asia, expressed excitement about supporting Comviva’s transition into a SaaS organization and accelerating its digital transformation.

This collaboration between Comviva and AWS represents a significant milestone in the telecom sector, where cloud-first and AI-driven solutions are poised to redefine the customer experience. By harnessing AWS’s advanced cloud technologies, Comviva is well-positioned to drive innovation, empower CSPs, and deliver new business opportunities in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

SurveyMonkey, the world’s leading platform for surveys and forms, has announced a new feature that allows users to share surveys and forms directly to WhatsApp. This addition makes it easier for customers to reach their audiences instantly, leveraging the massive popularity of WhatsApp, which boasts over 2 billion active users. The WhatsApp social sharing option joins other platforms like LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and Microsoft Teams, offering users even more ways to engage with their target audience.

1. WhatsApp Integration for Seamless Sharing

   • SurveyMonkey’s new feature allows users to share surveys with a single click to WhatsApp groups and contacts.
   • The feature enhances engagement, allowing SurveyMonkey customers to instantly collect insights from a broader audience via mobile devices.

2. Impact on Engagement

   • The WhatsApp social sharing feature has seen an impressive response, generating twice as many clicks and shares compared to other social media platforms on SurveyMonkey.
   • This highlights WhatsApp’s power as a globally trusted platform for reaching audiences effectively and in real time.

3. Global Reach for SurveyMonkey Users

   • SurveyMonkey’s customer base spans over 130 countries and includes users who speak 56 different languages, making WhatsApp’s global reach particularly impactful.
   • The integration ensures that businesses and organizations can easily gather feedback from diverse demographics on a platform that is widely used worldwide.

4. SurveyMonkey’s Milestone Year

   • This new feature adds to a series of recent innovations by SurveyMonkey, including advanced analysis capabilities like multi-survey analysis, which allows users to consolidate data from multiple surveys into actionable insights.
   • SurveyMonkey has also earned recognition as the #1 online form builder in G2’s Fall Enterprise Grid® Report for the third time in 2024.

5. Recent Product Enhancements

   • SurveyMonkey's best-in-class forms product has seen significant upgrades, such as a new PayPal integration for secure global payments.
   • These updates, along with the WhatsApp integration, are designed to streamline global data collection and improve user experience.

SurveyMonkey’s integration of WhatsApp for social survey sharing represents a major leap forward in helping businesses and organizations engage with their audience on a platform they already trust. The feature’s overwhelming engagement numbers signal a promising future for real-time, mobile-first data collection and customer insights. With WhatsApp now part of the social sharing options, SurveyMonkey continues to empower its global user base with innovative solutions.

MessageWhiz by MMDSmart, a leading enterprise messaging solution platform, has launched a redesigned portal aimed at improving the user experience and simplifying campaign management. With new features such as AI-driven messaging optimization, advanced analytics, and a three-step message creation flow, businesses can now more effectively engage with their customers.

1. Revamped User Interface for Seamless Campaign Management

   • The redesigned MessageWhiz portal introduces a simplified interface that makes it easier for businesses to create and manage messaging campaigns.
   • The three-step message creation process allows users to quickly craft and send targeted messages, streamlining workflow and enhancing campaign efficiency.

2. AI-Powered Messaging Optimization

   • With enhanced generative AI capabilities, the new portal allows businesses to optimize their messaging strategies with greater precision.
   • AI tools help fine-tune campaigns, ensuring that businesses can reach their audience with the most effective communication.

3. Multi-Agent Functionality for Enhanced Team Collaboration

   • The upgraded portal features multi-agent functionality, enabling teams to collaborate more effectively when managing 2-way messaging campaigns.
   • This feature ensures consistency and efficiency by allowing multiple agents to work on the same conversations, improving the overall customer communication process.

4. Advanced Analytics for Data-Driven Insights

   • The new analytics dashboard provides deeper insights into campaign performance, allowing businesses to track key metrics, identify trends, and make data-driven decisions.
   • The detailed performance data helps refine messaging strategies for better results in future campaigns.

5. Security and Reliability for Global Messaging

   • The updated MessageWhiz portal prioritizes security and reliability, ensuring that businesses can trust the platform to deliver messages securely and quickly across the globe.
   • With a focus on seamless global communication, businesses can confidently execute multi-channel campaigns without compromising on performance or security.

The redesigned MessageWhiz portal offers businesses powerful new tools to enhance their messaging campaigns. With AI-driven optimization, improved team collaboration, advanced analytics, and a user-friendly interface, the platform is poised to help businesses achieve greater success in their customer communication efforts. Whether crafting SMS messages or managing multi-channel campaigns, the new portal provides everything needed for effective messaging strategies.