AdvertisingAIDigital MarketingMediaMarketing

196. AI Meets Programmatic: How Media Buyers Can Optimize with AI

Programmatic Digest
Programmatic Digest•May 22, 2026

Why It Matters

Integrating AI into programmatic workflows accelerates optimization, reduces errors, and safeguards media buyers’ relevance in an increasingly automated ad tech landscape.

Key Takeaways

  • •AI tools streamline programmatic campaign optimization, reducing manual Excel work.
  • •Hypothesis-driven testing replaces simple bid adjustments for deeper insights.
  • •MediaMath’s AI “brain” reallocates budget to high‑performing sites.
  • •Building exclusion lists prevents wasted spend on underperforming publishers.
  • •Mastering AI optimization secures media buyers’ relevance and job security.

Summary

The session titled “AI Meets Programmatic” was a live workshop where Ellen Parker and Asetu walked media buyers through applying artificial‑intelligence tools to programmatic campaign optimization.

They demonstrated how a simple Excel sheet can be fed into an AI engine—currently MediaMath’s “brain”—to automatically identify low‑performing inventory, generate hypothesis‑driven experiments, and reallocate budget to the top‑performing sites, cutting hours of manual pivot‑table work.

Parker likened the process to a scientist testing a hypothesis, citing a case where removing sites with video‑completion rates below 60 % lifted overall VCR, and recalling an old Buzzfeed exclusion that later proved outdated, illustrating the need for continual data‑driven review.

By automating data cleaning, site selection and budget shifts, buyers can achieve higher ROI, free up time for strategic tasks, and future‑proof their roles as AI becomes standard in DSPs.

Original Description

In this episode of the Programmatic Digest, Hélène Parker and Assetou Kone dive into the evolving role of AI in programmatic advertising and campaign optimization. The conversation explores how media buyers and traders can use tools like ChatGPT and Claude to streamline workflows, analyze campaign data more efficiently, and uncover deeper optimization insights.
Hélène opens the session by reframing optimization as more than simple “bid up, bid down” tactics. Instead, she explains how successful optimization requires hypothesis testing, strategic thinking, and understanding how DSP algorithms redistribute spend based on performance signals. Using practical examples, she demonstrates how removing underperforming inventory can improve overall campaign efficiency by reallocating budget toward higher-performing placements.
Assetou walks through the fundamentals traders need before introducing AI into their workflows, emphasizing the importance of understanding campaign objectives across awareness, consideration, conversion, and loyalty stages. She explains how campaign goals directly influence which metrics traders should prioritize and optimize toward.
The heart of the workshop focuses on prompt engineering and practical AI usage. Assetou demonstrates how traders can use AI to analyze site lists, identify inefficient domains, generate allow/block lists, surface top-performing inventory, and extract geo-level insights tied to real-world audience behavior. She also highlights how combining AI-generated insights with industry knowledge creates stronger strategic recommendations for clients.
Throughout the discussion, Hélène and Assetou address common fears around AI and job security, explaining why traders who learn how to leverage AI tools will become more valuable — not less. They close by discussing the future of agentic AI within DSPs and how automation can help traders spend less time buried in spreadsheets and more time focusing on strategy and insight generation.
🧠 About Us:
We help historically excluded individuals break into programmatic media buying and land jobs they love. Through our Reach and Frequency® program, coaching, and community, we make learning programmatic clear, practical, and welcoming.
Our mission is simple: DSP access and education should be for everyone, not just a few. That’s why we teach new talent and support independent agencies and brands through my work at Infillion (MediaMath), helping more people access the MediaMath DSP.
Join once, stay learning forever. Past workshops, paid gems, and every new recording + resource added as we go. This library isn’t a one-time thing, it’s the full vault plus all future trainings, recordings, and guides.
⏱ Timestamps:
• [00:00] – Welcome and workshop introduction
• [03:45] – Why optimization is more than bid adjustments
• [08:20] – Thinking like a scientist in programmatic optimization
• [13:10] – Understanding awareness, consideration, and conversion KPIs
• [19:30] – Optimization workflows and prioritization strategies
• [25:00] – Introduction to AI prompt engineering for traders
• [31:40] – Using ChatGPT and Claude for campaign analysis
• [38:15] – Building allow lists and exclusion lists with AI
• [44:50] – Geo insights and audience intelligence using AI
• [50:20] – AI, automation, and the future of programmatic trading
• [56:00] – Final thoughts and Q&A
👤 Meet Our Guest:
Assetou Kone – Programmatic Marketing Specialist and Consultant
Assetou Kone is a programmatic marketing expert with experience across multiple industries, including pharmaceuticals, retail, gaming, finance, and e-commerce. Her expertise focuses on campaign optimization, data analytics, audience strategy, and helping brands use AI-powered workflows to improve media buying efficiency and performance.
💻 Meet The Team:
Hélène Parker – Chief Programmatic Coach
🌐 heleneparker.com
Manuela Cortes – Co-Host, Programmatic Digest en Español
🎓 Learn Programmatic:
For Individual Buyers: https://heleneparker.com/library
Subscribe to the Newsletter: https://heleneparker.com/newsletter
Be the first to find out about free programmatic training workshops: https://www.heleneparker.com/waitlist/
📲 Follow Us:

Comments

Want to join the conversation?

Loading comments...